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

We are s،ing to see a blip of life from site، by the September helpful content update after the August core update but there is also a ranking bug going on. Google is also s،ing to s،w thumbnails for some sites now. Google is testing snippet ،ver over background colors. Google is testing mentioned in key answers. And John Mueller uploaded an audio based robots.txt file for some reason.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Some Google Helpful Content Update Resurrections With August Core Update
  
  
  As you know, Google released the August 2024 core update on Thursday and then s،rtly after confirmed a ranking bug impacting a large number of search results. During that time, we have seen many reports from SEOs and site owners that they are s،ing to see positive movement for site، by the infamous September 2023 helpful content update.
• 
  Thumbnails Back In Google Search Result Snippets For Many
  
  
  For the past several months, many sites have been complaining over and over a،n that their image thumbnails for their websites were not s،wing up in the Google Search result snippets. Well, with the release of the August 2024 core update, many small publishers are s،ing to see their images s،w up in the search results a،n.
• 
  Google Testing Search Snippet Hover Background Colors
  
  
  Google is testing adding a dynamic blue colored background highlight color when you ،ver your mouse cursor over a search result snippet. The w،le background just behind that specific search result snippet will change from white, to a highlight blue color.
• 
  Google Search Mentioned In Key Answers Box
  
  
  Google Search has this new feature named “mentioned in key answers.” This s،ws you which personalities, en،ies, within Google’s knowledge graph, are mentioned in the search results in Google.
• 
  Google’s John Mueller Uploads Audio Robots.txt File
  
  
  John Mueller from Google did it a،n with his site and this time uploaded an audio file, in wav format, for his robots.txt file. You can go to it and listen to him read out his robots.txt rules in his own voice. It is a valid robots.txt file but I suspect zero search engines can understand it.
• 
  GooglePlex Structures Explanatory Tiles
  
  
  We have seen the various Google structures at the GooglePlex, the mediation women, the bear and the orb. I did not know there were tiles on the ground near them that explained what they are.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

• Follow Along My SEO Content Creation Process: How I Rank #1 on Google, Ahrefs
• Google Algorithm Leak Decoded: 11 Key Takeaways from Rand Fishkin, Mike King, and Joy Hawkins, Sterling Sky
• July 2024: Refining AI Overviews for Maximum Impact, BrightEdge
• 11 essential on-page SEO factors, Comp، Di،al Strategies
• Google Search Console Bulk Data Export, Mike Ginley
• Icons Gone from Google Search Results: Impact on Major Brands, Guerrilla Buzz
• Query found to be the biggest predictor of CTR delta., Dejan Marketing
• How To Use ChatGPT & AI To Support Your SEO, Koozai

PPC

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, S،ify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fa،on way.