{"id":622457,"date":"2024-05-30T20:52:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T17:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/"},"modified":"2024-05-30T20:52:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T17:52:42","slug":"how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/","title":{"rendered":"#How SEO moves forward with the Google Content Warehouse API leak"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2cfe2c022f2\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2cfe2c022f2\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Addressing_common_questions_critiques_and_concerns_following_the_massive_Google_Search_leak_and_how_your_approach_to_SEO_should_change\" >Addressing common questions, critiques and concerns following the massive Google Search leak and how your approach to SEO should change.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Reactions_to_the_leak_My_thoughts_on_common_criticisms\" >Reactions to the leak: My thoughts on common criticisms<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%98We_already_knew_all_that\" >\u2018We already knew all that\u2019<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%98We_should_just_focus_on_customers_and_not_the_leak\" >\u2018We should just focus on customers and not the leak\u2019<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%98The_leak_isnt_real\" >\u2018The leak isn\u2019t real\u2019<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CThis_is_a_Nothingburger%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cThis is a Nothingburger\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CIt_doesnt_say_CTR_so_its_not_being_used%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cIt doesn\u2019t say CTR so it\u2019s not being used\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CBe_careful_with_drawing_conclusions_from_this_information%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cBe careful with drawing conclusions from this information\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CThe_leak_is_to_stop_us_from_talking_about_AI_Overviews%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cThe leak is to stop us from talking about AI Overviews\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CWe_dont_know_how_old_it_is%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cWe don\u2019t know how old it is\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CThis_all_isnt_related_to_search%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cThis all isn\u2019t related to search\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CIts_just_a_list_of_variables%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cIt\u2019s just a list of variables\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CIts_a_conspiracy_You_buried_thing_Im_interested_in%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cIt\u2019s a conspiracy! You buried [thing I\u2019m interested in]\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#%E2%80%9CThis_wont_change_anything_about_how_I_do_SEO%E2%80%9D\" >\u201cThis won\u2019t change anything about how I do SEO\u201d<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#FAQs_about_the_leaked_docs\" >FAQs about the leaked docs<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#What_were_the_most_interesting_things_you_found\" >What were the most interesting things you found?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#What_should_we_take_away_from_this_leak\" >What should we take away from this leak?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#What_are_the_implications_for_local_search\" >What are the implications for local search?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#What_are_the_implications_for_YouTube_Search\" >What are the implications for YouTube Search?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#How_does_this_impact_the_space\" >How does this impact the (_______) space?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Do_you_really_think_Google_is_purposely_torching_small_sites\" >Do you really think Google is purposely torching small sites?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Do_you_think_Googlers_are_bad_people\" >Do you think Googlers are bad people?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Is_there_anything_related_to_AI_Overviews\" >Is there anything related to AI Overviews?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-24\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Is_there_anything_related_to_generative_AI\" >Is there anything related to generative AI?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-25\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#New_discoveries_from_the_leak\" >New discoveries from the leak<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-26\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Baby_Panda_is_not_HCU\" >Baby Panda is not HCU<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-27\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#The_leaks_technically_go_back_two_years\" >The leaks technically go back two years<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-28\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#There_is_a_content_effort_score_maybe_for_generative_AI_content\" >There is a content effort score maybe for generative AI content<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-29\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#The_significance_of_page_updates_is_measured\" >The significance of page updates is measured<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-30\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Pages_are_protected_based_on_earlier_links_in_Penguin\" >Pages are protected based on earlier links in Penguin<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-31\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Toxic_backlinks_are_indeed_a_thing\" >Toxic backlinks are indeed a thing<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-32\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Theres_a_blog_copycat_score\" >There\u2019s a blog copycat score<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-33\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Mentions_matter_a_lot\" >Mentions matter a lot<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-34\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Googlebot_is_more_capable_than_we_thought\" >Googlebot is more capable than we