Daily Search Forum Recap: March 31, 2017

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...

Search Buzz Video Recap: Google Confirmed Fred, Never Denied An Update, Won't Use Machine Learning & More

This week in search, I covered how Google confirmed the Fred update and cited quality several times as the issue. Google also said they never denied an update to the algorithm. Google said machine learning wonât take over the search algorithm...

Google: Our Duplicate Detection & Clustering Is Stable

Paul Haahr, a lead search ranking engineer at Google, said on Twitter that there haven't been many changes to Google's algorithms around duplicate detection and clustering in the search results. He said "we make improvements to our code over time...

Google Search Snippets Showing "Tags"

I think I found something new myself that Google is testing or maybe have launched in the mobile search results snippets. A new line called "tags." I can't click on them but they show above the description/snippet block and below the title and breadcrumb URL...

How Do Consumers Really Feel About 2017's Digital Trends? [Infographic]

As we approach the year's second quarter, Google is already returning over 46,600 results for “digital trends 2017.” And if you’re in the digital marketing space, there seems to be an unspoken rule that you must always have an opinion on what the key trends will be for the year ahead.

But could it be that we’re all stuck in an industry echo chamber? As it turns out, some new research from Code Computerlove might burst that bubble.

Code Computerlove surveyed 1,000 U.K. adults to find out what they really think about these trend predictions -- things like voice search, virtual reality, and chat-bots. That data was then compared to what’s actually making the most noise online. Some key findings included:

• Mobile payments are the most sought-after technology in 2017.
• 9 out of 10 consumers claim to have no interest in using augmented reality in the near future.
• 1 in 5 people surveyed aim to spend less time in front of screens this year.

With that many people aiming to spend less time in front of screens this year, brands have to make their digital interactions count -- a poor initial digital experience can carry a long-term impact. Curious to know what else your brand needs to know about these trends? Check out the infographic below.

Google Tests Breadcrumbs At Top Of Search Results Snippets

Yet another Google user interface test to add to our list. Google is testing placing the breadcrumb/URL at the top of the snippet...