Stay ahead of the competition with the latest SEO news roundup. Google has announced the September 2023 Helpful Content Update and deprecated HowTo rich results. Additionally, Google is testing a new search snippet feature called “Mentioned in”.
Helpful Content Update
Google announced the September 2023 Helpful Content Update with an improved classifier. This update aims to tackle content that has been primarily created for search engines, not humans. Google also updated its official helpful content page with some new information to avoid creating search engine-first content.
They also added new information about hosting third-party content and recommended it should be blocked from being indexed by Google if it's largely independent of the main site's purpose. They also removed the "written by people" part from its documentation. This signals a change in the tech giant's attitude towards AI content.
MM TIP: Do you want to know how the Helpful Content System works and how to build human-first content? Read our Helpful Content System guide to find out.
New “Mentioned In” search snippet
Google is testing a new feature called “Mentioned in”. This expandable carousel search snippet feature informs users about which other websites mentioned the web page from search results. Providing searchers with information about other trustworthy websites that reference a site could potentially increase trust in Google's search results.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google no longer shows HowTo rich results
On September 13th, Google also announced the deprecation of HowTo rich results on desktop. According to Google's Gary Illyes, the elimination of SERP elements such as HowTo and FAQ rich results represents a trend that SEO professionals should monitor closely. He emphasized that “The ultimate goal is not for AI. It is to make results that look clean."
Site names are now available for all languages
Site names on Google Search are now available on mobile and desktop in all languages for domains and subdomains, excluding subdirectories.
Search Console news
Search Console launched a few enhancements to the Shopping tab Listings report to help merchants monitor the status of their products and find new opportunities to improve their visibility on Google. To enable these new enhancements in Search Console, you will need to connect your Search Console property with a Merchant Center account.
Source: Google Search Central
Google also published two new documentation pages for Search Console. They were previously published as blog posts, but they updated them and added more best practices. The first one is about Debugging drops in Google Search traffic and the second one is about Improving SEO with a Search Console bubble chart.
TikTok is testing Google search results in its search pages
TikTok is testing a new feature that integrates Google Search into its own in-app search results. It added a small link with the logo to its own search results page and it runs a disclaimer that it doesn't endorse or take responsibility for search results from Google.
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