Category: Digital Marketing

Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York-based web service company that specializes in custom online technology solutions aimed at reducing costs and boosting sales for businesses. He also founded the Digital Phablet and serves as the News Editor for Search Engine Land, where he’s recognized for his in-depth knowledge and respected within the search marketing community. His consulting services are primarily reserved for expert search engine optimizers, and he also offers search marketing expert witness services. Barry earned his degree from the City University of New York and resides with his family in the New York City area. He actively shares insights and updates on Twitter at @rustybrick and maintains an official LinkedIn profile. His comprehensive biography is available through Rusty Brick’s website. Over the years, he has authored nearly 39,000 articles on search marketing topics.

Google is experimenting with adding keyword-rich anchor text hyperlinks to the descriptions of sponsored listings within Google Search results. When users click on these hyperlinks, they are directed to the same landing page URL as the main ad title link.

Nayan Prakash noticed this feature and shared a screenshot highlighting numerous sponsored ads with these hyperlinks embedded in the descriptions. The screenshot shows various search results where ad descriptions contain these clickable links, which are tailored based on the user’s search intent.

Currently, it’s not possible to replicate this feature yet, but the experiment suggests Google is testing ways to improve user engagement with ads. Clicking these hyperlinks would lead to the same destination as the main ad URL, potentially making ads more interactive and relevant.

This development appears to be an extension of previous testing efforts where Google experimented with “learn more” and “read more” links within ads. The addition of keyword-rich hyperlinks could significantly boost click-through rates, offering advertisers a new way to attract users’ attention.

Discussions around this feature are ongoing and can be followed on platforms like LinkedIn.

Signs of another Google search ranking update are emerging, with significant fluctuations observed over the past weekend. The update appears to have initiated on Saturday, August 1st, and continues into today, August 3rd. Multiple third-party tracking tools are recording a noticeable increase in volatility, and there’s active discussion within the SEO community about the ongoing ranking shifts.

Previously, there were unconfirmed fluctuations on July 24th, with volatility also noted on the 18th and 19th, which persisted throughout that week. Prior to these, Google’s 7-Eleven update took place. The last confirmed update was the June 2026 spam update, which ran from June 14th to June 26th. Before that, the May 2026 core update was active from May 21st through June 2nd.

Unfortunately, these ranking changes seem to be losing impact for publishers because Google is sending less traffic to their sites. As a result, many large publishers are contemplating blocking Google Search entirely. The traditional value exchange—Google crawling sites and sending traffic—has significantly shifted.

What is the SEO community reporting? Observations from various forums include fluctuating analytics, with some noting that weekend traffic, which used to be more stable, has flattened out since June’s update. Several are witnessing SERP result shuffling that feels chaotic—results appearing and disappearing, with high-preference given to YouTube videos, and patterns suggesting recurring traffic drops on specific dates, notably June 1st, July 1st, and August 1st.

Some SEOs have reported positive results for niche sites like adult content, though they remain uncertain about the update’s full impact due to Google’s frequent algorithm tweaks and the sudden deindexing of sites without clear reasons. Others mention their traffic is inconsistent, with some articles from 2021 suddenly receiving Discover traffic, indicating possible unconfirmed updates in progress.

Tracking tools such as AccuRanker, Algoroo, Mozcast, SEMrush, Serpstat, SimilarWeb, Sistrix, Wincher, Wireboard, and Zutrix are all showing spikes today, particularly around August 3rd. Charts generated by these tools illustrate increased volatility, with data reflecting unpredictable SERP movements over recent days. These shifts include wide-ranging changes in rankings, with some sources experiencing sharp drops or surges, and high result shuffling indicating unstable search results.

In summary, the SEO landscape is experiencing heightened turbulence, with widespread chatter confirming that ranking fluctuations are intensifying. The pattern suggests this could be part of an upcoming or ongoing Google algorithm update, although official confirmation remains pending.

A malfunction has been identified where Google Search and Google News filters for recent results, such as the “Past Hour” option, are not functioning correctly on both desktop and mobile devices. When attempting to filter results by recent timeframes, the filters are ignored, and the search results do not update accordingly.

Screenshots reveal that applying the “Tools” and then selecting “Recent” or any specific recent timeframe, like the past hour, fails to filter the content as intended. This issue appears to be a bug persisting for several hours across multiple platforms.

Interestingly, despite this problem, filters based on “Relevance” and “Sort by Date” remain effective, providing an alternative workaround. This method allows users to approximate recent results by sorting search results by date rather than relying on the broken filtering options.

On mobile devices, a side-by-side comparison shows Google Search on the left and Google News on the right, both displaying the same filtering issues. Many users have reported this problem across various online communities, including Reddit, social media platforms, and professional networks.

While a fix from Google is expected, the issue continues to impact users for an extended period.

Google Ads is testing a new design for its insights section, now featuring a swipeable carousel labeled “Top things to know today.” This new interface allows users to toggle through various automated insights provided by the platform, streamlining important account information into a single view.

