#BlinkTank: Heated search volatility, social insights, and the cost of bad data
We have entered the last stretch of the year. Black Friday is behind us, and attention has now shifted to coping with the Christmas rush. I hope you are all hanging in there.
With this in mind, there is unsurprisingly not a huge amount to report this week - except for some movement in the SERPs over the weekend and a new experiment from Google.
Heated search volatility
Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable reported "heated" volatility in Google Search rankings over the past weekend (Dec 7–8).
This is particularly interesting because the timing feels very familiar. At this exact time last year, we were in the middle of a major shake-up -Google's December 2024 core update, which ran from Dec 12 to Dec 18.
That update had a massive impact on eCommerce stores, specifically targeting collections and products with thin content. While we don't have official confirmation of a core update this time around, the volatility signals are worth watching closely if you are seeing unexpected fluctuations.
📝 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-ranking-volatility-heated-weekend-40565.html
Social data in Search Console
Google is rolling out a new experiment that integrates social channel data directly into Search Console Insights.
The goal is to offer a "unified view" of your performance across your website and social platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. The reports will include metrics on total reach, content performance, and the search queries leading users to your social profiles.
It is currently a limited rollout, but it is a clear signal that Google is looking to bridge the gap between web and social discovery.
📝 https://searchengineland.com/google-search-console-insights-integrating-social-channels-465776
The quiet before Winter Editions
Shopify's changelog has gone quiet - as it usually does at this time of year - as internal teams gear up for the Winter Editions.
We do not have much insight into what that release will contain so far, but I would bet on something heavily AI-related.
Shopify sales compensation changes
The Logic has reported that Shopify is shifting the way it approaches paying its sales teams to reward, hopefully, longer-term growth.
This is perhaps of more interest to people in the Shopify ecosystem - brand agencies and tech partners - rather than brands themselves. However, the principle behind it is that partners who genuinely add long-term value are likely to be more rewarded.
It is one of those things that sounds great on paper, so hopefully we can see it come to fruition.
📝 https://thelogic.co/news/shopify-sales-compensation-fraud/
The hidden cost of bad data
I know I talk often about the importance of solid product data. It is easy to dismiss "bad data" as just a messy backend issue that can be fixed later.
But I recently tried a bit of an experiment: mapping out exactly how poor taxonomy and a lack of granularity flow through a Shopify store.
When you map it out, you realise it hurts performance in places you might not expect - from merchant center feeds and organic search to internal discovery and even AI search.
As the diagram below shows, these issues don't just create operational headaches; they converge directly on lost revenue and stalled growth.
I would love to know if I have missed anything in this mapping.
📎 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sam-wright-17b6ab6_i-know-i-talk-a-lot-about-the-importance-activity-7402302731270643712-w37o
New service: Theme migrations for clients
As many of you know, Blink does not do new site builds. We are not a dev agency, even though much of our work crosses over into development and UX.
However, theme upgrades and migrations have a massive impact on our work. A lot of the foundational and structural SEO work we do is deeply embedded in the theme logic.
Traditionally, we haven't handled these migrations ourselves, which often leads to a lot of back-and-forth with development partners to ensure our work is preserved (and often, firefighting when it isn't).
To solve this, we are adding an additional service: managing theme migrations for existing clients.
We are limiting this to a small number of slots per quarter to ensure quality. If you are a current client considering a theme migration in the coming months, we're happy to have a conversation.
📝 https://blinkseo.co.uk/blogs/news/when-to-tell-us-about-theme-changes
A reminder on exits
As I mentioned last week, we are continuing to work with an investor who is sourcing Shopify brands turning over less than two to three million who are looking for a full exit.
If you fit that profile and missed the note last time, feel free to reach out for an introduction.
All the best,
Sam