Google’s Gary Illyes answered a question about canonicalization, indexing and core algorithm updates that gives a clearer picture of how the different systems work together but independently. A search marketer named David Minchala asked if Google’s canonicalization processes still worked but in a slower manner during a core algorithm update. The answer to that question … Read more
Google’s Gary Illyes published an new How Search Works video that gave an inside look into how search queries are interpreted and ranked. Gary’s presentation shows an outline of the ranking process that every SEO should know and understand. Goal Of Ranking Gary begins the presentation by emphasizing that the goal in search is to … Read more
In a Google Search Central video Google’s Gary Illyes explained part of webpage indexing that involves selecting canonicals, explaining what a canonical means to Google, a thumbnail explanation of webpage signals, he mentions the centerpiece of a page and tells what it does with the duplicates which implies a new way of thinking about them. … Read more
Google’s John Mueller offered a suggestion about a long-standing problem with missing images in search results for recipe sites but recipe bloggers don’t seem convinced or satisfied. Missing Images In The Search Results Several recipe bloggers have for the past few months brought up the issue of image thumbnails that stopped appearing in the search … Read more
Google’s Search Off the Record podcast covered the topic of Core Web Vitals (CWV), noting that while it’s a ranking factor it’s not so important that improving it will improve search visibility. The podcast explains how to reconcile how CWV can be a ranking factor while at the same not something that will noticeably help … Read more
An advertiser recently asked Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison, about an issue with seeing a high percentage of ad spend and conversions falling under “Other” search terms. Inquiry Into Ad Spend Anomalies The advertiser explained that for a campaign using all exact match keywords, 80% of ad spend and 90% of conversions were attributed … Read more
Google’s John Mueller answered a question on Reddit about a commonly used robots meta tag and what would happen if it was missing. Mueller’s answer, while it makes sense and is documented, may still come as a surprise to many publishers and SEOs. Robots Meta Tag The HTML meta element communicates metadata. Metadata is machine … Read more
Google has provided insight into how its algorithms handle recipe website content, responding to a question on X (formerly Twitter) about whether the company prioritizes simpler, more streamlined recipes over those with additional commentary. The Recipe Debate Recipe formatting has become a contentious topic in recent years, as some sites have been accused of adding … Read more
Users over the weekend were bewildered by Google Search Console failure to index webpages and the accompanying cryptic message, Failure: hostload exceeded. Many publishers checked with their web hosts then reported that the problem was not at the web host. It was assumed that the problem was on Google’s side. Google’s John Mueller helped to … Read more
AI search is inevitable so it’s vital for SEO to understand everything about it. An interview with Bing’s Fabrice Canel revealed interesting insights about this topic with some takeaways that offer some insights on the future of search. Fabrice Canel is the Principal Product Manager at Bing and because of his position there he is … Read more
YouTube recently provided creators with more details on how its Shorts algorithm works during an interview with Todd Sherman, the product lead for YouTube Shorts. The discussion aimed to clear up common misconceptions creators have about the Shorts algorithm and how it differs from YouTube’s algorithm for long-form videos. In this article, we delve into … Read more
Google’s Search Relations team, consisting of experts Martin Splitt, John Mueller, and Gary Illyes, share insights into why a website’s homepage may not be indexed on their latest episode of the ‘Search Off The Record’ podcast. The discussion revolved around technical and non-technical issues that could prevent a website’s homepage from appearing in Google’s search … Read more
Google Search Advocate Daniel Waisberg recently presented an in-depth video on bulk data exports, a feature that allows you to export, store, and analyze Search Console data. This novel solution surpasses capabilities and makes managing enormous data volumes a breeze. Here’s how. An Overview of Current Data-Exporting Solutions Before introducing the bulk data export feature, … Read more
Google’s annual Webspam Report covering 2022 highlighted all the ways their SpamBrain anti-spam system became more adept at catching multiple forms of spam. While the report is mainly about reporting how much more spam they caught compared to the year before, the bits about how SpamBrain works seemed just as important. Google SpamBrain Platform SpamBrain … Read more
Google’s Lizzi Sassman answered a question in a Google SEO Office hours session about whether it’s okay to combine different structured data types. The answer illuminated an important point about how Google interprets structured data and whether it’s better to combine structured data or two separate them out. Combining multiple structured data is called nesting. … Read more
A new blog post from Pandu Nayak, Google Fellow and Vice President of Search, explains how Google Search uses MUM and BERT to serve safer search results. Highlights: Google is using MUM to better detect when the query indicates a searcher is in crisis and will begin rolling out these improvements within weeks. Google uses … Read more
Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller explains how websites can optimize content for search results in specific countries by using subdirectories in a strategic way. This topic was discussed during a recent Google Search Central SEO office-hours hangout. An individual named Hazel Wwrong joins the livestream to ask Mueller how Google recognizes when website content is … Read more