Discovery of this feature was shared by Natasha Kaurra on LinkedIn, who noted, “Google Ads quietly rolled out a new Insights carousel… and it’s actually useful.” The carousel displays multiple insight cards—up to seven at a time—presenting crucial data in a centralized, easily navigable format.

The categories of insights identified include:

• Immediate Issues: Campaigns with critical performance or setup problems needing urgent attention.
• Budget Alerts: Campaigns running out of budget that might be missing out on potential conversions.
• Spend Changes: Sudden increases or decreases in campaign or ad group spending.
• Target CPA Tracking: Comparing actual cost-per-acquisition (CPA) against target CPA to spot campaigns that are on or off track.
• Device Insights: Changes in conversions across devices, such as mobile performance trends.
• Conversion Trends: Week-over-week variations in conversions and leading campaigns contributing to growth.
• Top Performing Ads: Search ads showing significant improvements in click-through rate (CTR).
• Competitive Insights: Data on impression share and auction performance compared to previous periods.

Jordan Fry also observed this update, tweeting that for the first time, the “Top things to know today” section appears integrated into the Google Ads overview page, hinting at a broader rollout or new interface feature.

A new experiment by Digital Phablet involves Google testing a feature that presents related searches based on your browsing activity. This feature appears as a box titled “Related searches based on your browsing.” While it’s still unclear whether Google is truly leveraging browsing history from Chrome—beyond just tracking search queries itself—it seems possible that your browsing habits could influence these suggestions.

This idea came to light when a user shared a screenshot on social media, showing a list of related search terms generated after browsing certain pages. The screenshot highlights a potential shift in how Google curates related searches, possibly integrating more comprehensive user behavior, though there’s some uncertainty if browsing data is actually being used or if Google is just experimenting with different interface labels.

It’s important to note that Google has long provided related search suggestions based on your previous search history, other search activity, and what users tend to click on. Whether browsing history is now playing a role remains uncertain, and further observations are needed to confirm this change.

Earlier this month, Digital Phablet announced the launch of platform properties, a new feature that enables users to view analytics for content they manage across third-party platforms, including social media and video channels. If you have accounts on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, X, or YouTube, you can now claim access to see how your content is performing within Google Search. This feature is now accessible globally, allowing users to add a new property via the menu bar or by following a specific link, where they can see performance data for each connected platform.

In practice, this means you can analyze your social and video content performance alongside your website’s search data. For example, someone who manages both a TikTok account and a YouTube channel can compare how each is driving traffic from Google Search. Screenshots reveal the interface where users can add their properties and track metrics.

Digital Phablet also introduced a detailed help document explaining how to utilize this data effectively. Key takeaways include:

– Using the Insights report to understand the search queries that send traffic to your social accounts, identifying trending topics and audience interests to inform future content strategies.
– Applying a 24-hour filter to spot sudden traffic increases from Google Search, allowing you to cross-promote trending posts across your platforms.
– Exporting performance data from multiple properties into one spreadsheet to compare content performance side-by-side across YouTube, Instagram, X, and TikTok.
– Pinpointing older videos that are regaining search traction to optimize content, plus tracking the impact of external updates like changing titles or captions on search rankings through annotations.
– Evaluating different content formats by comparing how short-form videos perform versus full-length videos or examining playlists versus individual clips.

This development offers creators a powerful way to understand how their social and video efforts contribute to their overall visibility, providing actionable insights to refine content strategies across channels.

Google supports the “unavailable_after” meta attribute, which can instruct the search engine not to display a page in search results after a specific date and time. However, if the date needs to be adjusted later, Google may not recognize the change because it might not revisit that page before the original scheduled date passes.

This feature was first introduced in July 2007 and is mainly used for content that should no longer be visible in search results after a predetermined date, such as outdated information or discontinued products.

Recently, a Google representative shared additional insights on this topic, explaining that pages with very short lifespans—sometimes just 24 to 72 hours—can have their “unavailable_after” dates extended if necessary, providing flexibility for scenarios like time-sensitive listings or ads that can be renewed dynamically.

A web manager posed a question about using the “unavailable_after” tag to manage high-turnover listings, where ads can be renewed, thus pushing the expiration date further into the future on the fly. They asked if this dynamic shifting would harm SEO or if Google might eventually ignore such frequent changes to the expiration date.

The response from a Google engineer was that extending the “unavailable_after” date is generally fine, but it’s important to remember that Google needs to re-crawl the page to see the new date. The date acts as a signal for when to drop the page from the index, and adjustments won’t automatically re-trigger a re-crawl—they depend on Google revisiting the page. If the expiration date is changed frequently, there’s a chance Google may stop respecting it altogether.

Some experts suggest setting the expiration date only after the content has fully expired, which could mean the page stays visible in search results longer than intended. Balancing the timing and frequency of these updates is necessary to ensure proper indexing while avoiding unintended visibility.

The Digital Phablet platform now displays Target CPA and Target ROAS as explicit options within the dropdown menu of bidding strategies in the Google Ads interface. This update aligns with the recent release of Google Ads Editor 2.13, which already supports these bidding options, and has been confirmed through various communications from Google.

