Digital News

A new year in the world of SEO is upon us. Breathe in that new and refreshing air. Can you smell it? The air of change is upon us. Change to rank on the SERP as one long, and I mean seriously long, Google update helped kicked the new year off. Not enough change for you? Not to worry, Google also released a slew of SERP feature tests that dominated the first month of the year. My, my! Aren't we off to a fast start?! Welcome to a new year, welcome to the SERP news for January 2018!

While we may be in the new year, we're not done with 2017 just yet. Google closed the year off on the SERP with a heavy hitting algorithm update and some of the most interesting SERP feature tests and upgrades that we've seen all year. Whether it was images in AdWords ads or more content inside Featured Snippets, Google capped the year off in a way that was anything but boring. 

November was one wild month on the Google SERP. Google's update to its ccTLD policy sent SERP feature trends into an international whirlwind. On top of that Featured Snippets saw a mobile loss while Knowledge Panels jumped off the charts. If that weren't enough, Google revamped product search on the SERP with what was nothing less than a strategic SERP feature strike force aimed at its retail rivals. This, and a deluge of SERP feature data changes and upgrades!

Accessing country-specific Google search results has been turned a bit on its head recently. When Google announced that you could not use a specific ccTLD to access a country's search results, international SEO underwent a dramatic change. Though, in typical Google fashion, accessing international search results was not the only thing to change. With the domain change, Google changed the data trends of some of the most important features on the SERP across the globe. Beyond the inherent interest in tracking such changes, these alterations present both new SERP feature trends as well as insight into the very domain-level change Google made in late October.

It's hard to believe another month has gone by. With a new month comes a new set of SERP news to sort through. The October SERP saw one of the year's biggest SEO story-lines move onto the next chapter while Google's recent revenue narrative continues to evolve. These newsworthy SERP scoops, plus a slew of SERP feature tests and changes, made October's Google SERP quite the provocative place!

Where does a news publisher rank within Google's mobile Top Stories news carousel? Is the outlet's article the first card Google shows or the 15th? Tracking rank within Google's mobile News Box is not easy, but it is well worth it. If you're an SEO who is working with a news publisher, tracking rank within Google's mobile Top Stories carousel can really set you apart. Allow me then to show you how to best track mobile Top Stories rankings.

The September SERP was a doozy! The month was just downright interesting with Google throwing some real curve balls out there. Whether it was pushing an algorithm update or altering SERP feature trends, Google did not seem like its traditional self. On multiple occasions it seemed as if Google had shifted course a bit this past month. All I can tell you is, this one is going to be interesting.

Dearly beloved we are gathered here today, on Google's very own birthday, to announce the departure of the Search Box SERP feature from the face of the earth. In less dramatic terms, Google has removed its Search Box feature from the SERP on both desktop and mobile. The removal is uniform, and as such, applies to every country that previously carried the feature.

August made for quite the interesting month on the Google SERP. At first glance you might not think of August as being SERP spectacular. Don't be fooled however, amidst the multitude of SERP features tests and changes Google revealed a big card that gives us a nice look at what's in store for the future of Google's monetization strategy. Welcome to your ticket to the August SERP train. Hold onto your wallets because this is going to be a wild one!

After June's monumental algorithm update you might have figured that Google would lay low for a bit. Not so. The search giant merely shifted its focus from fine-tuning algorithms to adjusting the proportions of its SERP features. More than that, it would seem that Google took this lull in algorithm activity to bring some of its SERP features into the shop for a series of readjustments. 

For the second month is a row, Google has rolled-out a significant algorithm update. Following a May 18th Google update, the end of June heralded in an update that just kept on going, and going... and by month's end still had not entirely run its course. As expected, the impact on rank was no small matter. Truth be told, this elongated algorithmic anomaly nearly eclipsed the rest of June's SERP news. Not to fear, it will all be covered here in the latest (and possibly greatest) edition of The SERP News.

Nothing says fun like tracking Google hit some big time retail sites as part of an algorithm update. Should such an endeavor sound like fun then this article is for you, because that's exactly what happened last month on the Google SERP. To be sure, that's not all of the SERP news that's fit to print. The month of May also saw the introduction of a whole new way to approach Google reviews that could be a "ratings" game changer. Of course, the month was filled with your usual parade of tests and changes to Google's rainbow of SERP features.