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🔍 Is anybody voice search ready? | Search ads come to Assistant

Good morning, search marketers, this was some glitch.

The de-indexing saga continues. Google said yesterday that the indexing issue that started last week should be resolved "within the next eight hours." Though it noted that "some documents might take an additional 12-24 hours to restore." Let us know if you've been impacted: editors@searchengineland.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Sure, it's easy to over-hype voice search. But with more than two billion devices with digital assistants out in the world, voice search is growing. And apparently there's still time to get first-mover advantage over your competition, according to a study of more than 73,000 business locations in the U.S. Just 4% of those businesses were deemed "voice search ready."

And speaking of digital assistants, if you're an Android user, keep a lookout for ads in search results in Assistant. Search campaigns are extending to Assistant in some cases.

Lots more below, including testing infinite scroll and images popping up in more Google sitelinks.

Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief

Quick links to stories mentioned above:
+ Just 4% of U.S. businesses 'voice search ready,' finds analysis of nearly 75,000 companies
+ 'Rich Answers' and search ads coming to Google Assistant
+ Google's de-indexing issue still not fully resolved

 
 
 
Pro Tip
 

Here's why infinite scroll is something to test with Googlebot

A recent Googlebot test reveals that it does ignore rel=next and rel=prev tags. But Max Cyrek of Cyrek Digital does not think that is the end of the story. "It is worth taking a look at pages containing infinite scroll – dynamic content uploaded after scrolling down to the lower parts of the page and the navigation based on rel=prev and rel=next. If there is no other navigation, such as regular pagination hidden in CSS (invisible to the user but visible for Googlebot) we can be sure that Googlebot's access to newly uploaded content (products, articles, photos) will be hindered."

Read More »

 

The New Rules to Win Customer Loyalty - Apr. 11

Sponsored by Salsify

Consumer demand for compelling online shopping experiences continues to skyrocket. But how do you break through the clutter to get consumer attention? What motivates shoppers to click the "buy" button these days? Join us to learn the new rules for winning customer loyalty and which product page elements shoppers now care about most, and how these preferences have changed over time.

Read More »

 
Search Shorts
 

Sitelinks, Googlebot & Search Console

Images in Google Sitelinks. Google has been testing them for some time now but now more people are noticing images within Google sitelink carousels on mobile.

Block Googlebot by country. Nope, that is not a thing. John Mueller of Google said on Twitter that there's nothing to block webpages on a per-country basis in search.

Old Search Console – keep using it. The old version of the Google Search Console is still active and will be for some time. Google said keep using it where you think you need to.

 
What we're reading
 

We've curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader

5 Strategies to Improve PPC Lead Quality – WordStream

Google Says More Crawling Doesn't Mean Things Like Rankings Are Better – Search Engine Roundtable

How to Find Your True Local Competitors – Moz

Matt Cutts Wants Google To Bring Back The + Operator – Search Engine Roundtable

Preventative Online Reputation Management – Go Fish Digital

Reviving Retired Search Console Reports – Screaming Frog

Sunset of the Ad Manager API v201805 – Google Ads Developer Blog

Tips to Lower Rising CPCs – PPC Hero

 
 
 
Join Us
 

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