English-speaking users have noticed that Twitter started tagging confirmed accounts in the news. Previously, this information was only displayed in the user’s profile.
The innovation has the following appearance:
The social network has confirmed that this feature is now being launched. According to industry experts, this change will allow users to filter out phishing web news.
Among the latest innovations within the service one can also find the switching to rank search results by relevance, and not by date of publication.
Twitter tested important news alerts in December.

Non-indexed pages in the site map is a normal practice for Google. This was stated by the Search representative John Mueller during the last meeting for webmasters.
"In Search Console we inform you about how many URL has been indexed, but do not indicate the specific pages. For the most part, this is not an issue to worry about. It is absolutely normal not to index all URL that we can find…
What is more important to be watched at is indexing important pages on the site, which should provide it the traffic," - said Googler.
As noted by Jennifer Slegg of The Sem Post, most of the pages are filtered because of duplicates or very similar content. In such cases it is necessary to consider the need to use the attribute rel = canonical.
If you are the owner of a large website and trying to figure out why Google does not index many pages, divide the map of the site to isolate the problem. For example, dividing the types of goods or pages. This approach often helps to identify which parts of a website are not indexed by Google, find the problem and solve it.

Turkey is now working on launching its own search engine and e-mail services that are compatible with national culture and values. This information was announced by the country's Communications Minister, Ahmet Arslan, who was interviewed to NTV television channel, reports Turkey Blocks.
The official emphasized the urgency of this problem. According to him, the user data should be stored within Turkey to allow a full analysis of communication within the country. Details of the plan, such as the name of the new services, their branding and organizational structure are still mute.
Arslan also added that the decision to create their own services was made after the debate on the reliability of Gmail mailer service that hacked the personal correspondence of the Turkish President.

Starting from January 19, Google AdWords will show the telephone numbers of branches in the ads within "Address" extension. It is reported by Search Engine Land, with reference to a letter sent to advertisers in the United States.
AdWords reports that this change starts in test mode and does not affect all messages with addresses.
Local phone will be displayed even if the ads are showing "phone numbers" extension with another number. The innovation is intended to improve the relevance of ads that specify address specific branches or outlets of the company.
Advertisers who use the extension addresses are advised to verify the phone numbers for all of its branches or outlets on Google My Business.
One will be able to disable this new feature through the form. However, Google warns that it would negatively affect the ad impressions and, as a result, phone calls.
It is not specified whether this innovation will be tested outside the United States.

As Google has repeatedly said that the report on inbound links in the Search Console is a URL sample rather than a complete list. Recently, the Search rep John Mueller said that this report is formed in different ways when considering small and large websites.
So, it shows almost all references for small resources, whereas it gives just a sample for all large ones.
"We have no strict rules as to what information to share. In fact, this report is a sample of links. For the small websites it is likely that almost all links will be received, while the larger resources provides only a selection of the most relevant sources", - said Googler.
Mueller was also asked to clarify what he meant by saying "smaller sites," but he did not give a clear answer to this question:
"I do not know where we could make that line. We are talking about a limited storage available for reference in the Search Console. Therefore, at some point we begin to cut it off [means the redundant data]. "
Those webmasters who control different size websites, the differences are likely to be apparent. Those professionals who run only small websites should notice a change in our reports on the growth of its resources and the number of incoming links.
Earlier it was reported that the update on the Search Console infrastructure could temporarily affect the data of "Links to your site" report.

Google has updated recommendations for those webmasters that transfer your website to a new domain, HTTPS protocol, or a new URL structure.
The updated document now has got a new subsection, which states, when it is better to carry out a partial transfer and when the whole URL:
"Think about the options you would prefer to get your webpage transferred.
• If you website is of small or medium size, we recommend that you transfer the whole URL. In this case, the users will not have problems using the website, whereas for Google robots it will be easier to detect the transfer and index the entire web page.
• If you have a large website, try to move it in parts. This way it will be easier to identify and troubleshoot possible issues."
This question was often called by webmasters, especially with the large websites. Now it has got a formal response by Google.
It is noteworthy that the medium-sized websites it is recommended to do the entire URL transfer. But the concept of "medium" is so much relative and the company has not specified the exact details yet.

The users have noticed that the update indicator in Google Search Console report became clickable.
Under indicator we should understand the vertical line with the word «Update».
From now on when one clicks on «Update» button the user will be moved to the Data Anomalies section that contains information about the update. Before, in order to find out the details of update, you had to go to the Help Search Console, find the page and the right section, focusing on the change date.

