What does Google say about SEO?

Do JavaScript console errors really hurt your site's search rankings?

Gary Illyes Jun 13, 2024 ★★

The impact of errors in the browser console depends on what's broken. An error on a benign element like a paragraph probably won't affect the site, but an error on the head element could be problematic. You need to use valid HTML.

AI & SEO

Could showing all product variants to Googlebot alone be quietly destroying your search visibility?

Google Jun 13, 2024 ★★★

Showing all product variants to Googlebot but not to humans is considered cloaking and violates anti-spam rules. The recommended alternative is to use Merchant Center to submit product variants, which will appear in results even if the URL is not ind...

Crawl & Indexing E-commerce AI & SEO Images & Videos JavaScript & Technical SEO Domain Name Penalties & Spam Local Search

Do you really need a dedicated page per video to rank in rich video results?

Gary Illyes Jun 13, 2024 ★★★

For rich video results with features like key moments, you need to have a dedicated page for each video where the video is the main focus of the page. Consult Google's video guidelines for more information.

Domain Age & History

Is content syndication really worth the risk to your organic visibility?

Google Jun 13, 2024 ★★★

Search results are not an indication of what Google considers the original source. By republishing content on other platforms, you're exchanging additional visibility for the possibility that the third-party platform appears above your site in result...

Content AI & SEO

Can a Few Problematic Pages Really Penalize an Entire Website?

John Mueller Jun 11, 2024 ★★★

On Reddit, John Mueller clarified that it was unlikely that ten problematic pages (out of 20,000 pages), affected by the HCU or reputation abuse, could cause a ranking penalty across an entire site. A ranking drop can indeed be explained by various f...

Algorithms Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO Links & Backlinks

Are White Label Coupon Sites Doomed by Google's Latest Crackdown?

Google Jun 11, 2024 ★★★

Google has indicated that white label coupon and discount sites, primarily used to manipulate search rankings, may be penalized for site reputation abuse. However, sites that demonstrate transparency about the origin of coupons and offer added value ...

AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO PDF & Files

How Does Google Really Decide When to Tell Us About Search Outages?

Gary Illyes Jun 11, 2024 ★★

In the latest episode of the Search Off The Record podcast, Gary Illyes and John Mueller explained how Google manages communication around incidents affecting crawl and indexing. The Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) team monitors incidents and deci...

Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Web Performance

Is Google really deleting 7% of its video index and how can you avoid being part of it?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★★

Google has begun indexing more short videos, which required freeing up space in the video index. To do this, Google removed underperforming videos from its index, resulting in approximately a 7% reduction in the video index. This change was noticeabl...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO

Why do indexing incidents cripple news sites so severely?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★★

During an indexing incident in February 2024, search results became outdated and Google struggled to index new content. This particularly affected news portals that couldn't reach their users, and users couldn't find the latest news on their favorite...

Content Crawl & Indexing Discover & News AI & SEO

Why does Google keep incidents 'open' on its status dashboard even after they're resolved?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★

For certain critical incidents, Google maintains the open status even after visible problem mitigation, rather than closing it immediately. This prevents having to reopen the incident if the system regresses. Google now distinguishes between 'fixed' ...

AI & SEO Pagination & Structure

Should you worry about Google's minor technical incidents?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★

Historically, incidents classified as 'minor' internally at Google have never warranted external communication. These incidents involve isolated technical issues like a server running out of RAM or a datacenter undergoing scheduled maintenance, which...

Domain Age & History Content AI & SEO

Does Google Really Only Announce Technical Incidents When Enough Sites Are Impacted?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★★

Google decides to publicly communicate about an incident when multiple sites (more than three, ideally more than seven) are affected by the same problem. External pressure and problem visibility also influence the decision to publish on the status da...

Pagination & Structure

Why isn't Google crawling your site as frequently as you'd like?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★★

Some issues perceived by site owners as malfunctions are actually intentional. For example, if Google doesn't crawl a site as frequently as the owner wishes, it's not a bug but an algorithmic decision based on Google's evaluation of the content.

Algorithms Content Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO

Why does Google rely on pre-approved message templates during technical incidents?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★

To communicate quickly during incidents, Google uses templated messages pre-approved by legal and public relations teams. This allows the company to publish updates to its status dashboard without having to seek approvals each time, thereby accelerat...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Pagination & Structure

Why isn't your content appearing in search results even after you've fixed your indexing issue?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★

After resolving an indexing or crawl problem, it takes time before changes become visible in search results. Google may close the incident while clarifying that complete reindexing is underway and users will progressively see content return.

Content Crawl & Indexing

Why Are Google's Search Experiments Causing Unexpected Incidents in Your Rankings?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★

Frequently, incidents are caused by experiments (tests) that interact poorly with each other or have unintended side effects. When an alert triggers, the SRE team can identify a faulty experiment and disable it or reduce its scope to resolve the issu...

AI & SEO Mobile SEO

Will Google finally start sharing good news about its search engine?

Gary Illyes Jun 06, 2024 ★★

Google is considering expanding the use of its status dashboard to include positive informational updates, such as indexing improvements or processing speed increases. Currently, the majority of communications concern negative issues, but positive ch...

Domain Age & History Crawl & Indexing AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Web Performance

Why Doesn't Reporting Spam to Google Directly Penalize Targeted Sites?

Danny Sullivan Jun 04, 2024 ★★★

On X, Danny Sullivan clarified that spam reports received do not lead to direct action against the reported sites. Instead, these reports help improve Google's spam detection systems, which can then take action at the algorithm level. He also indicat...

Algorithms AI & SEO JavaScript & Technical SEO Penalties & Spam Search Console

Does Google Really Welcome Constructive Criticism from SEO Professionals?

Danny Sullivan Jun 04, 2024 ★★

No, Google is not upset by those who share constructive feedback about its search results. Danny Sullivan has indeed stated that complaints and feedback represent opportunities for improvement. He even encouraged users to continue providing construct...

Domain Age & History AI & SEO Pagination & Structure Social Media

Did you know that Google's URL removal tool can impact 4 versions at once?

Google May 30, 2024 ★★★

When a URL is removed using the tool, 4 versions are automatically deleted: with and without www, in HTTP and HTTPS. This removal affects all these variants even if only one URL is entered.

HTTPS & Security AI & SEO Domain Name