Daily Search Forum Recap: March 15, 2020

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Chrome Mixed Content Does Not Fully Impact Google Search
  Google made it so that Chrome would show a site is not secure when there is mixed content. But does that impact how the page ranks in Google search? Not currently.
• 60% Of SEOs Prefer If Google Pause Algorithm Updates During COVID-19 Outbreak
  Yesterday I asked should Google pause algorithm updates based on some folks in the SEO community thinking Google should. I posted a poll and within 24 hours it now has over 1,100 results. Almost 60% of SEOs said they would prefer if Google stopped pushing out algorithm updates during this period of time.
• Google My Business Using Duplex To Call Businesses To See Hour Changes Or Closures
  Google said it is using Duplex, Google’s AI based phone calling service, to call businesses to check if business hours have changed or if the business has closed. Google wrote “using our artificial intelligence (AI) technology Duplex where possible to contact businesses to confirm their updated business hours, so we can reflect them accurately when people are looking on Search and Maps.”
• Bing: Use 302s For URLs That May Change In Two Days, Otherwise Go 301
  Fabrice Canel from Microsoft Bing said on Twitter “preferable to use a 302 redirect if your destination URL may change within 2 days, else 301 is recommended.” So if your redirects will be in place for less than two days, go with a 302 – otherwise, Bing recommends a 301 redirect.
• US Democratic Party Symbol Was A Rat In Google’s Knowledge Panel
  Last night for a period of time, if you searched for [democratic party] or similar searches, the knowledge panel showed a rat as the symbol of the party, not the official donkey. Google fixed the issue after a couple hours but this just shows how certain knowledge panels are hard to protect.
• Homemade Google Android Sign: Keep Calm & Wash Hands
  Louis Gray from Google is working from home and he is an Android collector, so he put together this sign for his work from home situation. It is to remind him to keep calm and wash hands. He even put

Other Great Search Forum Threads:

• You’re searching for the robots.txt file from what I can tell – that doesn’t make much sense, and is unlikely to lead to results. Just access the file directly., John Mueller on Twitter
• Many news pubs have dropped paywalls to ensure everyone has access to good COVID-19 / coronavirus info. That’s wonderful & appreciated. But if you can afford & especially had been thinking about it, it’s also a good time t, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
• Facebook Flagging Links from Authentic Sites, WebmasterWorld
• Microsoft Server Message Block 3.1.1 (SMBv3) Protocol Vulnerability, WebmasterWorld
• Twitter Rewrites Developer Policy, WebmasterWorld
• Who would be interested in a live Q&A on ecommerce by Google? What Google technologies would you love to ask a question on? How about Monday March 23 at 7pm UTC? https://t.co/Pk992GcSSw, Alan Kent on Twitter
• You know what? Let’s do a virtual hangout where we can talk about #JavaScript #SEO on Wednesday. 📺 I will add the link to it here. Wednesday, 18:00 CET / 1pm EST / 10am PST. Let’s do this! 🥳 Pleas, Martin Splitt on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Promotion Building

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

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