SearchCap: Santa trackers, Google AJAX crawling & our community corner

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

• Google Santa Tracker is live, counting down the days until Christmas with holiday games & resources
  Dec 4, 2017 by Amy Gesenhues

  This year’s Google Santa Tracker comes with coding games, an elf filter in the Android app and daily updates delivered via an Advent-styled calendar.

• Google will stop using the old AJAX crawling scheme in Q2 2018
  Dec 4, 2017 by Barry Schwartz

  Googlebot will render the #! URL directly, making it unnecessary for the website owner to provide a rendered version of the page.

• It’s time to change your SEO reports!
  Dec 4, 2017 by Greg Gifford

  SEO reports are often really useful… for SEO professionals. Columnist Greg Gifford asserts that if you want to truly prove the value of your services to your clients, you have to tie your reports directly to their bottom line.

• Top 10 local search insights of 2017
  Dec 4, 2017 by Wesley Young

  From location data to SEO, columnist Wesley Young of the Local Search Association provides his top 10 list of local search lessons learned in 2017.

• Google coding-game doodle marks 50th anniversary of kids learning to code
  Dec 4, 2017 by Amy Gesenhues

  The Google doodle team partnered with the Google Blockly team and MIT researchers to create “Coding with Carrots,” its first-ever coding-game doodle.

• Google tests ‘notable moments’ carousel in knowledge graph cards
  Dec 4, 2017 by Barry Schwartz

  Check out this new feature Google is testing in the knowledge cards. It looks like a timeline of notable events.

• Marketing in a distracted, digital world
  Dec 4, 2017 by Sponsored Content: [24]7.ai

  In today’s world, digital media is so pervasive that it’s no longer considered unique; it’s a way of life. Virtually everyone has a smartphone, and most individuals and households have multiple smart devices, including tablets, phones and computers. This prevalence, coupled with the rise of Big Data, digital marketing tools and social media, has given […]

• Introducing the Search Engine Land Community Corner
  Dec 1, 2017 by Michelle Robbins

  New feature to highlight the search marketing community launches today with this week’s group of SEOs honored by their colleagues at Search Engine Roundtable.

• Google Manufacturer Center for product data expands scope, launches API
  Dec 1, 2017 by Ginny Marvin

  A new API, more countries and knowledge panel visibility give brands more incentive to use Google’s product data management tool.

• Insights from 130 agencies — State of Email Marketing
  Dec 4, 2017 by Digital Marketing Depot

  Email marketing is an oldie but goodie, and it just keeps getting better with marketing automation. Agencies love email marketing, since it performs well at a low cost. SharpSpring gathered insights from 130 agencies to find out: how agencies evaluate platforms. what an agency’s objectives are when implementing a platform. ways agencies use marketing automation […]

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• Delmondo, Uru team up for automated video content analysis service
• Here’s a case of huge inventory fraud that ads.txt could vanquish
• Singles Day was a global shopping phenomenon, but will US marketers hop on board?
• Marketing in a distracted, digital world
• Facebook’s pre-roll ad test will only run in Watch, not News Feed
• My 12 most important SEO metrics to monitor
• Law firms spamming Google My Business: Don’t trust your money or your life to them!

Search News From Around The Web:

• 9 Quality Sources for Beautiful Landing Page Templates, WordStream
• Google Permits Longer Snippet Texts – Evaluation and Chances, SISTRIX
• Life Event Targeting Now Available To All AdWords Advertisers, PPC Hero
• Search Engine Roundtable’s 14th Anniversary, Search Engine Roundtable
• One Simple SEO Marketing Strategy To Double Traffic, Ignite Visibility
• The Mobile Revolution Has Only Just Begun: Here’s Why, Stone Temple