1) Rumors Emerge About Yahoo-Yelp Partnership

Earlier in the month, Yahoo rumors surfaced about branching off from Microsoft’s search alliance. If the rumors are true, they would have to act soon and fast. Now, new sources have cited a Yahoo and Yelp partnership, some sources suggest this is no longer a rumor. Two days after the partnership announcement, Yelp also announced a major re-design.

2) Surprise! Google Uses Humans To Rank Sites

Have you ever been outranked by a site that didn’t deserve to be there? Most of us have. Usually, it’s easy to spot how they found a loophole. Maybe excessive linking is to blame. Perhaps over-aggressive anchor text or keyword-targeted content with zero value are the culprits. Regardless, we pesky humans are constantly challenging Google’s algorithmic safeguards. And in doing so, we humans are communicating these patterns and workarounds right back to Google engineers, who fight the spam with algorithm changes.

Back in November of 2011, PotPieGirl published a document that was handed out (crowdsourced) from Google to human quality reviewers. This was the first time widespread discovery happened across the industry. Now that these black hat tactics are public knowledge, they have become quite short-lived when they arise. Read more about human quality raters here.

3) Google Announces Algorithm Update

Despite being a smaller change than most Google updates, this algorithmic tweak will nonetheless impact a niche set of websites who don’t display crucial content above the fold. The Inside Search blog outlines ways to ensure your site doesn’t end up in the bullseye.

4) Facebook Expands Gender Options

As a part of Facebook’s ongoing growth and targeting efforts, they are now allowing users to self-select from nearly 50 different gender options. The LGBTQ community is considering this a huge win. It’s also smart PR, on Facebook’s part. Facebook alluded to the fact that although this will impact very few, it means the world among this target audience. Read the full article here.

5) How To Avoid Penalties When Duplicate Content Is Necessary

If your website requires large amounts of duplicate content (e.g. an e-commerce site with thousands of SKUs), these tips from Moz should help you avoid Google penalties, and keep content fresh. The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to create more than average amounts of unique content on each page in order to stand out. Watch the full Moz Whiteboard Friday here.

6) Get Your Workspace Zen On

Even if you’re not writing the next great American novel (or developing a Flappy Birds follow-up game)  you still need a great American workspace. Lifehacker gives ten great workspace tips here.