What does Google say about SEO? /
This category compiles official Google statements regarding Google Discover and Google News, two critical content distribution platforms for publishers. Google Discover has emerged as a significant traffic source, operating on a personalized recommendation model without user queries. Official Google positions on these topics are vital for understanding content selection criteria, eligibility factors, and necessary technical optimizations. SEO professionals will find guidance on E-E-A-T quality requirements, technical specifications including structured data markup, AMP formats, and editorial policy compliance. Google News maintains strict inclusion standards, while Discover prioritizes engagement metrics and contextual relevance. Mastering these official guidelines enables publishers to optimize visibility within these feeds, maximize referral traffic, and align content strategies with recommendation algorithms. These declarations also illuminate algorithm updates specific to these platforms and evolving journalistic standards expected by Google. Understanding the nuances between these two services helps publishers differentiate their optimization approaches and capitalize on opportunities for increased content distribution beyond traditional search results.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 5 questions

Less than a minute. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★★ Can internal links in your content really penalize your e-commerce site?
Internal links in articles on an e-commerce site are not considered over-optimization, as long as they are used reasonably to provide useful and relevant information....
John Mueller Sep 11, 2015
★★★ Is Google getting the dates of your articles wrong?
Google can misinterpret an article's dates by using incorrect information like that from comments or other page elements. Using structured data to explicitly indicate dates is recommended....
John Mueller Jul 02, 2015
★★ How does Google really measure the cumulative impact of its algorithm updates?
Algorithm updates, like the 'newsworthy update', are part of Google's ongoing adjustments to evaluate and improve the quality of websites. They are not always individually detectable but may become vi...
John Mueller Jul 02, 2015
★★ Why does Google News send direct traffic to your Analytics stats?
Traffic originating from the Google Newsbox should not appear as direct traffic in Google Analytics. If this is the case, it requires further investigation....
John Mueller May 21, 2015
★★★ Why are 80% of submissions for Google News inclusion rejected?
Publishers can submit their sites through the Google News Publisher Center to enhance the visibility and classification of their news content. However, currently, only one in five inclusion requests i...
Google May 12, 2015
★★★ How can you resolve crawling errors that hinder indexing in Google News?
Webmasters can use crawling error reports in Google News to diagnose and resolve article indexing issues. It is important to check webmaster tools to understand and correct reported errors, such as ar...
Google May 12, 2015
★★★ Does Google News really recommend using keywords for indexing?
Using keywords is encouraged in articles to help Google News understand the content and classify it correctly. Keywords contribute to better associations of articles by thematic clusters....
Google May 12, 2015
★★★ Why does Google require a separate News sitemap to index your articles?
Google recommends using specific sitemaps for Google News because they make the discovery and indexing of articles relevant to News easier. These sitemaps allow for individual classification of articl...
Google May 12, 2015
★★ Why does the Google News Publisher Center still feel so basic?
Google acknowledges that the Publisher Center for Google News is still basic and plans future improvements, such as direct topic editing, to simplify publication management for publishers....
Google May 12, 2015
★★ How do freshness and popularity really affect rankings in Google News?
Ranking in Google News takes into account the freshness and popularity of articles. Although Google uses various signals to determine ranking, recent user activity and the popularity of content are ke...
Google May 12, 2015
★★★ Does the 'editorial selection' in Google News really influence your editorial visibility?
The editorial selection is an important aspect of Google News. It is a feature on the homepage and in the Google News app that showcases the top five articles. It is recommended to update it once or t...
Google May 12, 2015
★★ Does schema.org really enhance your ranking in Google?
Google uses certain schema.org tags for rich snippets, but most other tags are not currently used for search ranking. Tags such as articles or main content can help Google better understand a page, bu...
John Mueller May 07, 2015
★★ Can Pop-Ups Really Exclude Your Site from Google News?
A site may not be included in Google News if pop-ups prevent access to content during the review for inclusion....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
★★★ Should you really resubmit your Google News sitemap after fixing each error?
It is important to resubmit your Google News sitemap if errors are detected, as the errors persist until a new submission occurs....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
★★★ Does Google really require three digits in your URLs to be indexed on Google News?
Article URLs in Google News must include a unique string of three digits to differentiate articles from spam, unless a Google News sitemap is used to bypass this rule....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
★★ Why restrict to two labels per article on Google News?
In the Google News Publisher Center, an article can have multiple labels (e.g., Business and Technology), but it is advised not to exceed two labels for coherent content....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
★★★ Does Google really ban marketing content from its index?
Google News does not allow marketing articles and expects strict adherence to quality guidelines, under penalty of potential removal of the site from the Google News index....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
★★★ Do Google’s article errors really block the indexing of your pages?
Article errors such as 'article too long' or 'article fragmented' can be resolved through provided suggestions and must be corrected promptly to maximize the chances of re-indexation....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
★★★ Why does Google require strict consistency between title, h1, and anchors in Google News?
An article title must be consistent across the page, including the title tag, h1, and anchor text, to minimize extraction errors and avoid hyperlinking....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
★★★ Do Google News Sitemaps really enhance the indexing of your articles?
Using Google News sitemaps allows for better reporting of your news articles to the bot, ensuring improved coverage of articles and optimizing the accurate extraction of dates and article titles....
Stacie Chan Mar 25, 2015
🔔

Get real-time analysis of the latest Google SEO declarations

Be the first to know every time a new official Google statement drops — with full expert analysis.

No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.