Google Shopping Goes Free Worldwide In Mid-October

  Google announced that by mid-October it will make Google Shopping free not just in the US, but also worldwide. Google said it is "bringing free listings to the Shopping tab in countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America."

Google said "just as we don't charge sites to be part of the Google Search index, listings for participating retailers are eligible to appear in these results at no cost to them."

Paid listings are still there, Google said it will still show paid listings "in ad slots and will operate in the same way as Shopping ads do today." But now you can also participate for free. This change will take effect by mid-October 2020.

This is actually being seen as of live now, in the UK. Here are some screen shots:

Anti-Semitic Image Search Results Pollute Google, Bing & DuckDuckGo

 Over the weekend Google and Bing (and DuckDuckGo) were all called out for displaying horrid and disgusting images that convey babies burning in ovens for searches like [jewish baby stroller] and [jewish bunk beds]. Google and Bing responded immediately to me when I forwarded it to them about their disgust but the issue is, these images still come up.

Most people know I am Jewish, I mean, I show it without question when I record my videos, speak at conferences and so on. When this was reported to me, it was about an hour before Shabbat and anyone who knows what is going on an hour before Shabbat in an observant Jewish home knows how busy it is. And then with Yom Kippur on Sunday night, there was little time to do a proper write up. In the past 3 days, I was unplugged and offline for 50+ hours of it in observance of Shabbat and Yom Kippur.

The responses I received from both Google and Bing were appropriate (both the public and private ones but more so the private ones). They were all disgusted, and ashamed, and they said they will get it fixed.

Clearly, Google and Bing did work on fixing it but just as easily as it was for these people who wanted to pollute Google and Bing's search results to get these images in for these obscure queries (no, Jews do not search for [jewish baby strollers]), they were able to do it again for other queries like [jewish bunk beds]. Plus, now you have credible sites showing screen shots of these images because they took screenshots of the search results. 

It was a problem for Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo because those search engines all work the same way and the query these horrid people targeted had no images that really matched the results. That is until these people filled the "data void" of not having images that matched the result by making their own images optimized for those queries.

Do I blame the search engines. Not really but yea, this is upsetting. I do think these really horrible situations will lead to better results in the future around this situation. It is sad to see people in the world have so much hate.

There is so much more I can write on this. Ultimately, it is hard for me to write about this because I do not want to bring more visibility towards any type of hate. But now that it is out there, all over social media, I do hope this example will lead to better search algorithms to prevent this type of thing happening against any religion, culture or group of people.

How long will it take this to be fixed on the algorithmic level versus Google manually pulling down images or setting some sort of quality threshold to block images from lower quality sites? I do not know. I just hope this results in big improvements to these cases and this hate is not easily surfaced and then shared across social media to fuel others with hate this easily. 

Google: The Context Around Links Is Secondary But Anchor Text Is Primary

 You know that many uses of anchor text on links around the web do not say much about where it is linking to. There are tons of "click here" links or other links that are not descriptive. Mihai Aperghis asked John Mueller of Google about the context around a link and how Google treats that.

In short, John said the context and content around the link is secondary. He said "that really strong piece of context from that anchor text that is missing in that case and then small things around the side, that does help us a little bit."

Mihai asked "Can Google get context for what is around that link?"

John Mueller said: "Sure. But that is more kind of secondary. Like that really strong piece of context from that anchor text that is missing in that case. And then small things around the side, that does help us a little bit. But really the kind of primary aspect of that link is kind of gone. And usually that doesn’t matter. It is not that it counts against your web site in anyway, it is just for this particular link, we don’t really know what the context is."

He goes on a bit more and you can watch the whole thing, it all starts at about 16:35 mark into this mornings hangout. Here is the embed so you can click and play it at that start time, it isn't too long:

Google Local Inventory Ads Gain "Pickup Later" Feature

 Google announced that it is expanding its local inventory ads to support the option for stores to show a "pickup later" option. So you can show when the item is available for pick up in the store.

