Online Marketing Today: SearchCap: Google Project Owl, trillions of searches & local reviews

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’s ‘Project Owl’ — a three-pronged attack on fake news & problematic content
Apr 25, 2017 by Danny Sullivan
Google hopes to improve by better surfacing authoritative content and enlisting feedback about suggested searches and Featured Snippets answers.
Google reaffirms 15% of searches are new, never been searched before
Apr 25, 2017 by Barry Schwartz
Google processes trillions of searches every year, and still, 15% of those queries have never been seen by Google before.
Local search update: ‘Best’ filter invading the local pack
Apr 25, 2017 by Conrad Saam
We all know good ratings and reviews are important for local businesses, and it seems they’re becoming even more so. Contributor Conrad Saam explains a new search results display that appears when queries include words like ‘best’ and ‘great.’
Evaluating PPC talent, part 1: Where to begin
Apr 25, 2017 by Brett Middleton
How can you hire a paid search (or social) specialist that fits your business’s needs if you don’t know much about the channel yourself? Columnist Brett Middleton shares some practical tips for those looking to hire strong PPC talent.
Content and links: It really does take a village
Apr 25, 2017 by Julie Joyce
Columnist Julie Joyce explains how clients’ and other stakeholders’ involvement can greatly improve the success of your link-building campaign.
4 myths of paid search bidding
Apr 24, 2017 by Digital Marketing Depot
Competition is fierce in the world of paid search advertising. And it’s getting tougher all the time. As the Google paid search platform continues to change with every passing month, providing more granular visibility and control, advertisers must adapt bidding strategies or risk seeing reduced ROI. What worked even recently will not deliver the same […]
Separate marketing technology fact from fiction at MarTech Conference in 2 weeks
Apr 24, 2017 by Scott Brinker
We’re two weeks away from the MarTech Conference in San Francisco, May 9-11 — the world’s largest independent marketing technology conference designed for senior-level marketers and technologists. I stress the the word independent because unlike most of the big marketing events these days that are run by Adobe, HubSpot, IBM, Marketo, Oracle, Salesforce, or alliances of smaller vendors, MarTech is produced […]