Google has introduced App Maker, which is a new service for creating applications that mostly focuses on corporate clients. The company is now accepting applications for early access to the tool from different enterprises that are using paid version of the G Suite.
The new service allows you to build applications by dragging and insert different widgets within the user interface. Then you can customize the application using scripts, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and JQuery. After starting the application you can track its functioning through Google Analytics.
App Maker is aimed at the professionals who are not application developers.
"We are mostly targeted at corporate developers who create a variety of solutions within their own company, but do not possess enough knowledge, that the mobile applications developers have," - says Google Product manager, Agee Surya.
Applications created with the help of App Maker, operate on the basis of the same infrastructure as Gmail, Google Calendar and Drive.
The data that is generated within the application can be stored in the new Google Drive Tables service, which is managed by a structured Google Drive database.
App Maker users will be able to integrate their applications with Google with a number of services, including Calendar, Contacts, Docs, Drive, Forms, Gmail, Groups, Translator, Maps, Google Sites, Tables and Google BigQuery.

Check Point Israeli company specialists have found a malware that has cracked over a million Google accounts. The number of affected users is still growing, which equals about 13 thousand people a day.
The virus was named Gooligan. It infects devices running Android 4 (Jelly Bean, KitKat) and 5 (Lollipop) and steals email-addresses and authentication data that is stored on them.
The resulting information can be used by hackers to gain access to user data in Google Play, Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, GSuite, Google Drive and other services.
The report says that about 57% of infected devices are found in Asia, whereas in Europe this number equals 9%.
The CheckPoint immediately contacted Google security service having detected the malicious activity. At the moment, the experts are looking for the source of both Gooligan campaigns.

Google has added a new setting into the My Business service. Using the settings users can manage notifications for email and mobile devices.
From now on you can modify the following notifications:
- important account updates;
- feedbacks from customers;
- notifications about photos published by the clients;
- notifications about new features and offers, which will help to attract more customers and others.
The information regarding new settings can be found here: business.google.com/settings.
More information about the innovation is available in the Help screen in Google My Business.

Google has updated the «How Search Works» page, adding the actual data on the number of indexed pages. At the moment this number exceeds 130 trillion and is still growing.
In March, the number was equal to 30 trillion. In less than 4 years Google has added more than 100 trillion pages into the index.
It should be reminded that now the company is testing a new mobile-first index. This means that in the near future the search algorithms will primarily assess the relevance of a mobile version of the page, and if not, it will use a desktop.
Find more inforation regarding these changes in FAQ.

A few days ago a lot of webmasters have noticed that Google shows the wrong date of the publication of content in the search results. This is clearly seen from the messages posted on Google Webmaster Help, Webmaster World, BlackHat World, and Moz forums.
The screenshot (see the link below) displays Google indicates that the message was published on the 30th of December. In fact, it was uploaded on the 11th of January.
The specialists are already aware of the bug and are currently working on fixing this error as soon as possible for all users affected.

If your website has 301 redirect set up for all pages to the homepage, then Google will treat those redirects as a "soft" 404 error. This was stated by the search department representative, John Mueller during a regular video-meeting for webmasters.
Therefore, Google will ignore this redirection, and they will not transfer PageRank.

Recently, Google rep, Jon Mueller, posted a call for webmasters to stop fussing about redirects on his page on Twitter. According to him, the redirect adjustment is a technical issue and not a matter of SEO. The most important thing is to choose the right version of the redirect, and there is nothing “supernatural” about that.
Mueller’s message was posted following the recent Twitter-storm con regarding the topic of redirects and how they are processed by Google.
During the discussion, Google's search quality analyst, Gary Illyes, said all redirects pass PageRank:
As it was seen from the comments, the foreign experts agreed to the fact that redirects are a matter of technical SEO.
We should remind you that in July this year Gary Illyes have already said that all the redirect codes 3xx pass PageRank.

Having launched the update for Google Penguin 4.0 a lot of questions raised among experts to give up using this filter. In particular, whether it will be possible to solve this problem by using Disavow file.
Yesterday the Search rep, Gary Illyes confirmed that Disavow Links is still a useful tool to leave the Penguin.
"We did not change our recommendations regarding the disavow links tool," - said Illyes.
In, the former head of Google's search quality service against web spamming, Matt Cutts, announced that in order to quit Penguin the Disavow files can be used:
We should remind you that on September, 23, Google announced the launch of updated version of Penguin 4.0. As a result, the filter update will be part of the core Google algorithm and will go into continuous automatic update mode.

