Link Building Strategies

Google is testing a new shopping ad format. This format expands product listings available within a store, shows the products with larger images and product details and then lets you swipe through a carousel of those items.View the full article

Google is testing adding filters to the latest post carousel. These filters can show recent posts, video posts, posts from Instagram, or Facebook. View the full article

Google is testing shading the background color behind the search ads, sponsored results, and the local pack in the Google Search results. I do like that Google is testing differentiating the organic/free listings with the search ads/sponsored listings.View the full article

Google is testing an animation, where an image asset slides into the sponsored results listing. So it turns a pure search text ad into a text ad with an image that slides in from the right side of the screen.View the full article

Google is testing appending "learn more" links to the end of the Google search ads text. So the Google Ad will have its normal ad description and at the end, Google is testing adding "Learn more" with an arrow to the right, in blue anchor underlined text.View the full article

Google is testing another variation to the title links in the Google Search results - a light gray effect. So when you hover your mouse cursor over the snippet, the title link turns grayed and washed out.View the full article

Google seems to be testing linking the "Reviews" button you see in the local panel, on a Google Business Profile, to AI Overviews. So when you search for a business, see the local panel on the right side, and then click on "reviews," you are taken to an AI Overview result.View the full article

While Google keeps saying it values publishers and knows how important it is to link to publishers and site owners from Search and AI Overviews, well, it is just as important for Google to link to their own search results for AI Overviews. Google is testing adding links, more visible and clickable links, right in the AI Overviews, to its own search results.View the full article

Google Search is testing a new expandable carousel that says "more from" a specific retailer. When it loads, it loads more products in a carousel beneath the search result snippet from that retailer.View the full article

Google is testing a new, more publisher-friendly version of the AI Overviews for recipe results. The new design has the recipe cards at the top, citations at the bottom and a shorter AI response.View the full article

Google is also testing a new pagination bar with page numbers and previous and next icons, instead of the "more search results" button. Bing was recently just testing this too and now I see Google testing it.View the full article

Last December, we reported how Google was showing a payments option section in the retailer/merchant knowledge panel. Google is now testing a clearer version of it, while adding shipping and return information to the payments section.View the full article

Google is testing a new design for the shopping ads format, one that looks a bit more like the image pack design than shopping ads. View the full article

Google is testing a new filter for its shopping results in the mobile search results. Instead of showing a single filter menu, Google is showing a product image carousel line first and then a filter menu for additional search filters.View the full article

Google is testing a blue progress bar under the Shopping Ads carousel in the search results. As you scroll the carousel to see more products, the blue progress bar will indicate how much of the carousel is remaining to be seen.View the full article

Google is testing showing full detailed property sale listings within the Google Search results. This is getting a lot of interest from those in the real estate business.View the full article

Google is testing a new quick view button/link within the Google Search results for hotel and lodging results. When you click on the quick view button you are taken to the Google Business Profile listing but when you click on the main result you are taken to the website directly (or maybe the other way, I cannot tell for sure).View the full article

Google is testing new buttons and tags on its local listings and local ads. These include a new "read reviews" button, various appointment tags and other business descriptive tags.View the full article

Google is testing a new recipe search feature that seems to be powered by AI Overviews, it also seems to be a Search Labs feature. This allows you to see recipe ideas, then filter by recipe replacements, ingredients, in this carousel format style.View the full article

Google is testing removing the site names from the search result snippets and just showing the site's URL at the top - title link - position of the snippet. View the full article

Google may be testing replacing local pack at the top of the Google Search results for "near me" related queries with an AI Overview. So instead of showing a map and the three or so local listings, Google is showing an AI Overview with some local information.View the full article

Google is testing (I think again) review carousels and block units in its search results for product queries. A number of SEOs spotted these coming up over the past week or two, and they basically show product review content in a separate section within Google Search.View the full article

Google is once again testing a light blue color, cyan, for its title links in the search results. Google tested this on and off quite a lot over the years, but Google is testing it again.View the full article

About a year ago, we covered numerous tests with shaded site name and favicon sections of the snippet. Google continues to test this, but we're now seeing a blue gradient version of the style.View the full article

To be honest, this seems more like a quirk than a test, but Sachin Patel spotted Google showing three rows of Google Shopping Ads in the Google Search results. We've seen two rows on mobile search previously and now three rows on desktop search.View the full article