Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

This week, guess what, we had more volatility over the weekend and also a blip in the middle of the week. Google also had another indexing bug that lasted only about an hour.

There are new reports that a booking/appointment system run by Thumbtack, a local search service, is automatically adding its booking links and service to Google Business Profiles. Well, you can opt out, if you don’t want it. But I am sure most businesses will have no clue this was added to their local listings in Google Search and Google Maps.

Google has added a method in Search Console settings to add your shipping and return information. This should make it easier for some merchants to specify their shipping and return details to Google Search, so that information can be shown in Google Search.

Google may be testing auto-playing the video thumbnails it has within its search results page. I am not sure if this is some sort of browser bug or something else, but Google may auto-play the video thumbnail without sound in the search results.

Bing is testing a voting feature in the Bing Search results. You can vote up or vote down specific search results in the search results page. It even shows you the percentage of votes for those who voted it up versus voted it down.

It is not news that Google now mixes in ads within organic results, but I have to say it still feels super icky to me that Google does this. Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, confirmed that search ads can appear directly below organic featured snippets, as part of Google’s “ongoing evolution of dynamic ad placement on search.”

Learn SEO and online marketing with the best digital marketing courses. Choose from a range of free and paid options to start your career

Ensure your website’s content is original with these Copyscape alternatives. Learn how to check for plagiarism and protect your credibility.

Emma shares how to cater to user behavior shifts during times of economic turbulence using thorough research and user journey mapping.