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.
★★★ Does canonical alone really prevent syndicated content from appearing in Discover, or do you actually need to add noindex?
To prevent syndicated versions of your content from appearing in Google Discover, use the meta robots noindex tag in addition to the canonical link. Canonical alone is an insufficient indicative signa...
John Mueller Jun 07, 2023
★★ Why does Google anonymize certain URLs in your Discover data, and what does it mean for your SEO strategy?
The searchdata_url_impression table includes a boolean field indicating whether the URL is anonymized for Discover in order to protect user privacy....
Daniel Waisberg Jun 01, 2023
★★★ Does a Misconfigured Last-Modified HTTP Header Really Hurt Your SEO Rankings?
In response to an apparently incorrect article, John Mueller left a message on Mastodon to set the record straight. In his post, Google's most famous employee stated: "I came across an article about t...
John Mueller May 30, 2023
★★ How can comparing Search, News, and Discover reports transform your content strategy?
Exporting data from Search, News, and Discover reports and comparing them allows you to identify what works on each Google surface. This analysis helps determine where to invest and how to format cont...
Cherry Prommawin May 23, 2023
★★★ Why aren't your Google News metrics showing up in Search Console?
The Google News report displays data from news.google.com and the Google News application on Android and iOS. This is different and does not cover data from the News tab in Google Search results, whic...
Cherry Prommawin May 23, 2023
★★ Why isn't the Discover report showing up in your Search Console?
The Discover Performance report is only visible if your property has reached the minimum number of impressions in Discover. It displays Discover traffic across all surfaces where users interact with i...
Cherry Prommawin May 23, 2023
★★★ Are you really missing a significant chunk of your traffic by not filtering by search type in Search Console?
The Performance report displays data for Google Search's main tab by default, but you can filter data by search type — Web, Image, Video, or News — to see results in each respective Google Search tab....
Daniel Waisberg May 23, 2023
★★ Why doesn't Google Search Console show search queries in the Google News report?
In the Google News report in Search Console, you will not see search queries or search appearances, unlike the standard Search Performance report....
Cherry Prommawin May 23, 2023
★★★ Why does Google force you to juggle three separate performance reports in Search Console?
Search Console offers three distinct performance reports: Search (classic search results), Discover, and Google News. The data from each report is different and must be analyzed separately to understa...
Daniel Waisberg May 23, 2023
★★★ Why does Google News require complete transparency about author identity?
An essential part of Google News policies is transparency: providing clear dates, information about authors, publication, and publisher. Visitors want to know who writes the content they read....
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 2023
★★ Should you really remove all secondary dates from a page to boost your SEO performance?
To the extent possible, prevent the appearance of other dates on the page. For example, if you display related articles at the end of a page, make sure dates are not displayed to avoid any confusion....
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 2023
★★★ Does Google News really consider all websites automatically, or are there hidden criteria you need to know about?
Web content is automatically considered for Google News. To appear, it must meet three criteria: high levels of E-E-A-T, consistent history of news-related content production, and compliance with Goog...
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 2023
★★★ Should you really update your article's publication date every time you make changes?
For an article page receiving a significant update, modify the article's date and label the dates with text such as 'published', 'updated', or 'last updated'. Also use the dateModified structured data...
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 2023
★★★ Does Google really penalize websites when ads dominate editorial content?
Advertising and other promotional elements must not exceed your editorial content. It is important to clearly distinguish what is a paid placement and what is not, in accordance with Google News guide...
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 2023
★★ Should you remove logos and watermarks from your images to boost SEO performance?
Use relevant images for the article and avoid logos or oversized watermarks that make images difficult to understand. Important information should not be integrated solely within images but also in ac...
Daniel Waisberg May 15, 2023
★★★ Does Google really penalize you for not specifying timezone information in your structured data dates?
Provide a publication date to Google by following byline date guidelines. Use structured data to specify a date and timezone to help Google better understand article dates....
Cherry Prommawin May 15, 2023
★★★ Does SafeSearch Really Filter Your Content on Google Discover?
In response to a tweet from @lilyraynyc, who was wondering whether sites with some adult content could be entirely excluded from Discover, the Google SearchLiaison account stated: "SafeSearch likely a...
Google Apr 25, 2023
★★★ Can you use third-party reviews to power product rich results on Google?
For products, it is acceptable to use review data and ratings from third parties for rich results. The reviews must be visible on the page and relevant to the specific product, not to a generic produc...
Lizzi Sassman Apr 12, 2023
★★★ Why Is Your Evergreen Content Suddenly Losing Rankings to News Articles?
On Twitter, Danny Sullivan responded to a complaint from the Celebrity Net Worth website. They were complaining that their excellent content about Gwyneth Paltrow was being outranked by poor quality c...
Danny Sullivan Apr 11, 2023
★★ Should you really be afraid to publish 7,000 articles all at once?
If your server has sufficient resources to handle a significant additional crawl (potentially 1,000 times more), launching 7,000 articles at once shouldn't cause any problems. Otherwise, you risk brin...
Gary Illyes Apr 05, 2023
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