*Insert subject line to reflect England result*


Every Wednesday / 10th July 2024 / goodsignals.com

Weekly Trivia: What animal's IQ did Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis compare to current AIs?


What a week! Britain woke up to its most dramatic election result since 1997 as Labour secured a landslide victory, while England beat Switzerland on penalties to secure a place in tonight's semi-final against the Netherlands. However, the hot topic in our world was the hiccup in Search Console Performance Reports (now caught up).

After all of that, summer is back on. For anybody going on holiday (I'm off to Cornwall), keep an eye out for Google Maps' "add stop" feature now includes ads for places of interest along your route.

Before we get to our top picks, here are some other updates from this week: Google is experimenting with country labels in search result snippets and updating best practices for embedded images and URL structure. YouTube Shorts is introducing an "Add Yours" sticker to spark audience engagement and potentially fuel viral trends, alongside an AI-powered eraser tool for removing copyrighted music without affecting other audio. Bing is testing out new features too, adding nutritional info like "lean protein" and "anti-inflammatory" to image search results. In the world of science, Google researchers are mapping the mouse hippocampus to understand human memory, while OpenAI is developing a personalised health coach to encourage positive behavioural change. Would you give it a try?

Joyce, editor at The Signal

P.S. The answer to our trivia? A cat! Demis Hassabis made the comparison in a recent public discussion with ex-PM Sir Tony Blair. However, he did reckon that AI does better than humans in certain areas, like game playing.


Google Says These Are Not Good Signals - Contrary to popular belief, Google's Gary Illyes said in a recent interview that signals including authorship are not what Google is looking for. By Roger Montti on Search Engine Journal.

SEO OKRs: Driving Performance & Measuring Impact - Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are a good framework for tracking the progress of a project. If you are unsure where to start, check out this starter kit to set up your OKRs, from content building to technical SEO. By Patrick Stox on Ahrefs.

How Does Perplexity Work? A Summary from an SEO’s Perspective, Based on Recent Interviews - As we enter the AI chatbot era, do you ever wonder how the answer engine works? Read this to dissect the anatomy of Perplexity AI with Ethan Lazuk. Key takeaways for SEOs: focus on quality with a great source and brand behind it, and don't expect to see "organic traffic". By Ethan Lazuk on ethanlazuk.com.

Becoming Data Driven, From First Principles - Being data-driven is the new craze, but what does it actually mean? Here is the complete guide for your company to achieve the data-driven ideal state, including a proven 90-year-old mechanism for success. By Cedric Chin on Commoncog.

My Top 5 Local SEO and Marketing Takeaways From MozCon 2024 - Local business marketers, this one's for you. From tuning into local nostalgia to encountering AI content, here are the top tips you should learn from MozCon 2024. By Miriam Ellis on Moz.

Google: Ranking For Unrelated Keywords In Search? Make Your Titles & Content Clearer - An SEO was auditing a site in the metal coatings industry, but it came up in SERPs and Google Search Console impressions for "metal coatings workshop". What went wrong? Google's John Mueller replied to him in a LinkedIn discussion. By Barry Schwartz on SEO Roundtable.

Craft the Perfect Pitch: 7 Influencer Outreach Email and DM Templates - Looking for effective email and DM templates for influencer outreach? Use these examples. Plus, learn everything you need to know before and after reaching out. By Jamia Kenan on Sprout Social.

5 Signals You’re Ready to Invest in a New Content Distribution Channel - As a start-up, you might want to invest in a single channel at first. But if you're ready to scale up, here are the signs you should look out for. By Ajdin Perco on Animalz.

Pop Culture - Unpopular opinion: the generative AI bubble is going to burst. "It costs far too much, isn't getting cheaper, uses too much power, and doesn't do enough to justify its existence... It's all a disgraceful waste," says EZPR CEO Ed Zitron. By Edward Zitron on Where's Your Ed At.

This Wasn't the Social Media Election Everyone Expected - The UK general election has ended, but the trolling networks on social media are still rife. What could happen when an average person can outdo political parties by posting deep fake videos and false comments? Read this BBC investigation to find out. By Marianna Spring on BBC.


Joyce Yang,

editor at The Signal


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