Industry News

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web...

Google has updated its local ranking documentation and Tips to improve your local ranking on Google page. The new wording is shorter and has fewer details than the older version.

Google seems to be automatically adding social media links to Google Business Profiles. A post from Darren Shaw of Whitespark shows that hundreds or thousands of locations had their social media links added over the past short period of time.

Google announced it has a new metadata field for its Search Analytics API (for Search Console's performance reports) that will tell you about incomplete data points you received through the API. Google said, "This field provides context about the state of the data, informing you when your request includes incomplete data points."

Google AdSense may have a bug with its PIN verification processs. There are tons of AdSense publishers complaining in the Google AdSense Help Forums about issues where they are unable to use the PIN verification anymore. It seems like a widespread bug but I am not sure, as Google has not responded to those complaints.

We know you have been able to add your text or WhatsApp number to your Google Business Profile for some time now, but now Google is asking for it when you set up your Google Business Profile for the first time.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

The Google June 2025 core update is still super heated...

Some real talk here about the nature of work, and what’s important:

Good work should do at least one of these things: fund the life you actually want to live, align with values you can defend at dinner parties, surround you with people who challenge you to grow, or teach you skills that compound like interest over decades. Great work does several of these at once. But work doesn’t have to feel like play, and you sure as hell don’t have to love every minute of it.

Source: Why are we...

Today marks the two-week mark of the start of the Google June 2025 core update. This update seems pretty significant thus far, with Google announcing the update on June 30th at about 10:30 am, then the volatility kicking off on July 2nd and seeing some partial recoveries from the helpful content update.

Google has updated a number of search-related help documents for its merchant return policies and loyalty programs. Google said these updates are to "remove unclarities in the documentation and examples."