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 3 questions

Less than 30 seconds. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~30s 🎯 3 questions 📚 SEO Google
★★★ Why does Google crawl pages it never adds to its index?
The statuses 'URL crawled but not indexed' and 'URL discovered but not indexed' should be treated essentially the same way. Just because Google crawled a page doesn't mean it will automatically be ind...
John Mueller Feb 04, 2022
★★ Why does changing only the title of copied content fool absolutely nobody?
Copying content from a website and simply rewriting the title is not a good practice. Changing only the title of a copied article does not make it a good article. For cases of complete copying, the DM...
John Mueller Feb 04, 2022
★★★ Does adding categories to your URLs really boost your SEO rankings?
Adding categories to your URL structure (for example /category/article instead of /article) produces no notable SEO changes. It can make it easier to track analytics for identifying popular categories...
John Mueller Feb 04, 2022
★★★ Are reciprocal links really risk-free for your SEO strategy?
Natural reciprocal links (local businesses linking to each other, mentions in news with return links) are perfectly acceptable. You shouldn't overthink it if links are made naturally, without suspicio...
John Mueller Jan 30, 2022
★★ Does Google really reset your site's evaluation when migrating from a subdomain to a primary domain?
When migrating from a subdomain to the primary domain, Google must reevaluate your entire site because there is a merger happening. You need clear mapping from old to new URLs and must verify everythi...
John Mueller Jan 30, 2022
★★ Will accidental dofollow links in your PR coverage actually hurt your rankings?
If the majority of PR article links correctly use nofollow, a few accidental dofollow links aren't a problem. Google won't penalize you if the essentials are correct and algorithms can identify and ma...
John Mueller Jan 21, 2022
★★ Should you really worry about internal content duplication?
Internal content duplication (between category page and blog article, for example) is normal and generally acceptable. Google's systems recognize these natural duplications on a website....
John Mueller Jan 09, 2022
★★ Should You Really Use Google's Indexing API to Speed Up Your Content Indexing?
Google's Indexing API is designed for job listing content, not for news sites. It has limitations on the number of URLs. While it may speed up crawling, it does not affect the indexing of news article...
John Mueller Dec 31, 2021
★★ Does Google’s core updates really impact the foundational algorithm?
Core updates affect the heart of Google’s systems and can lead to significant changes in search and Discover results. The November 2021 core update is one such example....
John Mueller Dec 23, 2021
★★★ How unpredictable is Google Discover for your SEO strategy?
Google Discover is very binary: you either get a lot of traffic or very little. One should not depend on Discover as a primary traffic source, as this can change rapidly. Core Updates and Discover con...
John Mueller Dec 10, 2021
★★ Can publishing 30 articles truly establish your site as an SEO authority?
Creating 30 blog articles does not automatically make a site authoritative, particularly on sensitive subjects like health. For small businesses or one-page sites, it’s not necessary to be perceived a...
John Mueller Dec 10, 2021
★★ How are Chrome Data in Discover Changing Your SEO Insights?
The change allowing Chrome data to appear in the Discover reports of Search Console has been completed. Users cannot distinguish the source of the data but can observe an increase in traffic....
Google Nov 25, 2021
★★ How does Google handle title links and snippets today?
Google has published blog posts and updated documentation regarding title links and snippets to explain the changes and help website owners understand how they are generated....
John Mueller Nov 17, 2021
★★★ Should You Really Optimize Your Site for Voice Search in 2024?
Martin Splitt shared his perspective on voice search during a Search off the record podcast: "Oh my God, the future that will never be. (...) I think in the future, it won't change (...). Simply becau...
Martin Splitt Nov 15, 2021
★★★ What makes Google Discover's SEO standards so much stricter?
Google Discover applies different and often stricter quality standards compared to classic web search, particularly concerning adult content, clickbait titles, and other factors outlined in the Discov...
John Mueller Nov 12, 2021
★★★ Why is Google Discover traffic so unpredictable for SEO professionals?
Traffic from Google Discover is generally very unstable, with brutal fluctuations. If the algorithms determine that a site should no longer be featured in Discover, traffic can nearly vanish overnight...
John Mueller Nov 12, 2021
★★★ Are Key Moments Exclusive to Main Video Results?
Key Moments can appear for results where a video is the main content of the page, but they do not currently appear for pages that mix videos with other content, such as a news article or an e-commerce...
Danielle Marshak Nov 09, 2021
★★ How does Google’s support for WebP images transform SEO strategies?
Google's image processing systems support images in the WebP format. The same system is utilized across all areas of Google Search, including Discover and Google News....
John Mueller Nov 07, 2021
★★★ Why shouldn't you focus solely on SEO?
Websites should not concentrate solely on speed for SEO reasons. Performance directly enhances usability, conversions, newsletter sign-ups, cart additions, and ad revenues. The business impact goes we...
Vivek Sekhar Oct 21, 2021
★★ Why is it essential to list multiple authors in structured data for SEO?
For an article written by multiple people, it is entirely possible and recommended to specify multiple authors in the structured data of type Article....
Google Oct 21, 2021
🔔

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.