Gary Illyes

★★ Does the Google feedback form in the SERPs really work?

The feedback form directly within Google search results is reviewed by analysts. Some feedback is escalated internally if it is actionable. It's a legitimate way to report search quality issues....

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really treat all websites equally, regardless of their size or ad budget?

Google implements a strict policy of fair results. It doesn't matter if you are a small or large publisher, whether you spend €1 or millions on Google Ads, or if you work at Google or know someone at ...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google refuse to answer your SEO questions privately?

Google generally does not respond to private emails or direct messages regarding SEO in order to respect the policy of fair outcomes. Questions must be asked publicly (Twitter, Webmaster forums, offic...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does spending more on Google Ads really improve your organic SEO?

The amount spent on Google Ads or any other Google product has no influence on the handling of natural SEO issues. The principle of fair results applies regardless of ad spending....

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can Google really intervene manually on your site for exceptional reasons?

Google can take exceptional measures only when an issue clearly affects a large number of Google users. These decisions are made by Search leadership, not individual engineers. They are never based on...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it true that reporting spam to Google is almost pointless?

Google encourages reporting spam but processes these reports in an aggregate manner, not individually. The team analyzes all reports to identify patterns and find scalable solutions for each type of s...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Search Console really lack privileged support from Google?

Search Console is a search product and is thus governed by the Fair Results Policy. Google cannot provide privileged assistance for the verification or use of Search Console, even though this frustrat...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you escalate your SEO issues to Google's management?

Escalating an SEO request through managerial hierarchy changes nothing. The fair results policy is very clear about what the team can or cannot do. Escalations only add frustration and can create a ne...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really rely on Google’s public channels to solve your SEO issues?

To get help with search issues, use public channels: John Mueller’s Office Hours (weekly, announced on YouTube), Webmaster Help forums, or public questions on Twitter. These channels ensure fair acces...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★ How does Google handle systemic search bugs internally?

Internally at Google, there is a form (go/bet) that allows for the escalation of search issues that seem systemic. It’s not a general debugging forum but a historical record that helps identify patter...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the meta keywords tag still hold any significance for SEO?

Google does not care at all about the meta keywords tag. This tag has no value for SEO in Google Search and is not taken into account in the processing of pages....

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does CSS styling of Hn tags really influence their SEO weight?

Google normalizes H1, H2, H3, H4 tags during processing. The system attempts to understand the style applied to H tags to determine the relative importance of these tags to one another....

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does the noindex truly prevent Google from processing a document?

Google places a particular emphasis on the meta name robots tag. If the noindex value is detected, Google stops processing the document and does not add it to the index....

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Could a <div> in the <head> ruin your technical SEO?

If body-related HTML elements (like iframe, div, p, span) are found in the head tag, the HTML lexer automatically closes the head just before these elements and starts the body from there. This is cru...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can Google really tell the difference between your soft 404s and legitimate content on error pages?

Google detects error pages that return an HTTP 200 status (soft 404). The system has a large corpus of error pages and tries to match text to identify these pages and stop their processing. This can s...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should You Really Deindex Your Out-of-Stock Product Pages?

Google considers that out-of-stock pages without additional functionality (like sign-up for alerts) generally do not add value for users in the index. The answer depends on context: for a unique vinta...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really index all file formats beyond just HTML?

Google Search can index many formats beyond HTML: PDF, spreadsheets, Word files, and even Lotus files. These binary formats are converted to HTML for processing. Google notably uses a licensed Adobe d...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Caffeine: How does Google turn crawling into indexing?

Caffeine is the external name for Google's indexing system. It ingests the protocol buffers produced by Googlebot, collects signals, normalizes HTML, converts formats, detects errors, and adds informa...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How does Google really normalize broken HTML on your pages?

The internet is generally broken in terms of HTML, but Google still tries to understand it. All HTML is processed through an HTML lexer to normalize the code before processing, making it easier to ana...

Dec 09, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why is the SEO workload surging during economic crises?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the workload for SEOs increased instead of decreasing, likely because more businesses moved their activities online and needed additional SEO support....

Dec 08, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available