is the 22nd anniversary of search marketing:

Google deduplicates featured snippets

Google introduced a global change in featured snippets in 2020. This meant that any URL would only appear once on the first page search results pages, rather than twice.

Google stated that there would not be any changes to its web search results. As before, there would be 10 unique listings. Google would stop showing any listings twice and deduplicate them.

Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan shared the news via Twitter

We will not repeat a web page listing if it is moved to the featured snippet position. This helps users find relevant information faster and reduces clutter in search results. One of the ten web pages we list includes featured snippets.



@dannysullivan

Google tested to remove a site’s regular snippet in November. When a featured snippet was shown, it was removed. This was even tested by Google in 2017.

Learn more about it in Listings which earn featured snippets won’t repeat on the first Google search page.

This day, too


Google Search launches a new mobile design and interface

2021 This updated interface was designed to make it easier for searchers to use the search interface, while also making it more modern and cleaner.


Google My Business updates flag review feature

2021 This form asked the business owner “Why aren’t you reporting this review?” and then it presented multiple options.


Google could remove Australia search if it is forced to link to sites.

2021 Mel Silva, Google Australia’s managing Director, stated that the latest version of Code requires Google to pay for links to news sites. This is a violation of a fundamental principle of web design.


The inclusion of contextual links in featured code snippets could open up new possibilities and expose you to potential risks

2021 SEOs were concerned about brand safety, click-through rates and how to optimize this search result feature.


Google’s mobile first indexing guide update highlights the same content across all site versions

2020: Several new guidelines were created in various areas, including crawling and structured data.


Video: Josef Sperzel discusses technical SEO and how to use Python to pull data

2020: This installment of Barry Schwartz’s vlog series features Sperzel talking about his journey into technical SEO, site architecture, and spider crawling issues.


Google offers improved GMB sign up flow for service-area companies

2019: An improved process would make it easier for you to create service areas on GMB.


Google sues small business owner

2019 The defendant firm falsely claimed that it was acting for Google.


The new Google Search Console could be available for everyone

2018 The majority of users were able see their properties in Search Console beta.


Sergei Eisenstein Google Doodle Honors Soviet Film Director Known as the Father of Montage’

2018 This animated image showcased the director’s techniques for creating montage films effects.


Court Documents: Google Paid Apple $1 Billillion for Safari Default Placement

2016 According court documents and testimony in Oracle’s copyright lawsuit against Google, “Apple got $1 billion from its competitor in 2014,” according to testimony.


Google Searches Down 1 Billion From 2014, but Mobile Volumes Likely to Go Up

2016


Search in Pics: Google Dance Shirts and Google’s Micro Library & Revealing screen shot

2016 These are the most recent images taken from the internet. They show what people eat at search engine companies, their play habits, who they talk to, and what toys they own.


Wilbur Scoville Google Doodle Marks the 151st Birth Of Man Behind The Scoville Scale

2016 This interactive doodle featured an animated Scoville and pepper facts, as well as a game that pitted an ice cream cone against different types of pepper.


Google suggests Firefox users change their search engine & home page

2015: Yahoo won in November the contract to be the default search engine for Firefox; however, Google lost some search share.


Bid Preview Tool – Lets You See The Effects of Bid Changes in Real Time

2015: Advertisers can see how ads will display with bid increases, before they commit to new keyword bidding.


Bing Also Tests Google’s Search Design Interface

2015: Bing was also caught testing the interface of Google’s search engine design interface.


YP Launches Cross-Device Targeting with Local Search Query Data

2015 This combination of high-intent query data and cross-screen behavior, as well as ad-exchange mobile display inventory, was a result of 2015.


Google Webmaster Tool Crawl Errors Reports Now Displaying Errors on Final Redirect URL

2014 The crawl error report indicated that errors were found in the final URL of the URL redirection, and not the origin URL.


Google’s Matt Cutts says that we don’t use Facebook or Twitter Social Signals to rank pages.

2014: This video answers the question “Are Facebook signals and Twitter signals part the ranking algorithm?” The short answer is no.


Google Adds a Knowledge Graph Popup to Search Results. But is it good for site owners?

2014 This data was used to provide background information about the website that was listed in the search results. It appeared in a small popup windows accessible via a clickable link at the end of the result.


Yahoo Search Secures Referrer Data — A Signator Of Yahoo’s Popularity — With it

2014: This meant more protection for searchers, but what does the loss of referrer information mean for search marketers


Google Now Changing the Top Search Filters Based on Query

2014 Depending on what query you typed into Google’s search box, the options at the top may differ from the ones you see.


Study: Search Clicks after Two Weeks

2014: Display ads generated more searches, clicks, and conversions.


Google Panda Update Version #24; 1.2% Of Search Queries Impacted

2013: A new Panda refresh.


Report: 25% Of Search Clicks Now from Mobile Devices

2013 – Desktop searches were stable from Q3 2012 to Qu4 2012. Mobile search shares increased, but desktop searches remained the same.


Google Earnings show a halt in CPC decline, at least temporarily

2013 After several quarters of decline, the cost-per-click in Google’s advertising business increased by approximately 2% in its fourth quarter.


Google to Replace Black Top Bar with Gray Colored Bar

2013: Google’s top-bar had a black background with white/gray text.


