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🔍 The request indexing tool is finally back

Good morning, Search Marketer, we are two days away from Christmas.

For most of us, that doesn't actually mean anything except being within sight of a three-day weekend (if you have Christmas day off). But, for the people in charge of Google's Doodle logos, it typically marks the first day of a three-day series of Doodles ending on Christmas day.For reference, here's what last year's Doodles looked like, which were much more conservative than the ones from 2018. Now that you know, check and see if Google has kept the streak alive, or if 2020 has claimed yet another holiday tradition…

George Nguyen,
Editor

 
 
 
Tools
 

Google Search Console brings back request indexing tool

After 69 days, Google has reenabled the request indexing tool, within the URL Inspection tool, in Search Console. Just last week I was complaining about this very issue when Google "temporarily" disabled issue validation (hopefully that feature doesn't take 69 days to get back either).

Remember, if you have a large number of URLs, submit a sitemap instead of requesting indexing. And, just because you used the tool doesn't mean Google will index or rank the page.

Read more here.

 

What 129 million calls can tell us about the state of inbound marketing

Sponsored by CallRail

Inbound marketing has become a strategy small businesses must invest in — but you probably already knew that. What's more compelling is how the results show that call-tracking software is one of the best tools available for measuring attribution and optimizing the effectiveness of your inbound marketing and phone calls.

We analyzed more than 129 million calls across 12 industries to understand inbound marketing's impact on generating calls from leads.

Find out more »

 
PPC
 

See the estimated list sizes of your similar audiences

It's just gotten a bit easier to see your expected reach with new customers: the estimated list size of your similar audiences is now available directly in Audience Manager in Google Ads. Previously, advertisers were only able to see their estimated list sizes when applying them to campaigns.

Currently, these estimates are only available for search audience lists with more than 20,000 users, and for YouTube audience lists with more than 5,000 users, but Google says it's working on expanding coverage in the future.

Read more here.

 

Master the science of search marketing analytics

Join us online, February 23, 2021 at SMX Report: a deep dive into everything you need to know about analytics for search marketing. Book now for just $99!

Register now »

 
Search Shorts
 

Adult sites and rich results — do they mesh?

Rich results for adult sites. Google search rich results can show up in the search results for many sites but over the years, Google has become more selective on which sites to show it for. Google's John Mueller said in a video hangout that Google does not show rich results for adult sites but if you dig through the content guidelines, most rich results do not mention adult content being an issue.

Google Discover story length. Valentin Pletzer, an SEO, published some data on Twitter around how long stories or articles last and show up in the Google Discover feed. Google Discover is hard to measure because everyone sees different items in their feed, but it is still interesting to see what Valentin collected with his personal study.

Google Guaranteed pricing discounts. Seems like Google is offering some folks pricing discounts on Google Guaranteed listings. Justin Sanger shared a screenshot on Twitter showing a $101 discount if you prepay the year.

 

Measuring marketing attribution

No one wants to invest time, money and energy into campaigns that don't provide any ROI. In this quick reference guide, marketing professionals from small and medium businesses share how they make sure marketing efforts convert to sales.

Read more »

 
 
 
What We're Reading
 

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

Considering Search & Digital Marketing in 2021 – Majestic Blog

Google Denies Antitrust Claims in Early Response to U.S. Lawsuit – New York Times

Google Unpaid Shopping Listings: Where Are They Now? – Merkle

How Long Do Stories Last On Google Discover – Search Engine Roundtable

The Local SEO Stats & Practical Tactics of Google's Top-Ranked Grocery Stores – Moz