Google wrote "we're expanding this capability with the introduction of "Pickup later" for local inventory ads. This gives you the option to promote products that may not be available in store now, but can be available for pickup within a few days. Reach out to your Google team to learn more."

Stores can already add like “In-store pickup” and “No-contact delivery." Also dining service attributes like "Dine-in" and "Takeout" are also available. But soon you’ll be able to feature retail service attributes, like "In-store shopping" and "Curbside pickup.”

This is Google still releasing features for the "new normal" in life during a pandemic.

Google: The Context Around Links Is Secondary But Anchor Text Is Primary

 You know that many uses of anchor text on links around the web do not say much about where it is linking to. There are tons of "click here" links or other links that are not descriptive. Mihai Aperghis asked John Mueller of Google about the context around a link and how Google treats that.

In short, John said the context and content around the link is secondary. He said "that really strong piece of context from that anchor text that is missing in that case and then small things around the side, that does help us a little bit."

Mihai asked "Can Google get context for what is around that link?"

John Mueller said: "Sure. But that is more kind of secondary. Like that really strong piece of context from that anchor text that is missing in that case. And then small things around the side, that does help us a little bit. But really the kind of primary aspect of that link is kind of gone. And usually that doesn’t matter. It is not that it counts against your web site in anyway, it is just for this particular link, we don’t really know what the context is."

He goes on a bit more and you can watch the whole thing, it all starts at about 16:35 mark into this mornings hangout. Here is the embed so you can click and play it at that start time, it isn't too long:

Google My Business SAB & Virtual Offices Guidelines Updated

 Over the past couple of weeks Google has been making updated to its guidelines around service area businesses (SABs) and virtual offices in terms of their Google My Business use. Joy Hawkins documented a lot of the changes in detail but here is a short summary.

(1) Separate office locations once again must be staffed by your business staff.

(2) Some SABs can have multiple listings if they have different staff in different locations. Google wrote "If you have different locations for your service business, with separate service areas and separate staff at each location, you’re allowed one profile for each location. The boundaries of your profile’s overall service area shouldn’t extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based. For some businesses, larger service areas may be appropriate."

(3) Businesses can’t list a virtual office unless that office is staffed during business hours.

(4) Storefront vs service-area businesses. If your business doesn’t have a storefront with clear signage but travels to customers at their physical locations, you’re allowed one service-area Business Profile. If you’re a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers.

There are many more changes, so if you have clients that this impacts, check out Joy's post.

Google Local Panel Updates Section Gets Message Button

Google seems to have added a message button to the "updates" section of the Google Local panel view. So these are where you can add updates through Google Posts on local, but there is a message button there for a customer to ask you questions about that update.

This was spotted by Darcy Burk and posted on Twitter. Here are some of his screen shots:

The consensus of the local SEO community is that this is a couple weeks new.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

New Google Supported Shipping Details Schema Markup

 Google announced yesterday that you no longer need to use Google Merchant Center to communicate your shipping details in the product search results. Now you can use new shipping detail schema markup to do the same thing.

Google wrote "starting today, we support shippingDetails schema.org markup as an alternative way for retailers to be eligible for shipping details in Google Search results."

This schema is aimed at helping searchers see shipping costs and estimated delivery timeframes based on the searcher's location and your company's shipping policies. Shipping details can appear in the overview and stores tabs in Google Search for a specific product result. To be eligible for this enhancement, add OfferShippingDetails structured data. For more examples on how to model free shipping, multiple services, and regions you don't ship to, review the Shipping details best practices.

This schema is currently only available in the US, in English, and on mobile devices.

Here is what it looks like on the front end of search:

Google explained that this method of using schema will only make your shipping data eligible to be shown on certain Google Search results. To also show your shipping data in unpaid listings on the Google Shopping tab and other result types, you'll need to configure shipping settings in Merchant Center.

The technical docs list out these as required properties:

    shippingDestination

    shippingDestination.addressCountry

There are a dozen or so recommended properties as well listed in those docs.

Google Merchant Center Image Policy Enforcement Going On The Item Level

 Google has announced that the image policy enforcement in Google Merchant Center is no longer going to be on the account-level and will switch to item-level disapprovals. So disapprovals will be on a more granular basis going forward.

