SEO News & Updates for January 2025

Google Updates Review Snippet Guidelines with New Rating Recommendations

1 days ago

Google has updated its review snippet guidelines, requiring ratings to include review comments and author names for better context. Key changes involve proper schema markup, ensuring visibility of review content, and management guidelines that prohibit review aggregation from other sites. For local businesses, ratings must come directly from users, and self-controlled star reviews are not allowed. These updates aim to ensure authentic review systems.

Search Central Live returns to Brazil in 2025

1 days ago

SEO

Search Central Live will return to São Paulo in 2025, following successful events in 2023 and 2024, and will also visit Recife for the first time. SEOs, content creators, and others interested in Google Search can apply for invites for events on February 18 in São Paulo and February 20 in Recife. Speakers will discuss how Google Search works, AI usage, and measuring SEO efforts. Registration is open until January 23, with invitations sent on January 30.

Google Sunsets Web Vitals Extension as DevTools Integration Completes

3 days ago

SEO Technical SEO

Google has ended the Web Vitals Chrome extension with Chrome 132, finalizing the integration of Core Web Vitals into the DevTools Performance panel. Users will get end-of-support warnings, and the CrUX API key will be revoked. A migration guide is available for transitioning to DevTools, and instructions for keeping a local copy of the extension are provided for those who cannot migrate. Google will continue to improve the Performance panel's features.

Google Updates PageSpeed Insights with Enhanced CrUX Data Transparency

3 days ago

SEO Technical SEO

Google has updated PageSpeed Insights (PSI) to enhance visibility into the data collection period for Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX) metrics. PSI now shows CrUX data for the 75th percentile of real user visits over a 28-day period with a two-day delay. This update helps developers monitor site optimization impacts and affects Google search rankings. The implementation of CrUX data varies across Google's tools, improving accessibility for developers.

The Ultimate Google Analytics Audit Tool

Featured

Get the most out of your Google Analytics data with Marketing Auditor – a powerful tool that helps you uncover and fix errors in minutes. Generate white-label reports packed with actionable insights and a customized action plan to optimize your analytics setup effortlessly. Customize reports with professional themes or your branding, and export them in editable formats like PowerPoint or Google Slides.

Google Updates Manual Actions for News and Discover Policy Violations

4 days ago

SEO

Google updated the manual action policy violations list for News and Discover. They removed the adult-theme and artificial freshening sections and added new deceptive practices sections, along with updates to the hateful content section. The new sections cover coordinated deceptive practices, good neighbor policy, impersonation, and misrepresentation of affiliation and location. These changes were noted by Gagan Ghotra between October 10 and November 27.

Google tests Daily Listen audio feature in Google Discover app

9 days ago

SEO

Google is launching a new Search Labs experiment called Daily Listen, which provides a daily audio overview of stories and topics of interest in under five minutes. It uses user preferences from Discover and Search to create personalized episodes. Available in the Google app on Android and iOS, it features a fullscreen player, text transcripts, and playback controls. Users can give feedback and explore related stories. The rollout begins today.

Google Search Console Adds Hourly Data Export Feature

10 days ago

SEO Google Search Console

Google has improved its Search Console by adding a feature to export hourly performance data for the last 24 hours. Users can download metrics in Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, and CSV formats. This feature aids in data analysis and debugging, offering insights into website performance. However, users should be aware that recent metrics may not be final and should validate this data against other exports, as it is limited to the previous 24-hour period.

Trending ️‍🔥

Microsoft tricks users into thinking Bing is Google with new search interface

10 days ago

Bing SEO

Microsoft is using Bing to mimic Google in search results to encourage users to switch from Google to Bing and Edge. When searching for Google on Bing without signing in, users see a page designed to resemble Google, including a search bar and a Google Doodle-like image. This tactic aims to confuse users, especially when setting up new PCs. Google’s Chrome team criticized Microsoft for this behavior, highlighting a history of similar tactics.

Google Explains 404 Error Validation Process in Search Console

11 days ago

SEO

John Mueller from Google clarified the handling of 404 errors and redirects during website migrations, focusing on Search Console's validation process. He explained that the 'mark as fixed' feature tracks progress, not speeds up reprocessing. Returning a 404 for non-existent pages is acceptable, but proper redirects and status codes are crucial. Changes are processed quickly, but larger sites may take longer. Proper implementation is vital for maintaining search rankings.

SEO News

FAQs

What are the top SEO updates I must know about in 2025?

What are the latest SEO news this month?

What are the best SEO tools that I should use?

What's the best source for SEO news and updates?

Is there a SEO newsletter I can subscribe to?