Bing Tags Expands, Makes Pages Linked To Your Profile Public

2013 You, or others, could tag pages so that they appear in Bing’s search results. Anyone with a Facebook account linked to Bing would see this.


Search Engines Are Driving Libraries to Extinction? It’s not quite yet

2013 Libraries still play an important role, with access to print works and professional librarians.


Google’s “Find Hotels by Travel Time” offers some of the “Innovation” Google was talking about

2012: Transit search was available only in cities where Google had partnered up with local transit agencies to integrate their data within Google Maps.


Google May Let You Blacklist Domains To Fight Spam

2011 Matt Cutts confirmed the fact that Google had been discussing giving searchers the option to remove domains in its search results.


Google’s Matt Cutts On 2010 & Looking Back At 2009

2010: Cutts responded to a question regarding where he believed Google and search would be by 2010. He also re-created his presentation about the “state of index” in another video.


comScore: US Has Most Searches; China Slowest Growth; Google Tops Worldwide In 2009

2010: Searches grew by 46% overall.


Google Adds More Answers & Info To Search Results

2010: Google introduced an events calendar microformat and began highlighting relevant answers in the snippets.


Google Founders to Sell 10,000,000 Shares in Five Years

2010 This was part a plan to diversify their portfolios in the future.


Google ranks 4th on Forbes’ Top Companies to Work For List

2010 Google was also fourth in the 2009 list, following being first in 2007 & 2008.


Ballmer Critical Of Google’s China Decision

2010. Ballmer called this an “irrational decision” by Google.


Satellite Images Of Haiti’s Earthquake From Google & Bing Maps

2010: See before and after images taken by satellite as well as 360-degree videos from the ground.


Bing Maps Challenge: Try Silverlight Version, Maybe Win $100

2010: Microsoft asked people to download or update Sliverlight so that they could use the new, improved Bing Maps.


Search In Pictures: Google China, Yahoo Character & Google Pillows

2010 These are the most recent images taken from the internet. They show what people eat at search engine companies, their play habits, where they live, what toys and other details.


Google Revenues Beat Street, Economic Uncertainty Lingers

2009: Google reported revenue of $5.70 Billion for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2008. This is an 18% increase over the fourth quarter 2007.


The Rise (And Fall) Real-Time Search

2009 Despite all the efforts to add value to real-time searches, especially where Twitter was concerned, Twitter may have ended those efforts by announcing new API limits.


Microsoft Announces Q2 Reports, 5,000 Layoffs

2009 Layoff Rumors True, but the numbers were lower than expected


Google Wants to Help Marketers Do More with Less

2009 To help advertisers achieve their goals, the Google AdWords team launched a mini-site.


Job Search Engines – The Most Hot Thing Going

2009: Search for a job was the fastest-growing category of search in the U.S.A in 2008.


Obama Is “Failure” At Google & “Miserable Failure” At Yahoo

2009 President Obama took over all links that contained anchor text with the words “miserable fail” in them. This was a direct attack on former president Bush.


Yahoo Search Update: First Update Of 2008

2008:Yahoo has been updating their “crawling indexing and ranking algorithms” for the past few days.


Publicis & Google In Technology Media-Planning Partnership

2008 “Google would trade its technological know-how to Publicis’ analytical and media planning expertise.”


Google fails the one-hour guaranteed press response test after a month

2008 This quick response was intended for “corporate policy questions.”


Google Takes a Walk Down Fashion Avenue: The Oogle Sari

2008 Satya Paul’s collection had a design called “Oogle Sari” that looked like an sari

Contains the Google search results.


Chinese Kissing Couple Sues Subway Operator For Uploading Video To YouTube

2008 This video was reportedly watched over 15,000 times in two days, and it apparently embarrassed the couple greatly.


Yahoo Search Index Update January 2007

2007: Yahoo has officially confirmed recent speculations about an index update.


Google’s blacklist of phishing sites contained bank information & more confidential details

2007 – Google quietly removed the information. It included usernames, passwords, and credentials for accounts at financial institutions, as well as credentials for bank accounts.


Wikipedia Nofollows Links Again – Due To SEOs Abusing Wikipedia

2007 This was because of a discussion about a new SEO contest where editors were warned about an onslaught spammers.


BBC to Partner with Google on Video Content Deal

2007 Google will make some BBC content available via Google Video and YouTube.


Google Germany Goes Kaput?

2007 The time that Google Germany vanished due to domain registrations at google.de


Google Seeking To Place Ads In Video Games; In Talks To Buy Adscape Media

2007 Google was always looking for new ways to expand Google’s advertising program to help our users, advertisers, and publishers” – even in-game advertising.


Google To Provide Downloadable E-Books

2007 The goal was to allow readers to download complete books to their computers in a format they can read on screen or mobile devices like a Blackberry.


Google Adds Sponsored Links To Your Search History

2007 Google has added your sponsored click activity to Google Search History.


Local Search Collaboration Tools

2007: This project was designed to help people with similar interests and problems figure out where to go, what to do, and how to get there.

Search Marketing Expo ( , SMX).

Past contributions by Search Engine Land’s Subject matter Experts (SMEs).

These columns represent a snapshot of time. They have not been updated since publication, except where noted. These articles do not reflect Search Engine Land’s views.

Search Marketing History

The post Search Marketing History: January 22 was first published on Search Engine Land.

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