Google explained "over the next few weeks, as a part of a gradual rollout, any accounts that are currently warned or under preemptive item disapproval due to image promotional text will be automatically overturned, and item-level disapprovals will be applied to affected products instead."

Google also took this time to recommend you to opt in to automatic image improvements.

So keep this change in mind, there may be a shift in your Google Merchant Center listings over this change.

Google Updates Document On How Reviews Impact Local Rankings

 Google has slightly updated the document on the local ranking factors, specifically the section around how reviews impact local rankings. The change was from "will probably improve" to "can improve" local rankings in the document.

Zach Mettra posted on Twitter the new version says "more reviews and positive ratings can improve your business' local ranking." The old version said "more reviews and positive ratings will probably improve a business's local ranking."

Google Search Fact Check Guidelines

 Google has updated its fact check Google Search developer document to list out all the current guidelines, both eligibility and technical guidelines. There were guidelines listed there before, but now all the guidelines are in this one document now.

Here are the eligibility guidelines for fact check schema:

    Your site must have several pages marked with ClaimReview structured data.

    You must follow all the structured data guidelines and webmaster guidelines.

    There must not be any mismatch between the structured data and page content (for example, if the structured data indicated that the claim is true, but the content on the page said the claim was false). Instead, make sure that both the content and structured data match (for example, both indicate that the claim is true).

    You must meet the standards for accountability, transparency, readability, and site misrepresentation, as articulated in our Google News General Guidelines.

    You must have a corrections policy or have a mechanism for users to report errors.

    Websites for political entities (such as campaigns, parties, or elected officials) aren't eligible for this feature.

    Your readers can easily identify the claims and checks in the body of the article. Your readers are able to understand what was checked and what conclusions were reached.

    You must clearly attribute the specific claim that you're assessing to a distinct second-party origin, whether it's a website, public statement, social media, or other traceable source.

    Your fact check analysis must be traceable and transparent about sources and methods, with citations and references to primary sources.

And here are the technical guidelines:

    A single page can host multiple ClaimReview elements, each for a separate claim.

    If different reviewers on the page check the same fact, you can include a separate ClaimReview element for each reviewer's analysis. For more information, visit Posting multiple fact checks on a page.

    The page hosting the ClaimReview element must have at least a brief summary of the fact check and the evaluation, if not the full text.

    You should host a specific ClaimReview on only one page on your site. Do not repeat the same fact check on multiple pages, unless they are variations of the same page (for example, you can post the same ClaimReview on the mobile and desktop versions of a page).

    If your website aggregates fact-check articles, ensure that all articles match the above criteria and that you provide an open and publicly available list of all fact-check websites you aggregate.

What was updated on this page? These specific guidelines were added:

    You must have a corrections policy or have a mechanism for users to report errors.

    Websites for political entities (such as campaigns, parties, or elected officials) aren't eligible for this feature.

    You must clearly attribute the specific claim that you're assessing to a distinct second-party origin, whether it's a website, public statement, social media, or other traceable source.

Google Talks About Private Support For Google Search & SEO

 We know Google has general said it does not offer private SEO or Google Search support. All Google Search and SEO requests should be done in a public setting. But that does not mean that Googlers like Gary Illyes, John Mueller or Martin Splitt do not read your requests, they just do not really act on them if they are sent in a private channel.

In short, in the latest Search Off the Record podcast Martin Splitt of Google brought up how should he deal with private emails or DMs, any private channel support method. In short, Google's internal policies does not allow for Googlers to offer private one-on-one support through private channels to specific sites because it would give that site an unfair advantage.

This does not mean Gary, John or Martin do not read your messages. Martin may miss your message and may simply not respond. Gary generally does read all the messages but likely will not follow up unless there is a wider issue. John tries to direct the person asking the question to ask the question in a public channel, like the forums, Twitter or hangouts. But he will generally not respond to the question in a private channel.

