Hey SEO Peeps, it’s Friday again… and this means it’s time for another weekly roundup of SEO news. 

For a quick glance of what’s happening this week:

• Google: Suspension of request indexing unrelated to indexing bugs
• Martin Splitt says links in commented out HTML do not impact ranking
• Google’s issues with the missing product description in Google My Business and local wait time (Now Fixed)
• Google: There is no optimal number of links on a page
• Google Ads activates real-time alerts feature and more

Read on to find out more about the details.

21/10/2020 – Google says Link In Commented Out HTML does not have Rank Weightage

Martin Splitt from Google recently confirmed that while Google can discover links within commented out HTML code, that these links do not have any rank weightage. 

Here’s the tweet from Martin: 

26/10/2020 – Google says there is No Optimal Number of Links on a Page

In continuation to Google saying they have a high limit on the number of links it can extract from a page, Google is now saying there is no optimal number of links you should have a page. 

Here’s the tweet from Google’s John Mueller regarding this. 

27/10/2020 – Google: Suspension of Request Indexing Unrelated to Indexing Bugs

As many of us are aware, Google has temporarily suspended the request indexing feature in Google Search Console. 

This came during the time Google had ongoing indexing issues with search and now although the issues are fixed, the requesting index tool still remains inactive.

Google’s John Mueller took to Twitter to say that the “changes in Search Console are unrelated to that issue.”

27/10/2020 – Google’s issue with missing Product Descriptions in GMB and local wait time

It looks like Google has a few bugs this week, one including the missing product descriptions in the Google product carousel. Images were seen on the carousel with no information as shown in the tweet below. 

Meanwhile, another bug was the misinformation with restaurant wait time. 

These two issues have now been solved at the time of the writing. 

28/10/2020 – Google Ads activates Real Time Alerts Feature and more

Google ads now has a few new features including real-time alrets, improvements to draft campaigns, and easier access to make new campaigns and view discapprovals. 

Real time alerts

The new Google Ads now allows you to receive real-time alerts from Google Ads if your campaign has any critical issues. This includes issues such as invalid URL or location overlap, and any issues that could potentially prevent your campaign from running or serving at its full potential.  

Additionally, Google will also provide you a summary of all there alerts in a review step. Here’s the screenshot.

Draft campaigns

Google Ads has also now made it easier to pick up where you left off with your campaign set up. Draft campaigns progress will now be automatically save and you can return to them by visiting the Campaign page or find it on the Overview page. 

Faster Creating Campaigns & Viewing Disapproved Ads 

Google also improved the process of creating campaigns and viewing disapproed ads. According to Google, we can now see our campaign status in the overview page and they will also include details that will help you understand why the ad was disapproved, an option to appeal the decision, and to edit the ad directly. 

These updates are currently available for Search campaigns and will expand to other campaign types in the coming months. 

And that rounds up this week’s SEO updates! Let us know if there’s any important stuff that we missed or if there’s any topics you’d like us to cover.

Enjoy your weekend ahead!

Updated: 15 April 2024

About Vivian

Vivian is an anthropologist lost in the world of digital marketing. She has an interest in learning about the science of marketing and the creativity that businesses use to transform themselves into purple cows.