This week it looks like Google is going to be trying to keep more people on Google for review and product info. If your business model is reviewing products you’re in for a rough ride. Buyer guide label IMO, was changed so as to draw less attention to those they are competing with for these eyeballs. This has the potential to put a whole class of sites out of business which I’m sure Google knows will not sit well with those they crawl to get the info. Again like publishers back in the day if Google wants to continue to exploit them they will run out of sites to exploit as site owners look for new ways to pay the bills.
This weeks Featured News
Google Things To Consider In Google Shopping Listing Detail Page
Google is also trying the Things To Consider feature not just in the main search results but also in product/shopping detail listing pages.
So the name is an obvious way to deflect criticism about adding more “one click” features to the SERP. As mentioned above without reviews to crawl to get the info these mashups of data are not as effective how ever IMO, manufacturers are going to realize they can add the info to the site and do their own product comparisons and reviews
Google: Don’t Change URLs and Change Them Back For SEO Testing
John Mueller said on Twitter he would recommend against changing URLs and then changing them back, and repeating that, for SEO reasons.
This should be common sense but based on recent experiences I guess there aint much of that around these days. IMO, there is not enough taught about the basics of how search engines work. Do they realize urls are tied to everything IMO, that is why so little thought is put into file names etc. cuz Google has downplayed their role in ranking and understanding what a page is about.
Google Search Product Comparison Gains Compare With More Products
I think Google’s use of the KnowledgeGraph is becoming very powerful! I wouldn’t even hazard a guess as to the how I assume it’s MUM but I’ll leave that up to Bill to comment on. There is almost a theme to todays news in that it is spelling the end for some types of sites tied to reviews and product information. Ecom sites using these types of pages to draw ecom traffic are going to see some real hits in the near future as Google continues to expand one click SERPs. This could actually be a way to drive adwords clicks as they would be the only option for those who have made decision to purchase.
Google Testing Higher Price Icon In Search Shopping Results
“I would focus on the intent: create useful, authentic, trusted, reviews that bring new insights and deliver value to users. The published best practices are guidance towards these goals, not binary in/out decision points.”
The main points to consider were that just saying you tested the product likely won’t be very effective. Suggest adding screencaps of testing, pictures of tests or any media that makes the review valuable to user. Parroting manufacturer info won’t cut it! IMO, as manufacturers realize the value of their product info they will make it machine readable again pushing 3rd parties out of the “game”.
Google Now Says Automatically Generated Content Against Guidelines When Intended To Manipulate Search Rankings
I know many would argue all SEO content is meant to manipulate so again IMO, a poor choice of words for the guidelines. As I work with various AI tools I see where using them to identify topics entities and summarize the information for a query corpus has real value in content development. Do I believe that the summary is publicly consumable? No it is a framework to write a complete post! It saves time and ensures the entity, topical relationships and associated info (questions & related searches) in order to rank are included. These AI development tools are very powerful and are expanding to images another time consuming activity that has huge potential for doing images on the fly!
Google Testing Higher Price Icon In Search Shopping Results
Nonsense testing! Apples to oranges comparison. Basically compares an average price for all fireplaces to very high end products. Might be useful when used within a group but this is just nonsense useless info that will never see the light of day in the real world.
Not All Product Comparisons Trigger The Google Product Reviews Algorithm
Typical! Basically if Google decides it’s a review it’s a review…. otherwise it’s not! How they decide that is likely something that will become more evident with time!
