Hamsterdam Part 35: SEO News Recap from 12/4 to 12/10, 2023
By Ethan Lazuk
Last updated:
A weekly look-back at SEO news, tips, and other content shared on social media & beyond.
Note:
Wow, it’s week 35 already! My math is rusty, but that’s about 9 months of Hamsterdam recaps. Whenever I’m writing an SEO article, I find myself using the recaps more to get the information I need. Hope you’re finding them useful as well!
*In a hurry? Feel free to jump down to the recap! Have a sec? Keep reading for an introduction and summary of the week’s news!
Introduction to Week 35: “What the quack!”
The big news this week is Gemini, Google’s latest multimodal AI model.
I shared this news with some folks earlier, but I’d like to delve in a bit more here on why I think it’s important.
Whether Gemini is a ChatGPT (GPT-4) slayer or its capabilities were “faked” in the video Sundar shared, those stories feel less consequential.
What’s more interesting are the larger implications for the future of Search.
In updating another article about SERP volatility this week, I learned more about deep learning models and how Google may use AI for different ranking systems.
While first reading the Gemini announcement, two takeaways I had were that it’s already contributing to improvements in SGE’s “quality” and the demonstration video showing bespoke experiences based on user intents.
The user intent video was later shared by Google AI and commented on by many in the SEO community.
Also, if you missed the Gemini demo Sundar shared, you can check it out here:
The technical PDF on Gemini Google shared also explains how “Gemini models are trained on a dataset that is both multimodal and multilingual.”
Meanwhile, a day before Gemini was announced, Bing introduced Deep Search, which “builds on Bing’s existing web index and ranking system and enhances them with GPT-4,” allowing Bing to go “much deeper into the web” to pull back “relevant results that often don’t show up in typical search results.”
The new year will be an exciting time in search.
Yet, in my opinion, the future of SEO will not necessarily be to optimize for keywords or rankings but to achieve organic visibility along a particular audience’s buyer’s journey across multiple surfaces of Search. This will include web page, video, social, and UGC content, as well as SERP features powered by generative AI and Google’s knowledge or shopping graphs.
In many ways, we’ve been at this point for a while. The tough part is and will be measuring it all.
My prediction is that companies that worry less about “demonstrable” ROI from SEO efforts and focus more on establishing their brand’s E-E-A-T across the digital ecosystem, they’ll be the ones to flourish.
Buckle up for a full week’s recap, and enjoy the vibes:
Summary of the week’s SEO news and content
- Bing introduces Deep Search (the existing web index and ranking system enhanced with GPT-4)
- Google introduces Gemini (a natively multimodal AI model)
- Joy Hawkins and her team discovered hours of operation as a new Google ranking factor for local pack results
- Google Search’s November 2023 reviews update finished rolling out (Nov. 8th – Dec. 7th)
But don’t just take my word for it! All of this info and more is contained below in the weekly recap.
Notes:
- If the article times out on mobile, my apologies. Please try viewing on a desktop or WiFi.
- I’ve cut back on the amount of info I include; if you’d like to see more, scrolling through my likes on X or following the people in this recap is probably the best place to start. 😉
Missed last week’s recap? Don’t worry, I got you! Read Part 34 to catch up.
Okay, time for (home)work.
Jump to a section of this week’s recap
- Top posts
- News, Google updates, & SERP tests
- SEO tips & tidbits
- Fundamentals & resources
- Articles, videos & case studies
- Local SEO
- Technical SEO
- Content marketing
- SEO tools, AI & reporting
- Humor section
- Miscellaneous & general posts
Enjoy the recap below! Please support anyone’s content you find valuable with a like or follow. 🙂
Top posts
These are key news items, tips, or other content I felt were relevant to highlight for the week, particularly if you just want a quick glance.
SEO news, Google updates, & SERP tests
These are newsworthy events in the SEO world from the last week or SERP tests to be aware of.
SEO tips & tidbits
This section has actionable tips, cool tidbits, or other findings and observations that can be teaching moments.
SEO fundamentals & resources
If you’re new to SEO, this section includes essential information, concepts, or resources to learn more about.
Articles, videos, case studies & more
These are longer-form content shared on social.
Local SEO
If you’re into local Search, this section is for you!
Technical SEO
Yep, it still matters. 😉
Content marketing
What’d SEO be without content?
Tools, AI & reporting
Here’s a recap of updates to tools, and new tools, along with tips for reporting on data.
Importance of training data – startuppm (Watch on TikTok)
Bard with Gemini Pro for a test flight – Google (Watch on TikTok)
4 Things to Know about Gemini – Google (Watch on TikTok)
Humor
Humor is subjective; hopefully, you find these funny as well!
General marketing & miscellaneous
This is for great content that isn’t necessarily SEO (i.e., PPC, PR, dev, and content friends check it out!) or even marketing-specific.
Great job making it to the end. You rock! <- Good feedback? 😉
Show your support for creators: If you liked any of the content shared above, please support that person by liking their post or following them. 🙂
Hungry for more? Check out the past weeks of Hamsterdam.
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Want to work together on your brand’s SEO?
I’m currently taking clients for SEO and content audits and strategy consulting, and soon training. You can learn more about me on my about page.
To get in touch, hit me up on social at @EthanLazuk, by text or call at 813-557-9745, or via email at ethan.lazuk@gmail.com.
Cheers!
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