They even discussed when the Google Ads team asks for clients. So an Google Ads rep asks the Google Search team questions regarding organic search for their clients. Google's organic team will not respond to those complaints, even if they go up the channel and reach some VPs, they said.

It is an interesting conversation and you can listen to it on this podcast. The topic comes up at the 09:53 mark into the podcast and goes on for about ten minutes:

The biggest recommendation is to go to John's office hours webmaster hangouts to get better one on one support. Because there is John offering direct help but in a public channel.

iOS 14 Now Lets You Add A Google Search Home Screen Widget

 With the release of iOS 14 last week for iPhones and iPads, you can now add home screen widgets to your device. So the Google Search app has added support for the a Google Search Home Screen Widget on iOS 14.

To do this you first need the Google Search app and then do these steps:

    Press and hold on the home screen of your iPhone or iPad

    Tap the plus icon on the upper left corner to open the widget gallery

    Search for & tap the Google app

    Swipe right/left to select the widget size

    Tap "Add Widget"

    Place the widget and tap “Done” at the upper right corner

Google might just add the search bar option instead of the larger format - although, I am not sure if iOS 14 home widgets support that format.

Google Honors Jovita Idár, Mexican-American Journalist & Civil Rights Activist

 Google has a special Google logo, Doodle, honoring Jovita Idár as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. Jovita Idár was a Mexican-American journalist, political activist and civil rights worker who championed the cause of Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants.

She was born on September 7, 1885 in Laredo, Texas and she was most well known for her work during the Mexican Revolution, between 1910 through 1920, for her writing and journalism during that time. She was part of several movements including Orden Caballeros de Honor, the first Mexican Congress, and La Liga Femenil (League of Mexican Women).

Google wrote "Today’s Doodle celebrates Mexican-American journalist, educator, nurse, and activist Jovita Idár, a pioneer in the fight for Mexican-American civil rights at the turn of the 20th century. During the First Mexican Congress, which met the week of September 14 to 22 in 1911, Idár was elected president of the League of Mexican Women, a feminist organization ahead of its time in uniting women around the critical educational, social, and political issues facing the Mexican-American community."

Google: We Don't Have A Concept Of Toxic Domains

 Google's John Mueller said on Twitter "we don't have a concept of toxic domains." It was in a reply about a third-party SEO tool saying some of the links to his site are low quality and maybe toxic.

Google said previously most site do not have toxic links. So I guess there is some sort of "concept" around a toxic link but I doubt Google classifies those links internally as toxic.

PageRank by definition gives different weights to links based on the reputation of those links. But could those weights be negative? I doubt it, not since Penguin 4.0.

In any event, sure, I think with manual actions, some links can be "toxic" in terms of hurting a site from ranking. But with Penguin 4.0, Google now algorithmically just ignores bad links to your site.

SEO Companies Can Sabotage Your Web Site & Maps Listings

 Sadly there can be pretty immoral people in the world, including a lack of business ethics. It seems an SEO company and their client got in a disagreement about a work contract and the client wanted to part ways. The SEO company allegedly decided to completely sabotage the company in Google Search.

A Google Webmaster Help thread has the complaint from the client. Saying that he told the SEO company that he "was looking at discontinuing service with them." An hour later the SEO company gained ownership status of the business's Google My Business listing and was marked as permanently closed. Then shortly later the web site was also removed from Google using the Google Search Console emergency removal feature.

A Google product expert confirmed that "it looks like they have removed your site from search using Google Search Console. This is a feature that is designed for emergency use to remove a site, page or directory from search almost immediately." But he added that the "good news, it is just as quickly reversible."

A lot of folks gave this guy advice in the thread and it seems the owner was able to lock out the SEO company from the site, and the Google tools.

But this stuff has happened too often. We've seen attempts to hold SEO clients hostage before through SEO threats. Google said when it comes to negative SEO you can ignore it but this is beyond negative SEO, this case above was direct access to remove the site and business from Google Search.

So just be careful when you hire an SEO company. They literally can cause so much damage and you need to make sure to trust them before you hand them over such access to your business.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.