The new month is here, so let’s recap the most important news from last month.

Google News – September 2022

Changes To Search Queries in Google Analytics

Google is changing the Search Queries report in Universal Analytics and in Google Analytics 4 as well. As Google said, the main reason is to meet higher privacy threshold. What it means for us? Less data, again.

Search queries that have not seen sufficient search volume across Google searches will be excluded from Google Analytics reports.

Find out more here.

Source: Analytics Help

Google is Updating Destination Requirements

Starting October, Google is introducing new requirements for ad destination, meaning landing pages from Google Ads. Landing pages will have to meet the Better Ads Standards.

The destination has to be functional (not 404) and useful with a user-friendly navigation without any disturbing features. Ads, which landing pages won’t meet the requirements will be rejected. That’s why we recommend to go through this document once again to make sure your landing pages are safe.

Source: Advertisement Policies Help

Google September 2022 Broad Core Update

Google has released the second big update of its algorithm in 2022 – September 2022 Broad Core Update. The whole rollout took about 2 weeks.

The last big algorithm update was back in May 2022.

What to do if you’ve been negatively hit by this update? According to Google, stay calm, don’t do any rash decisions and follow the best practices.

Source: Google Search Central

New Report in Google Search Console

Maybe you’ve missed it, but there’s a new report in Google Search Console called HTTPS. This report reveals which of your pages are running on HTTPs and which are still on HTTP.

For the HTTP pages there are also explanations, why Google hasn’t accepted them as HTTPS. The main reasons for example being invalid certificate, sitemap pointing to HTTP, HTTPS has redirect and other issues.

The report is available for domain properties. You can find it on the left under Experiences or by clicking here.

Source: Search Engine Land

Google Ads Extensions Are Now Called Assets

Google announced that extensions in Google Ads are changing to assets. The main reason of this change is to create a unified workflow during the ad creation. From now on, Google will recommend which assets to use based on the campaign’s goal. These assets will get their own report as well.

Find out more here.

Source: Google Ads & Commerce Blog

 

Google Product Reviews Update September 2022

Out of the blue, Google announced yet another product reviews update, we’re counting the fifth. This update was released concurrently with the September Broad Core Update. It’s really unusual, since Google said in the past that they won’t release 2 big updates at the same time. Well, it happened. 

The update was released within 3 weeks. It is aimed at websites in English for now.

If you’ve been hit by this update, Google recommends this document.

Source: SEO Roundtable