thought<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-35\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Specific_measures_of_%E2%80%98effort_for_UGC\" >Specific measures of \u2018effort\u2019 for UGC\u00a0<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-36\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Google_detects_how_commercial_a_page_is\" >Google detects how commercial a page is<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-37\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Cool_things_Ive_seen_people_do_with_the_leaked_docs\" >Cool things I\u2019ve seen people do with the leaked docs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-38\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Direction_on_how_to_move_forward_in_SEO\" >Direction on how to move forward in SEO<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-39\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#How_to_read_the_documents\" >How to read the documents<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-40\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#How_your_approach_to_SEO_should_change_strategically\" >How your approach to SEO should change strategically<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-41\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#How_your_approach_to_SEO_should_change_tactically\" >How your approach to SEO should change tactically<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-42\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Bottom_line\" >Bottom line<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-43\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#How_Google_can_repair_its_relationship_with_the_SEO_community\" >How Google can repair its relationship with the SEO community<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-44\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-seo-moves-forward-with-the-google-content-warehouse-api-leak\/#Everybody_keep_up_the_good_work\" >Everybody keep up the good work<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Addressing_common_questions_critiques_and_concerns_following_the_massive_Google_Search_leak_and_how_your_approach_to_SEO_should_change\"><\/span>Addressing common questions, critiques and concerns following the massive Google Search leak and how your approach to SEO should change.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\nIn case you missed it, 2,569 internal documents related to internal services at Google leaked. <\/p>\n<p>A search marketer named Erfan Amizi brought them to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/an-anonymous-source-shared-thousands-of-leaked-google-search-api-documents-with-me-everyone-in-seo-should-see-them\/\">Rand Fishkin\u2019s attention<\/a>, and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ipullrank.com\/google-algo-leak\">we analyzed them<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Pandemonium ensued.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/1038259\/SEL_Post-text --><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1693000027709-0\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"post-break\"><\/div>\n<p>As you might imagine, it\u2019s been a crazy 48 hours for us all and I have completely failed at being on vacation.<\/p>\n<p>Naturally, some portion of the SEO community has quickly fallen into the standard fear, uncertainty and doubt spiral.<\/p>\n<p>Reconciling new information can be difficult and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/moz.com\/blog\/cognitive-bias\">our cognitive biases can stand in the way<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s valuable to discuss this further and offer clarification so we can use what we\u2019ve learned more productively. <\/p>\n<p>After all, these documents are the clearest look at how Google actually considers features of pages that we have had to date. <\/p>\n<p>In this article, I want to attempt to be more explicitly clear, answer common questions, critiques, and concerns and highlight additional actionable findings. <\/p>\n<p>Finally, I want to give you a glimpse into how we will be using this information to do cutting-edge work for our clients. The hope is that we can collectively come up with the best ways to update our best practices based on what we\u2019ve learned.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-reactions-to-the-leak-my-thoughts-on-common-criticisms\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Reactions_to_the_leak_My_thoughts_on_common_criticisms\"><\/span>Reactions to the leak: My thoughts on common criticisms <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s start by addressing what people have been saying in response to our findings. I\u2019m not a subtweeter, so this is to all of y\u2019all and I say this with love. \ud83d\ude06<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-we-already-knew-all-that\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98We_already_knew_all_that\"><\/span>\u2018We already knew all that\u2019<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No, in large part, you did not.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a>ly speaking, the SEO community has operated based on a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of best practices derived from research-minded people from the late 1990s and early 2000s. <\/p>\n<p>For instance, we\u2019ve held the page title in such high regard for so long because early search engines were not full-text and only indexed the page titles.<\/p>\n<p>These practices have been reluctantly updated based on information from Google, SEO software companies, and insights from the community. There were numerous gaps that you filled with your own speculation and anecdotal evidence from your experiences. <\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re more advanced, you capitalized on temporary edge cases and exploits, but you never knew exactly the depth of what Google considers when it computes its rankings. <\/p>\n<p>You also did not know most of its named systems, so you would not have been able to interpret much of what you see in these documents. So, you searched these documents for the things that you do understand and you concluded that you know everything here.<\/p>\n<p>That is the very definition of confirmation bias.<\/p>\n<p>In reality, there are many features in these documents that <em>none of us knew.