Good morning, search marketers, is it a forgive and forget kind of Monday?
Google apologized for forgetting to tell anyone it has been ignoring rel=next/prev pagination markup. SEOs have been venting their frustrations about being in the dark. Most say they're sticking with the markup even if Google doesn't use it.
Google Express wasn't going to scare Amazon, but a new Google Shopping experience could help it claw back some product search. France is getting a first look at the new Google Shopping that features personalized recommendations — and more significantly, incorporates Google Shopping Actions right into the Shopping interface. Users can browse products, add those from merchants participating in Shopping Actions directly to a shopping cart and check out all from within Shopping. I expect this new flow will get more merchants to give Shopping Actions another look.
Old habits die hard. Maybe it's because people have been accustomed to asking Google questions for so long, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Google Home owners do more with their devices than Alexa owners? Google Home's market share lags behind Amazon Alexa, but a new survey shows some interesting behaviors that indicate it could gain traction. At some point these behaviors will have business and marketing implications.
Our new associate editor, George Nguyen (welcome, George!), spoke with expert SEO and search patent explorer Bill Slawski about a patent that suggests how at least one Googler is thinking about how CTR and time on page could be used in search rankings.
Lots more below, including a Pro Tip on how to deal with Google My Business spam.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-in-Chief
Quick links to stories mentioned above:
+ New personalized, Shopping Actions-enabled Google Shopping debuts in France
+ Patent suggests how CTR, time on page could be used in search rankings (if Google did that sort of thing)
+ Survey finds Google Home users do more, have 'far higher' satisfaction than Alexa owners
+ SEOs frustrated by Google's belated pagination announcement
+ Google apologizes for rel=next/prev mixup