Our weekly digest of what’s happening/trending in the digital world provided by Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and Search Engine Roundtable.

From Search Engine Land

Google Search Console out of beta, adds more features
Google has added a manual actions section to the new Google Search Console, and the URL inspection tool now works in real time. Read more

Google’s somewhat-new guide to totally excellent ads
As responsive search ads make their way to an account near you, suggestions on how to implement all of the ad formats in one big happy account. Read more

5 ways to avoid duplicate content and indexing issues on your e-commerce site
Before a page can rank well, it needs to be crawled and indexed. Read more

Avoid the 8 most common pitfalls of automated bidding
With more and more PPC tasks becoming automated, it’s important to understand the limitations of automation. Read more

Google Chrome now shows search result answers in the omnibox by default
Chrome 69, Google’s latest browser version, also removes the green label for HTTPS URLs. Read more

Google gives thumbs-up on placing your local reviews from Yelp, Google Maps and others on your own website
The only exception here: Make sure not to mark up those copied reviews with review structured data and schema. That would be against Google’s guidelines. Read more

6 ways the August core algorithm update impacted local business
Was your site affected by the recent core algorithm update? Here’s a look at the changes made to local and small business sites after the update. Read more

From Marketing Land

Instagram rumored to be moving further into e-commerce with a stand-alone shopping app
According to reports, users would be able to search for products and make purchases directly in the app. Instagram has declined to comment. Read more

Good riddance to social media mass production
Social media marketing is in a near-crisis situation. Here’s what marketers must do to survive and thrive. Read more

SurveyMonkey files to go public
Though still unprofitable, the online survey platform has annual revenue over $200 million and a large user base. Read more

Location attribution goes mainstream, as Pandora marks 400th campaign with the KPI
Pandora seeing higher ad spending for campaigns that include offline measurement. Read more

From Search Engine Roundtable

Google: The Source Alone Of The Link Doesn’t Make The Link Bad
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that the source of the link alone doesn’t make the link a bad link. Read more

Google Tests Rounded Search Box That Sticks To Top
Looks like more and more searchers are seeing a brand new design test from Google in their core search results. Read more

Revert: Google Search Settings Now Back To Normal
Yesterday we reported that the Google Search Settings page updated and removed the setting to define how many search results you want to see on a page. Read more

September 2018 Google Webmaster Report
Here is our monthly Google Webmaster report with the big ticket item being the Google Medic Update coverage, with some other updates this past month as well. Read more

Google Tests “Relevant History” In Search Results
Google is testing showing searchers a section in search called “relevant history.” Read more

Google Shopping Ads “See More” Button
PPC Chat on Twitter posted a screens hot and video of a new treatment to Google Shopping ads on mobile search. Read more

Google’s John Mueller: “Why Not Put A Date On It”
As you all know, I am a huge fan of dates on articles and blog content. I even suggested Google should penalize pages that do not put dates on articles. Google has not gone that far, yet. Read more

Google: If You Want Your Images To Rank Then Use Alt Text
Google’s John Mueller said this morning on Twitter that if you want your images to rank in Google Image search, it is extremely helpful to Google if you add alt text to your images. Read more

Google Ads Restricts Third-Party Technical Support Providers
Google announced late Friday that they will begin restricting ads from third-party technical support providers due to an increase in misleading ad experiences. Read more

Google Search Console Now Defaults To BETA Version
When you go to the main Google Search Console home page at google.com/webmasters and click the sign in button, you are now taken to the new BETA version of the Google Search Console. Read more

Google Displays AMP Icon Within Story Image
Google is showing the AMP icon in the carousel within the story image, as opposed to outside of the story image. Read more

New Google Search Console Adds Live URL Inspection Tool & Manual Actions
As you know, Google has graduated the Google Search Console out of beta and with that, added a new live feature for the URL Inspection tool and also brought in the manual actions section into the tool. Read more

Google Tests Expandable Top Stories List View
Google is testing a way to load more stories in the top stories section where Google shows a list view versus a carousel. Read more

Google Search Ranking Update Brewing? Early Signs Of Algorithm Shifts.
I am seeing super early signs of a Google search algorithm update brewing right now. Read more