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In this episode, we’ll cover the latest and most relevant news on search and AI. 

• What we know about the Product Reviews Update
• New featured snippet design (important!)
• An interview with Jeannie Hill on hiring expert authors for YMYL topics

In the full version

• The latest news on AI and search
• More on the helpful content system
• Sitenames and favicons on desktop
• Top Sights and Explore on desktop – not good for affiliates
• More from Google on Bard & how they will likely add it to search
• Tips to help you get the most out of ChatGPT
• SEO Tips including using ChatGPT to assess product review / helpful content hits
• Local search news including new LSA verticals, interesting local shopping stuff and more.

Also added a bit last minute about GPT4 possibly coming soon and a lot of people having indexing issues.

I really enjoyed writing this episode! I’m working on making them more concise and organized. It’s hard 😂

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From what I have seen so far, it feels to me like this update was not as impactful as other product reviews updates, but Barry Schwartz is reporting it actually was significant for quite a few sites. 

Dates: February 21 – March 7, 2023

What changed: Google made a point of saying that this update affects many languages other than English. 

What the SEO community is seeing. There are reports of sites dropping, but not as many as with other updates.

What my data shows. Most sites that I monitor are showing no obvious impact from this update. 

What the community is saying.

Now that the Product Reviews Update rolled out in other countries, there are many more affected sites to analyze

Like this German site, which *looks* like an ecomm site, but is just scraping product descriptions with affiliate links.

Google treats it as a Product Review site pic.twitter.com/ZuPL9dlGo3

— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) March 8, 2023

PRU Update: It's easy to focus on surges and drops, but how about sites with killer reviews content that show serious stability throughout a Product Reviews Update? Here's Wirecutter, WSJ Buyside, and Goodhousekeeping. Very, very stable. Makes sense when you think about it. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/l2azD7zGG1

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 7, 2023

👀 This Google Product Update ain’t looking too pretty so far. 😳 My other sites seem unaffected. pic.twitter.com/ynHABaFY7e

— Keith (Minted Empire) (@MintedEmpire) February 24, 2023

I spent some time reviewing one of the pages from this site:

Hi 👋 I’m Robin Lespagnard, the founder of https://t.co/63PHUvoT2j, a generalist product review website originally produced in French, then translated into EN, DE, IT, ES and NL. I founded Selectos in 2019 because I’ve always liked comparing and testing products myself.

— Robin Lespagnard (@RobinLespagnard) March 8, 2023

I filmed a video with my thoughts and will be sharing this on YouTube in a few days hopefully. Here is my channel.

Last week we reported many people saw featured snippets disappear…looks like they were testing things because now we are seeing a new look for featured snippets with a bigger font and bolding for certain words.

Noticing 2 small changes on Featured Snippet results:
1. Slightly larger font size
2. Answer is highlighted within the snippet.

Does anyone else see this or is this another test?#SEO #SERP pic.twitter.com/ZKMcXqTNNt

— Krinal Mehta 🇮🇳🇨🇦 (@krinal) March 3, 2023

Cool 😎 pic.twitter.com/cqyq4LieSV

— Jess Joyce 👩‍💻 (@jessjoyce) March 7, 2023

I think it is fascinating to see which words are bolded. Each is essentially the answer to the searcher’s question.

These new featured snippets are really interesting.

It's a lesson in understanding which part of the answer is most important when it comes to fulfilling a searcher's need. pic.twitter.com/wx0Lzae104

— Dr. Marie Haynes🐧 (@Marie_Haynes) March 5, 2023

Google introduces its new UX highlighting the *EXACT ANSWER* in big text Featured Snippets.

For Google, it shows the simple power of answering questions using pure search – as opposed to AI

… for websites, the new feature almost certainly means an increase Zero-Click searches pic.twitter.com/SipimPIorC

— Cyrus (@CyrusShepard) March 6, 2023

Last year, we updated our mobile search results to help you more easily identify websites listed in search results & ads: https://t.co/PAlDnTgpy6
Now, this updated design is rolling out globally on desktop.

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 8, 2023

Favicons and site names are coming to desktop! You can learn more about how to provide site names and define favicons in search results here:https://t.co/AGkfEeIbIs https://t.co/E7PxSacIIx https://t.co/WBHGf12Xkw

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) March 8, 2023

The parts I’ve highlighted below are what’s new – each listing has a favicon (logo) and their “Site Name”:

Google linked to this blog post called Helping you easily identify information sources in Search. It says the purpose of adding these is the purpose of these is “providing even more information about the sites that you see so you can feel confident about the websites you visit.”

Ads are now labeled as “Sponsored” to help distinguish them from these new organic results.

Today, Google added site names to the desktop search results. It's now getting tougher and tougher to distinguish ads from the organic results. pic.twitter.com/oPEy4KnfQa

— Chris Long (@gofishchris) March 8, 2023

My thoughts: This emphasizes the importance of your brand having E-E-A-T. Being recognized as an expert on your topic is one of Google’s helpful content questions:

Jeannie Hill reached out to share this article she wrote on how tools like ChatGPT can make expert authors even more valuable. I’d recommend reading it!

