Daily Search Forum Recap: October 4, 2023 -

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.

Apple Business Connect, the local Apple Maps business profiles area, now offers new analytics and insights named per group benchmarks. Google Screens Local Service Ads now show unique ads on page scroll. Google Search tests popular stores category. Bing knowledge panels has new learn more carousel cards. Bing Webmaster Tools updated its colors to the new dark blue. Oh, there was a Google spam update released this afternoon, a lot more on that tomorrow.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Apple Business Connect Adds Peer Group Benchmarks

Apple has announced new insights and analytics to Apple Business Connect, its local business dashboard. The new insights are called “Peer Group Benchmarks” and tell you how well your business is doing compared to similar businesses in Apple Maps.

Google Screened LSAs Now Show Unique Advertisers On Page Load

Google’s Local Service Ads (LSA), Google Screened, previously would load the same advertisers as you scrolled down the search results page. Now, Google is loading unique, different advertisers when it shows you new Google Screened LSAs.

Bing Webmaster Tools Updated Colors To Darker Bing Blue

When Microsoft Bing announced its new features a couple of weeks ago, including the updated performance reports, it also went ahead and updated the colors of the top bar from the old light blue Bing colors to the new darker blue Bing colors.

Bing Knowledge Panels With Learn More Cards

Bing seems to be testing added “learn more” cards under the knowledge panel within the search results. The learn more cards are in a carousel format that you can slide through to learn more about the topic from third-party websites.

Google Search Popular Stores Section

Google is testing a section titled “popular stores” in the Google search results. It shows you stores like Walmart, Target, Amazon, Best Buy, Home Depot and more.

Fake Bear At Google

Here is a statue of a bear at the GooglePlex, the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. I am not sure where exactly the bear is and how old it is but it is there somewhere.