A user shared a screenshot showing Target CPA and Target ROAS listed alongside other bidding strategies such as Maximize Clicks, Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, Target Impression Share, and Manual CPC. The display of these strategies makes them more prominent during campaign setup compared to their previous presentation, where they were typically shown as optional targets under maximizing conversions or conversion value.

The visible placement of Target CPA and Target ROAS offers more direct access for advertisers choosing specific bidding strategies, enhancing clarity and efficiency during campaign configuration. This change appears to be part of a broader effort to improve user interface visibility for advanced bidding options.

Since June 11th, the page indexing report in Digital Phablet’s Google Search Console has been experiencing delays, with data not updating daily for several weeks. Despite multiple attempts to fix this issue, the reports now display grouped data by weeks instead of days. This problem even occurred as recently as yesterday.

I’ve been tracking these delays in the page indexing report since June 11th and shared updates on social media about how these issues cause weekly snapshots instead of daily updates. Brodie Clark posted a detailed visual illustration—a GIF—showing the problem on X. He grouped the delays into three periods, which align with my own observations:

– July 11th to July 24th (14 days)
– July 1st to July 10th (10 days)
– June 13th to June 30th (18 days)

Depending on your time zone, these dates may shift by a day. For example, in New York, they appear a day earlier. The GIF he shared effectively demonstrates these delays within the report.

A static example from a profile I have access to also shows the same issue, highlighting the extended wait times for the data to reflect recent indexing activity.

Brodie summarized the situation, noting that “indexing data for pages in Search Console has been delayed for weeks now – we only have three unique data points since June 13th.” While this delay isn’t critical for everyone, it does hinder quick analysis, especially when troubleshooting specific pages over short periods. Ultimately, the data will come through, but it takes much longer than usual. This lag makes the impact of changes seem more significant than they truly are, which can complicate decision-making and strategy.

It’s apparent that Google is aware of these problems, and there’s hope they are working to improve the speed of the reporting pipeline for the page indexing report. Discussions on this topic are ongoing within the community.

Google recently updated its structured data markup guidelines for review snippets, emphasizing the importance of honest and transparent reviews. The new instructions clearly state that websites should not display fake reviews or reviews that are incentivized without proper disclosure.

Specifically, the guidelines identify two primary issues: reviews that are not based on actual experiences with a product or service, and reviews written in exchange for benefits—such as money, discounts, vouchers, or free products—that are not explicitly disclosed. Google’s aim with these updates is to enhance user transparency and trust in reviews displayed via structured data.

The changes are mainly in the guidelines section, with examples illustrating what constitutes undisclosed incentivized reviews. The overall site content hasn’t seen any significant modifications besides this update. Comparisons between the current and previous versions of the official guidelines show these clarifications.

In addition, this update aligns the structured data standards more closely with the policies governing Google Business Profiles, ensuring consistency across review-related practices. Discussions about this update are circulating on community forums and social media, highlighting its impact on how reviews are managed and presented online.

Google Ads is reportedly rolling out a new exclusion feature for Performance Max campaigns called household income exclusions. While household income exclusions have been available in Google Ads for quite some time, this is potentially the first time they are being introduced specifically within PMax campaigns.

This feature allows advertisers to select specific household income ranges to exclude from targeting at the campaign level. The available options include the top 10%, 11-20%, 21-30%, 31-40%, 41-50%, lower 50%, and unknown income categories. Excluding certain income groups can be particularly useful for products or services that perform better among specific income brackets.

A digital marketing professional shared a screenshot demonstrating the new functionality, showing checkboxes for each household income segment, where selecting a range excludes that group from seeing the ads. Conversely, unselected ranges remain targeted.

This addition provides more granular control over audience segmentation based on household income, enabling advertisers to tailor their campaigns more precisely according to their target market.

AWR Details:

DataForSEO SERP Volatility:

Wincher:

Wireboard – this report combines multiple tools into a single chart:

Zutrix Tension:

Mozcast:

AccuRanker Grump:

CognitiveSEO:

Serpstat:

Mangools SERPWatcher:

Sistrix:

SimilarWeb:

Algoroo:

SEMRush:

SEO Community Discussions

Community conversations are buzzing on platforms like WebmasterWorld and other SEO forums. Many are reporting significant changes—ranging from dramatic traffic drops to ranking fluctuations—suggesting a broad and unpredictable update in Google’s algorithms. Webmasters are describing chaos, comparing previous periods of volatility to this surge in unpredictability, and sharing personal accounts of traffic declines averaging 60-70% in certain regions. Some report zero conversions on Google Ads for the first time, and others note declining rankings and engagement, with some experiencing a trend of descending traffic over several days.

These insights point to an active, turbulent period in Google search rankings, with many site owners experiencing notable impacts in their traffic and rankings. Tracking tools and community reports confirm that something significant was likely rolled out or adjusted during these days, contributing to the current chaos in search results.