What does Google say about SEO?

Is Search Central Live finally coming to Africa—and what does this mean for local SEO professionals worldwide?

Gary Illyes May 01, 2025 ★★

In 2025, Google is expanding Search Central Live to new territories: Budapest, Warsaw, the Baltic States, Zurich, and for the first time in Africa (South Africa). Events are also being maintained in Asia-Pacific with two events in Japanese and Mandar...

AI & SEO Images & Videos

Should You Really Set Today's Date in Your XML Sitemap's Lastmod Tag?

John Mueller Apr 29, 2025 ★★★

On Reddit, John Mueller stated that having the sitemap's lastmod tag always display the current date is lazy and proves counterproductive when it's intentional. Otherwise, it may also be a sitemap generation issue. Here are his exact words: "setting ...

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Is Image Streaming Killing Your Google Image Search Rankings?

John Mueller Apr 29, 2025 ★★★

John Mueller stated that using "image streaming" techniques, similar to YouTube video embedding, was not favorable for SEO. He even went so far as to say it was an "excellent way to prevent your images from being found by image search engines."

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Images & Videos

Do You Really Need to Shorten Your URLs to Improve Your Organic Rankings?

John Mueller Apr 29, 2025 ★★★

On Reddit, John Mueller responded to a user who wondered whether a URL longer than 75 characters could negatively affect a page's ranking. The Google representative's answer: "Most systems cut off the URL at around 1000 characters. At 82, you still h...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name

Does Choosing a Specialized TLD Like .esports Really Impact Your SEO?

John Mueller Apr 22, 2025 ★★★

Google recently clarified that using the top-level domain (TLD) ".esports" offers no advantage in terms of natural search engine optimization (SEO). John Mueller responded on the social network Bluesky to a claim that the ".esports" TLD would improve...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Social Media

Does Structured Data Really Improve Your Site's SEO Rankings?

John Mueller Apr 22, 2025 ★★

John Mueller recently reaffirmed that using structured data does not improve a site's ranking in search results. Google's spokesperson stated on Bluesky: "Structured data won't make your site rank better." He clarified that these tags are primarily u...

Domain Age & History Content Structured Data Featured Snippets & SERP AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

How is the IETF standardization of robots.txt reshaping the game for crawlers and SEO professionals?

Gary Illyes Apr 17, 2025 ★★★

Robots.txt was a de facto standard for approximately 25 years before being officially standardized with the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). This standardization makes it possible to standardize the way different parsers interpret robots.txt f...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files

Why does Google really enforce a 500 KB size limit on robots.txt files?

Gary Illyes Apr 17, 2025 ★★★

Google enforces a 500 kilobyte limit on robots.txt files. This limit was established for security reasons, notably to prevent buffer overflow attacks during the file parsing process.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Pagination & Structure PDF & Files

Are RSS and Atom feeds really being used by Google to discover your content?

Gary Illyes Apr 17, 2025 ★★

Google Search uses RSS and Atom feeds as sources for URL discovery, in addition to other content discovery methods.

Content Domain Name

Are XML sitemaps really essential without official standardization?

Gary Illyes Apr 17, 2025 ★★

The XML Sitemap format, created in 2005-2006, is a widely adopted de facto standard but has never been formally standardized by a standardization body. There is no obvious benefit to standardizing it because it is a simple XML file with little risk o...

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files Search Console

Is robots.txt still essential for modern websites, or just a relic of the past?

Gary Illyes Apr 17, 2025 ★★★

Robots.txt is considered extremely important for Google and virtually all search engines. Standardization helps reduce the burden on site owners by uniformizing the way these files are written for all consumers.

Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO PDF & Files

Why did Google open-source its robots.txt parser, and what does it mean for your SEO strategy?

Gary Illyes Apr 17, 2025 ★★

Following the standardization of robots.txt, Google made its robots.txt parser public as open source, enabling developers to use it as a foundation for creating better robots.txt files.

Crawl & Indexing PDF & Files

Are robots.txt and XML sitemaps now officially linked together?

Gary Illyes Apr 17, 2025 ★★

In the IETF's robots.txt standard, XML sitemaps are mentioned as an informative reference, establishing a formal link between these two crawling mechanisms.

Crawl & Indexing JavaScript & Technical SEO Links & Backlinks Pagination & Structure PDF & Files Search Console

Should You Avoid 301 Redirects in Your Hreflang Tags?

John Mueller Apr 15, 2025 ★★

According to John Mueller, hreflang tags pointing to pages with a 301 redirect are "probably acceptable." However, he recommends automating hreflang tag configuration to avoid redirects, which also makes tracking easier and reduces risks related to c...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Redirects International SEO

Should You Really Be Disavowing Your Backlinks Regularly to Protect Your SEO?

John Mueller Apr 15, 2025 ★★★

At a Search Central event in New York, John Mueller clarified that the disavow tool is not intended for regular use and is not part of normal site maintenance. Furthermore, he emphasized that Google does not recognize the concept of "toxic backlinks,...

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Why Can't EEAT Just Be Added to Your Site Like a Regular SEO Factor?

John Mueller Apr 08, 2025 ★★★

Google has confirmed that EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) cannot simply be "added" to a web page like a standard SEO element. At the Search Central Live NYC event, John Mueller explained that EEAT is used by quali...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Does Google Really Index Images Loaded via JavaScript?

Martin Splitt Apr 08, 2025 ★★★

Martin Splitt confirmed that images loaded via JavaScript can be indexed by Google, provided they are properly configured. At the SEO for Paws conference, he explained that indexing issues often stem from errors such as images missing from the XML si...

Domain Age & History Content Crawl & Indexing HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files Search Console

Does Publishing New Topics Really Dilute Your SEO Authority?

Danny Sullivan Apr 08, 2025 ★★

Danny Sullivan explained that publishing content on a new topic does not negatively impact a site's search rankings, but Google will nonetheless try to understand how this content fits with the rest of the site. A new section may initially benefit fr...

Content AI & SEO

Should You Avoid Freelance Writers Who Have Worked for Penalized Sites?

Danny Sullivan Apr 08, 2025 ★★★

During Search Central Live NYC, Danny Sullivan clarified one thing: there is no negative authorship signal that would follow a freelance writer from one penalized site to another: "If you've written for a site that has had a manual action taken again...

AI & SEO Penalties & Spam

Why Does Google Run 700,000 Tests Yearly and What Does It Mean for Your SEO?

John Mueller Apr 01, 2025 ★★★

At the Search Central Live NYC event, John Mueller explained that Google conducts 700,000 tests per year, which equates to more than 4,700 search engine updates. This therefore implies that many tests take place in parallel. "This also means that whe...

Content AI & SEO