The Featured Snippet is the official SEO newsletter of Performics and is dedicated to keeping you up to date with the latest SEO industry news, trends, and events—all in an easy-to-read, summed-up format. See below for the latest version of The Featured Snippet:
In the July 2022 issue of The Featured Snippet:
On July 27, Google announced that it has started to roll out its fourth product reviews update, which will take 2-3 weeks to complete. The first product reviews update was in April 2021 followed by product review updates in December 2021 and March 2022. The product reviews update is an algorithm update that attempts to rank product reviews that will be most helpful to searchers. Product reviews with more robust content will likely see an increase in ranking over thin, less helpful content. The official announcement from Google is below:
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On July 15, Google confirmed that there was an issue with indexing in Google Search that was affecting a large number of sites. This issue caused Google to not index any new content added to various sites across the internet, causing that new content to not be seen in Google News and Search. On July 16, Google confirmed that this issue was fully resolved. The official announcement of indexing issues and updates are below:
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Video Indexing Report
Google announced that a new video indexing report will be rolling out this change slowly over the next couple of months, which was first announced at Google I/O 2022. This report will help you understand the data gathered from Google Search Console indexing your video. This report will only be available for you if Google detects that there is a video on your site. The official announcement from Google is below:
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CNAME DNS Verification
On July 20, Google announced that there is a new way to verify your site within Google Search Console using CNAME DNS. CNAME DNS as a verification option was previously a feature within the old Google Webmaster Tools, and this verification method being added allows users one more option to get their site verified in Search Console. The official announcement from Google is below:
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Google released a new page that records all ranking updates made to Google Search that are applicable to website owners. The new page includes recent updates as well, including information on the May 2022 Core Update and the November 2021 Core Update. The official announcement from Google is below:
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In July 2022, Google announced that it would be adding 3 metrics to its new Google Analytics 4 platform: bounce rate, UTM term and UTM ad content, and conversion rate. These 3 metrics will be viewable under segments, audience, reports, explorations, and the Google Analytics data API.
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On July 28, Google updated its search quality raters guidelines. The update is a continuation of the October 2021 update to the raters guidelines and includes a few changes such as refreshed language and clarification on “Low” and “Lowest Page” quality sections.
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On July 20, Google added a new feature to the Google Business Profile that allows business owners to automate certain messages to questions submitted through Google Maps and Google Search. The feature can be managed in the FAQ section of the Google Business Profile.
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As of July 28, 5% of all URLs downloaded are now done using the new BingBot user agent, according to Microsoft. BingBot was first announced as a new user agent for its crawler in April 2022 and is expected to fully roll out in the fall of 2022.
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