Google announced that "Content Keywords" in the Search Console has been disabled.
At the time it was launched this report was the only way to see what Googlebot detected when scanning your website. Now webmasters have an access to the Search Analytics report, the tool "View as Googlebot» and other functions.
Google also noted that the "Content Keywords" report misled people. It gave the impression that the more similar the keywords added to the page, the more likely that it will be relevant in search results. In fact, it was not so.
This was exactly the reason of disabling this feature. Since fall Google got interested in the way the webmasters use "Content Keywords" report.
The idea of disabling the report became known in May this year.

Instagram is the largest advertiser on Facebook's mobile app category. This information was reported by AdAge citing a new Sensor Tower report.
The photoservice accounts 5% of advertising the applications setup in the social network. Previously, Instagram was in the top 10, but in the III quarter it took the prior position among advertisers in this category.
"Apparently, it seems like they will not stop advertising campaigns to attract new users", - said Sensor Tower Product management director, Wes McCabe.
Since, Instagram audience has grown from 100 million to 500 million active users per month. Particularly thanks to promotion on Facebook.
According to AdAge, Facebook does not allow advertisements to buy Twitter. The social network policy prohibits posting competitor’s advertising.
Facebook spokesman rejected this fact, but he also stressed out that the company reserves the right to reject, approve or remove any ad without giving a reason. We should recall that since Instagram belongs to Facebook.

Google is working on improving the algorithm, where the block "Breaking News" in the search results is based. The company's goal is to promote better news resources and deleting phishing web news.
Earlier this month, the head of Google, Sundar Pichai, was interviewed by BBC and he told that the search engine aims to reduce the probability of dissemination of untrue news to zero.
About two years ago Google made an access to the block of the main news for all publishers, not just Google News sources. As a result, the publications of Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Hacker News, and low quality content blog started appearing in the search results. After starting the AMP the access became even easier since these websites are adopting the new format so fast, therefore more and more news appear in the search results.
Although the websites are approved by Google News, they quite often publish low quality content, that do not meet certain criteria. At the same time the "Breaking News" block does not require any criteria.
We should remind you that in October Google News began to mark the checked articles.

South Korean authorities banned Google in using the official map data on servers outside the country, reported by Reuters. The reason for refusal were the security issues related to the conflict with North Korea.
Google points out that data should be used on servers around the world to provide a proper functionality for Google Maps. Otherwise, South Korean user will not be able to get information while on pedestrian and road routes.
"We are quite disappointed by this decision," - said Google’s spokesman. He also expressed the hope that in the future the situation may change, and users in the region will have access to all Google Maps features.
According to the Korean officials, using map data outside the country can threaten its security. In particular, military location and other important objects can be revealed in this case.

Google AdSense announced that all users of the service will be automatically transferred to the new interface within a couple of days. There will still be an option to transfer back to the previous UI version. However, in early it will be already disabled.
Google introduced AdSense updated interface last month. Initially it was optional. From now on it is set up by default.
Among the major changes is a completely redesigned home page and improved navigation.
According to the company, more than a half the AdSense active users decided to transfer to the new UI version and about 90% are still keep using it.

Google updated the documentation to create advanced snippets for articles pages. Now it clearly describes the difference between the markup for ordinary pages and AMP.
Earlier the documentation indicated the conditions necessary for the article appearance in the AMP-carousel. Now it specifies that the page can be displayed differently depending on its type: «AMP structured data" or «non-AMP structured data".
The updated guidelines clearly state that in order to get into the AMP-carousel the accelerated page should have the appropriate markup. Otherwise, it will be displayed in Google search results.
With regard to the layout specification, Google also shared recommendations for AMP and non-AMP pages. For instance, if AMP features such as headline and image are required then the HTML-pages are highly recommended.
Google also added a new properties category called «Ignored». It means that the property cannot be included in the markup.

