1. Marketers Respond to Bard’s First Iteration

According to Search Engine Land, Google opened its Bard waitlist, and those in the search community who have been able to test have a skeptical report. Danny Goodwin, Search Engine Land writer, shares several observations and implications of Google Bard in the early stages. First, Bard does not currently offer links or citations for its answers. Additionally, Bard suggests buying links. Goodwin writes, “… after Bard was told that this advice went against Google’s guidelines, Bard admitted its mistake.” Next, Bard struggles with local search results, producing multiple lists for the same search phrase, lists that were different than Google’s organic results. Local Pack results were absent from the Bard lists as well. Despite Google’s denial of click-through-rate as a ranking signal, Bard claimed that it was. Finally, Bard tends to hallucinate certain answers, including the date of Google’s next update and keyword metrics. According to Goodwin, Google Bard has the potential to be a helpful tool for SEOs; thus, it is critical to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the tool.

3. Website Accessibility is the Right Thing & a Business Opportunity

In a recent opinion piece for Moz, author Alisa Smith shared that only 3% of the internet is accessible to people with disabilities. Why is this the case? AudioEye released a statistic that provides insight into the question. In their survey of 500 business professionals, 70% said that cost was their main concern when it came to digital accessibility. In response to this, Moz author Smith claims that digital accessibility is not only the right thing but is also a business opportunity. Designing for accessibility, Smith claims, makes your website and digital presence better for everyone. Every user can benefit from straightforward language and a clear user path. Plus, accessibility supports discoverability on the web.

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