I had so much I wanted to chat about that I figured it would be quicker and better to do a video call. We discussed:

• Using experts as authors
• Are authors in the knowledge graph? I love the idea of each of us having a digital footprint or DNA
• An interesting case where an author skimped on quality and used ChatGPT to write YMYL content. 
• How I use ChatGPT to help improve my writing.

New verticals for local service ads

New LSA VerticalS"
Beauty school
Dance instructor
Driving instructor
First aid training
Massage school
Language instructor
Preschool
Tutoring
Child care
Funeral home
Animal shelter
Pet adoption
Pet boarding
Pet grooming
Pet training
Veterinarian
/1

— Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) March 7, 2023

Focus on Local? -> Local Services Ads now supports more businesses

"Local Services Ads is now available for more than 70 types of businesses, including those in categories like education, people care, pet care, wellness and health care." https://t.co/zmvgv3kjaO pic.twitter.com/6vD8om7HyW

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) March 7, 2023

Pay attention to local shopping results

This is a notable update for retail entities seeking to gain visibility in organic search – Google Business Profile products now in Google Shopping search results via @rustybrick https://t.co/H2s9Dp2efI

— Jeannie Hill (@essentialskill) March 7, 2023

Regarding store types not compatible with Pointy

I think we should be paying more attention to Pointy. It is a way to track inventory that Google is really pushing. My thought (without knowing as much as I should on the subject is that using Pointy is a way to quickly get your product into the shopping graph (which is likely important when Bard is live.)

Having a UPC/EAN barcode is not the only requirement.

* You must sell the products at a physical storefront, and
* use wired barcode scanners OR a compatible POS.

Google will block restricted products from showing up on Pointy. (E.g. tobacco, guns, Rx meds, adult, etc.)

2/4

— Stefan Somborac (@StefanSomborac) March 6, 2023

Google Business Profiles asking for your BBB info

New: Google Business Profile asking for BBB link in assistive help flow, and even more questions.

— I guess GBP trusts BBB a lot! Which is strange in some cases. pic.twitter.com/U3sg9213Z6

— Ben Fisher (@TheSocialDude) March 5, 2023

This likely does not mean that you a BBB listing is a ranking factor. Rather, it’s more information to help Google connect the dots in terms of EEAT and determine that you are a legitimate business.

The BBB is mentioned in the QRG. I wrote this article a few years ago to explain why that matters.

How to deal with fake reviews

Fake review attacks are a negative SEO tactic that strikes fear in the heart of local businesses. Particularly those in competitive SAB categories in major markets.
Here the steps to getting these reviews removed. /1 pic.twitter.com/07igeo3jSY

— Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) March 2, 2023

Looking for a new SEO job? SEOjobs.com is a job board curated by real SEOs for SEOs. Take a look at five of the hottest SEO job listing this week (below) and sign up for the weekly job listing email only available at SEOjobs.com.

• Tech Search Manager ~ New York Times ~ $90K-110K ~ Remote (US)
  
• Sr SEO Analyst ~ Ledge Lounger ~ $85K – $95K ~ Remote (US)
  
• SEO Specialist ~ Optimum7 ~ $50k – $80k ~ Remote (US)
  
• SEO Strategist ~ Thrive Agency ~ Remote (WW)
  
• SEO Copywriter ~ Cars.com ~ Remote US

Course 

I am getting far! Mighty Networks is so intuitive.

Community

I had several really good chats with colleagues today to discuss what my new community will look like. I am still debating several paths ranging from a low priced community to one that is private and expensive but for my network of clients. If you have thoughts, please do reach out to me. The course will be set up on Mighty Networks and the community will follow.

Office Hours 

I don’t have any planned for next week, but likely will do office hours the week after. Stay tuned.

Consulting

I have closed my consulting calendar for now.

If you need SEO consulting, here are a few options:

• Sign up for my waiting list when I start doing site reviews again.
• Contact me for a recommendation to a professional. (Please know I’m only in email 1-2 times per week now so there may be a bit of a delay in my response.)

If you made it this far, you are truly a dedicated reader! I thought I’d end by sharing our garden pics with you.

This is our fourth year with our garden. Here is what we produced last year:

Many of those plants were ones we started from seed, but we bought a lot from a local nursery. This year we are experimenting with growing more and more of our own seeds.

We started planting seeds this week! Last year, we started at the traditional time, because everything we read said do not start early. This year we are experimenting with starting some early and some a few weeks from now. 

David read about humidity domes. The grow lights are from Amazon.

 I cannot believe how quickly these shoots came up. These were all planted in the last 3-5 days. 

It’s a new Fortnite season today, so I’ll be off playing this afternoon. Have a great weekend!

Marie

Become a paid member for the full version

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Become a paid member for $18 per month

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