People are always complaining that there’s something wrong with Google’s search results but what’s going on with search results for queries with the acronym “SEO” is in a class by itself and has to be seen to be believed. Anomalies In Search Results An anomaly is something that deviates from the norm or what’s expected. … Read more
In a series of tweets, Google’s SearchLiaison responded to a question that connected click-through rates (CTR) and HCU (Helpful Content Update) with how Google ranks websites, remarking that if the associated ideas were true it would be impossible for any new website to rank. Users Are Voting With Their Feet? Search Liaison’s answer was to … Read more
Over the last week, I observed many arguments against digging deep into the 2,596 pages. But the only question we should ask ourselves is, “How can I test and learn as much as possible from these documents?” SEO is an applied science where theory is not the end goal but the basis for experiments. Image … Read more
An analysis of 25,000 ecommerce queries by Bartosz Góralewicz, founder of Onely, reveals the impact of Google’s AI overviews on search visibility for online retailers. The study found that 16% of eCommerce queries now return an AI overview in search results, accounting for 13% of total search volume in this sector. Notably, 80% of the … Read more
Google’s rollout of AI-generated overviews in US search results is taking a disastrous turn, with mainstream media outlets like The New York Times, BBC, and CNBC reporting on numerous inaccuracies and bizarre responses. On social media, users are sharing endless examples of the feature’s nonsensical and sometimes dangerous output. From recommending non-toxic glue on pizza … Read more
The SERPs are a volatile place right now. Since March 2024, the SEO industry has seen significant disruptions, with Google rolling out its latest algorithm changes. From the deindexing of websites to the delivery of manual penalties, site owners and SEO professionals have found themselves in a tough spot as Google attempts to clean up … Read more
Discover the aftermath of Google’s targeted crackdown on reputation abuse. Analyze significant losses, identify patterns, and investigate the impact it has had on major brands. Source link
In the latest episode of the Search Off The Record podcast, Google Search Relations team members John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman did a deep dive into dealing with “content decay” on websites. Outdated content is a natural issue all sites face over time, and Google has outlined strategies beyond just deleting old pages. While removing … Read more
Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller recently addressed the SEO community’s concerns about site recovery after being impacted by algorithm updates. The conversation arose as people questioned whether sites hit by the September helpful content update could regain lost traffic and rankings after future core updates. The exchange began on X when an SEO professional, Thomas … Read more
Google revamped their product structured data documentation by splitting up one comprehensive page into three pages that are more closely focused on their topics, providing an example of how to rewrite a page that’s too big and turn it into multiple topically relevant webpages. Google Product Structured Data Product structured data is essential for ecommerce … Read more
According to data from GS Statcounter, Google’s search engine market share has fallen to 86.99%, the lowest point since the firm began tracking search engine share in 2009. The drop represents a more than 4% decrease from the previous month, marking the largest single-month decline on record. Screenshot from: https://gs.statcounter.com/search-engine-market-share/, May 2024. U.S. Market Impact … Read more
John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, provided guidance this week regarding the path forward for websites impacted by recent search algorithm updates. The discussion started on X (formerly Twitter) by SEO professional Thomas Jepsen. Jepsen tagged Mueller, asking: “Google has previously said Google doesn’t hold a grudge and sites will recover once issues have been … Read more
Following the recent SERPConf event, Google Search Analyst Gary Illyes shared insights that provided a glimpse into the latest trends and challenges in the SEO world. His LinkedIn post touches on a range of topics, from technical issues to the role of AI, providing a thorough overview of the industry’s current state. Addressing hreflang Frustrations … Read more
Google updated their guidance with five changes on how to debug ranking drops. The new version contains over 400 more words that address small and large ranking drops. There’s room to quibble about some of the changes but overall the revised version is a step up from what it replaced. Change# 1: Downplays Fixing Traffic … Read more
Google has published a research paper on a new technology called Infini-attention that allows it to process massively large amounts of data with “infinitely long contexts” while also being capable of being easily inserted into other models to vastly improve their capabilities That last part should be of interest to those who are interested in … Read more
Google and Alphabet’s CEO Sundar Pichai sat down for a discussion on AI that inevitably focused on the future of search. He explained his of search and the role of websites, insisting that the only thing different is the technology. These Are The Early Days The interviewer asked if Sundar was caught by surprise by … Read more
A recent discussion on the r/SEO Reddit forum provided insights from Google’s Search Advocate, John Mueller, regarding website penalties and the use of HTTP status codes. Mueller addressed questions raised by a website owner who had previously used AI to generate content for their videogame guide website. After removing approximately 200 AI-generated pages due to … Read more
In a recent video, Google’s Gary Illyes, a search team engineer, shared details about how the search engine assesses webpage quality during indexing. This information is timely, as Google has steadily raised the bar for “quality” content. Quality: A Key Factor in Indexing & Crawling Frequency Illyes described the indexing stage, which involves analyzing a … Read more