Recently Google’s representative Gary Illyes confirmed that search engines need external links to ensure high-quality results.
The former head of department of Google against the web spam, Matt Cutts, said in that the failure of the accounting reference quality of the search results is getting worse. A year later, Gary Ilsh confirmed his words.
Internet Marketing consultant, Don Anderson decided to clarify what links he meant: internal or external. Illyes replied:
"I referred to external links. To some extent they touch the popularity of a resource, and approval from others. "

Facebook decided to do the revision of the rules of advertising and to limit the use of targeting towards the "ethnic community". From now on companies will not be able to use this option in the ads on the topic of employment, credit services, as well as the sale or rental.
About two weeks ago the possibility of targeting by ethnicity on Facebook was actively critisized. In particular, it was noted that in this way the social network violates the users’ civil rights.
Therefore, Facebook decided to ban this option in the above areas. Bisedes, the company will also make changes in the advertising policy. Under the new rules, the brand companies will not be able to post "discriminatory advertisements."
Changes will take effect by the end of this year. Targeting option to ethnic communities will be moved from the demographic to behavioral category.
When the new system is fully launched, advertisers will receive a warning concerning the violation of service policy when buying the ads.
If the advertiser ignores the warnings and automatic announcements confirmation will not be able to recognize the action of violation, the users themselves will have to inform about the violations.
Later, Facebook will publish some recommendations on how to advertise housing, employment and credit services under the new rules.

English-speaking users noticed that Google is testing a new interface of the search results page.
The test version has affected the panel, which is located below the search box. Moreover, the gearwheel-like icon was replaced by the "Settings» button. Next to it you can find «Tools» icon.
It is assumed that the in this way Google wants to encourage users to use the search settings bar more often.
It should be recalled that last month the search engine tested another SERP interface. This version is distinguished by a large number of units, designed in the card style with and a number of other changes.

Google is on the point of updating Search Console infrastructure; this makes a matter of possible delays in data registration in some of reports. This information was stated on Data Anomalies service webpage.
This situation will take several weeks. "Analysis of the search terms" report will not be affected.
Infrastructure Update was launched on November, 1.
At the moment, some webmasters lack data in "Links to your site" report.
It’s more likely that is has to do with the current changes.

There is a belief among foreign webmasters that websites built on WordPress receive some advantage in Google rankings. Yesterday it became clear that this is just another myth.
The question on the subject was given to search spokesman, John Mueller on Twitter. He said the following: «WordPress is a perfect for content management system, and it works well in the search. However, our algorithms are not taken into account in the ranking of such factors as the CMS, on the basis of which the works."
According to W3Techs by November, every fourth website on the Internet is powered by WordPress.

Google rep, Gary Illyes, reminded that if the code page indicates both directives Noindex and Index only Noindex will be taken into account.
It’s not an undiscovered land for many webmasters, but a truism. However, judging by the fact that Ilsh decided to remind about this on his webpage on Twitter, such situations are not uncommon.

Google has updated the bug report on AMP-pages in Search Console. This was reported by Data Anomalies in the Help Center service.
The reason why it was updated was the introduction of "scanning process" feature. "You can follow the changes to the AMP data due to a change in the scanning process," – the page states.
The Search Engine Roundtable editor, Barry Schwartz shared a screenshot of the updated report:
It should be recalled that the report on the rapid mobile pages in Search Console appeared in January this year. The developers have updated the report, improving categorization errors in May this year. It also has more information available about the specific problems identified at the AMP-page scanning.
The micro markup errors on AMP-pages have been transferred into the category of notes. From now on they do not appear in the report for accelerated pages in the Search Console.

Google opened access to resource sets in the Search Console by means of the Search Analytics API. Mike Sullivan from the United States was the first one noticed this innovation.
Google launched a new feature "Resource Kits" in the Search Console in May this year. It allows you to connect up to 200 resources of any type (either the web pages or applications) into a sole group and receive all the data on clicks and impressions in a single report.
From now on the resource kits are also available through the Search Analytics API.

Google has updated the "Security Issues" report in the Search Console. It provides more information on the problems detected by Safe Browsing technology.
The technology defines the following types of problems: malware, fraudulent pages (social engineering), malicious downloads and unwanted downloads.
From now on it provides the following information: description of the problem, recommendations for its elimination and URL examples, through which the webmaster will be able to find the source of the issue.

The European court has introduced a new criterion for the legality of links to the copyright material, which is the absence of profit.
From now on adding the website links to illegally published materials, which are protected by copyright, is no longer a violation in the case if the owner of the resource does not get any profit of the resource. Before they could justify the writer, unless he knew that the image to other resources were deployed in circumvention of the law. That is, if his actions were not deliberate and did not have a hidden intention.
The corresponding decision was accepted by Playboy’s lawsuit against the Dutch website GeenStijl. The latter was accused of publication of the links to an Australian website that posted posted pictures of Britt Decker, the TV showman without having any permission to do that.
The lawsuit was filed to the court when GeenStijl refused to delete references to images belonging to Playboy. Initially the case was heard in the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. Then it was passed to the European Court.