Google Core Update Flux, AdSense Ad Intent, California Link Tax & More

The Google March 2024 core update is still rolling out, almost 6 weeks now, and we saw two shifts of ranking volatility, both mid-week and the weekend before. Google’s Danny Sullivan went on the defensive on search quality and forum listings in the search results. Google’s site reputation abuse spam policy will be fought both algorithmically and through manual actions. Google responded to The Verge mocking its search rankings over best printer. Google Search Console has a new unused ownership tokens page. Some sites may see the Google Indexing API work for a limited time on unsupported content types. And having two sites won’t result in your sites search ranking decline. BingBot now fully supports Brotli compression and will test Zstd compression soon. Google Search is testing thumbs-up and down buttons for product carousels. Google is testing new sitelinks designs. Google Notes on Search may not go away in May. Google Maps no longer supports draft reviews. Google Maps released a bunch of new maps, directions, travel and EV features. Google Ads Demand Gen campaigns now support AI image generation. Google Ads is testing a similar product carousel. Google Ads reminds advertisers that ad customizers are going away. Google Ads is testing a new horizontal ad card format. Google AdSense has these new ad intent formats. Google AdSense publishers are reporting lower RPM earnings since mid-February. Google threatens to drop links to California news publishers amongst link tax bill. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable. SPONSOR: Wix Studio lets digital marketing agencies get all of the benefits Wix has to offer from best-in-class SEO capabilities to 99% up-time with the added value of an extensive client and team management system baked right into the platform. 0:00 - Introduction 1:09 - Deepening Google Core Ranking Volatility Hits Yesterday & Today 1:48 - Weekend Google Core Ranking Volatility Taxing Site Owners 2:32 - Google Goes On Defensive On Its Search Quality & Forum Results Statements 3:08 - Google Will Fight Site Reputation Abuse Spam Both With Manual Actions & Algorithms 4:14 - Google Responds To The Verge Mocking Its Search Rankings For Best Printer 5:15 - Google Search Console Adds Unused Ownership Tokens 5:45 - Google: Indexing API May Work For Unsupported Content But... 6:25 - Google: It's Unlikely Your Rankings Dropped Because You Have Two Websites 7:00 - Bingbot To Test Zstd Compression After Fully Gaining Full Brotli Compression 7:30 - Google Search Tests Thumbs Up/Down Buttons In Product Grid Results 7:44 - Google Tests Horizontal Lines For Sitelinks & People Also Ask 8:13 - Google Notes On Search Won't Necessarily Go Away In May 9:16 - Google Maps No Longer Will Support Draft Reviews 9:34 - Google Maps Releases New Directions, Travel & EV Features 10:00 - New Google Ads AI Generated Image Tool For Demand Gen Campaigns 10:25 - Google Ads "Similar Product" Carousel 10:34 - Google Ads Reminds Advertisers Some Ad Customizers Will Go Away May 31st 10:56 - Google Tests More Google Ad Card Formats 11:08 - Google AdSense New Ad Intents Formats - Links & Anchors In Content 12:06 - Google AdSense Publishers Reporting Huge RPM Earnings Drops 12:39 - Google Threatens California: Tests Removing Links To Publishers & Pauses Investments 13:23 - Conclusion