Google’s back in court, accused of running another monopoly. The August core update won’t help small independent sites recover their lost rankings. Fixing heading tags doesn’t improve SEO, and a new partnership that enables users to find past website versions and removed content are just some of what we cover in this week’s news roundup.
Also, Barry Schwartz reports on another Google AI Overview study about links, and Anthony Will from Search Engine Land explains how to remove, respond, and recover from negative Google reviews.
Google Warns Some Sites May Not Recover Regardless Of Core Updates
Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, reveals that sites experiencing traffic losses because of Google updates might not regain their past ranking levels.
Key takeaways:
- Barry Schwartz interviews Google’s Danny Sullivan to address why the August core Algorithm update isn’t helping small independent site owners recover lost rankings.
- Schwartz questions Google’s efforts, and Danny Sullivan agrees Google could do more to reward sites that provide helpful content.
- Sullivan advises publishers to adjust to recent updates rather than radically changing their existing websites.
- Sullivan also discusses Google’s efforts to improve its algorithm and hints that more changes are coming.
U.S. Antitrust Trial Accuses Google of Running an Ad Tech Monopoly
The US Department of Justice has brought Google back to court, accusing it of running another monopoly, this time in ads.
Google defends itself by stating that the Justice Department is outdated and its case is like a time capsule.
Key takeaways:
- The US Department of Justice accuses the tech giant of monopolizing ads to reduce competition and drive up costs so that it can maximize its profits.
- The regulators say Google dominates the market because it controls both sides of the buy-and-sell transactions between advertisers and publishers.
- Google’s lawyer says the feds’ case is based upon the internet of yesteryear and is no longer relevant.
Google Confirms Fixing Headings Won’t Improve Rankings
John Mueller, Google’s search advocate, answers questions about heading hierarchy, saying headings have little SEO impact and that fixing them will not improve website rankings.
Key takeaway:
- A site owner asks if using heading elements (H1, H2, H3, etc) in a non-hierarchy order could harm their rankings.
- Mueller explains that fixing headings on existing sites won’t improve rankings.
- Mueller confirms Google doesn’t consider heading hierarchy for SEO, but using heading orders correctly is good practice and can help for other reasons (but didn`t explain why)!
- We give the key reasons Mueller said using a heading hierarchy can be beneficial.
Google Cautions Against Overreacting to Minor Traffic Fluctuations
Google’s John Mueller advises publishers whose sites with low click-through rates are experiencing fluctuations not to overreact when analyzing their performance data.
Key takeaways:
- Mueller advised a Redditor about traffic fluctuations and perspective when reviewing their site’s performance metrics.
- Mueller focused on the overall number of clicks the Redditor’s site was receiving, saying that because there weren’t many, any fluctuations would look worse than they were.
- Mueller referenced the mathematical concept of the “Strong Law of Small Numbers” to explain his advice.
Google Incorporates Wayback Machine With Search Results
Google and The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine joined forces to enable users to review removed content and past versions of websites, providing researchers with helpful historical data.
Key takeaways:
- Google integrates The Internet Archive Wayback Machine into its About page results to provide historical online content.
- Google said it’s doing this as users have expressed a need since the removal of Google cache links,
- The Internet Archive Wayback Machine provides data for online content from the past twenty-five years, providing a helpful resource for older and removed content.
- Google incorporates the new feature into its Search results page, which links to the Wayback Machine page, making research relatively easy.
From Around The Web
“Report: Half Google AI Overviews Links Overlap With Top Search Results”
Barry Schwartz from Search Engine RoundTable covers the latest Google AI Overview study about the overlap between search results and AI Overview links for direct match queries.
The report shows that Wikipedia, YouTube, and the top organic search results are the most linked sources.
Key takeaways:
- The study analyzed 11,163 search queries that generated 2,358 AI Overviews responses.
- The study reports, “46.3% of the documents linked in the summaries were from the top organic search results for the exact match query.”
- Almost half of the AI Overviews displayed links overlap with those in Google Search results.
- The overlap between search results and AI Overview links for direct match queries was higher than in previous studies.
How to Handle Negative Google Reviews: Remove, Respond, Recover
Search Engine contributor Anthony Will advises on responding to negative Google reviews from unreasonable customers, explaining their effect on search engine visibility, the long-term consequences, and how to remove them.
Key takeaways:
- Anthony explains why you must monitor your Google Business Profile and learn the appropriate responses to negative reviews.
- The impact that negative reviews can have on your site’s visibility on Google Search.
- The long-term consequences if you allow negative reviews to build up.
How to apply to remove negative Google reviews in certain circumstances, like fake reviews and spam, and when reviews violate Google’s review guidelines.
When he is not writing content, Terry can be found on his boat in Italy or chilling in his villa in Spain.
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