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>Just like the 2006 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/AOL_search_log_release\">AOL search data leak<\/a> and the Yandex leak, there will be value captured from these documents for years to come. Most importantly, you also just got <strong>actual confirmation<\/strong> that Google uses features that you might have suspected. There is value in that if only to act as proof when you are trying to get something implemented with your clients.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, we now have a better sense of internal terminology. One way Google spokespeople evade explanation is through language ambiguity. We are now better armed to ask the right questions and stop living on the abstraction layer.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-we-should-just-focus-on-customers-and-not-the-leak\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98We_should_just_focus_on_customers_and_not_the_leak\"><\/span>\u2018We should just focus on customers and not the leak\u2019<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Sure. As an early and continued <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/moz.com\/blog\/personas-understanding-the-person-behind-the-visit\">proponent of market segmentation in SEO<\/a>, I obviously think we should be focusing on our customers. <\/p>\n<p>Yet we can\u2019t deny that we live in a reality where <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/c\/23998379\/google-search-seo-algorithm-webpage-optimization\">most of the web has conformed to Google<\/a> to drive traffic.<\/p>\n<p>We operate in a channel that is considered a black box. Our customers ask us questions that we often respond to with \u201cit depends.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m of the mindset that there is value in having an atomic understanding of what we\u2019re working with so we can explain <em>what it depends on<\/em>. That helps with building trust and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrentDPayne\/status\/1795557932978860264\">getting buy-in to execute<\/a> on the work that we do. <\/p>\n<p>Mastering our channel is in service of our focus on our customers.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-leak-isn-t-real\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98The_leak_isnt_real\"><\/span>\u2018The leak isn\u2019t real\u2019<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Skepticism in SEO is healthy. Ultimately, you can decide to believe whatever you want, but here\u2019s the reality of the situation:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Erfan had his Xoogler source authenticate the documentation.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Rand worked through his own authentication process.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>I also authenticated the documentation separately through my own network and backchannel resources.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>I can say with <strong>absolute confidence<\/strong> that the leak is real and has been definitively verified in several ways including through insights from people with deeper access to Google\u2019s systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In addition to my own sources, Xoogler Fili Wiese offered his <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/filiwiese\/status\/1795494080446964084\">insight on X<\/a>. Note that I\u2019ve included his call out even though he vaguely sprinkled some doubt on my interpretations without offering any other information. <em>But that\u2019s a Xoogler for you, amiright?<\/em> \ud83d\ude06<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"602\" height=\"631\" alt=\"Fili Wiese X Correction\" class=\"wp-image-442751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction.png.webp 602w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction-322x338.png.webp 322w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction-572x600.png.webp 572w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction-108x113.png.webp 108w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction.png.webp\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"602\" height=\"631\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction.png.webp\" alt=\"Fili Wiese X Correction\" class=\"wp-image-442751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction.png.webp 602w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction-322x338.png.webp 322w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction-572x600.png.webp 572w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/fili-wiese-x-correction-108x113.png.webp 108w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Finally, the documentation references specific internal ranking systems that <em>only<\/em> Googlers know about. I touched on some of those systems and cross-referenced their functions with detail from a Google engineer\u2019s resume.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and Google just verified it in a statement as I was putting my final edits on this.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-this-is-a-nothingburger\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThis_is_a_Nothingburger%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cThis is a Nothingburger\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No doubt. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll see you on page 2 of the SERPs while I\u2019m having mine medium with cheese, mayo, ketchup and mustard.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-it-doesn-t-say-ctr-so-it-s-not-being-used\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CIt_doesnt_say_CTR_so_its_not_being_used%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t say CTR so it\u2019s not being used\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>So, let me get this straight, you think a marvel of modern <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> that computes an array of data points across thousands of computers to generate and display results from tens of billions of pages in a quarter of a second that stores both clicks and impressions as features is incapable of performing basic division on the fly?<\/p>\n<p>\u2026 OK.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-be-careful-with-drawing-conclusions-from-this-information\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CBe_careful_with_drawing_conclusions_from_this_information%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cBe careful with drawing conclusions from this information\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I agree with this. We all have the potential to be wrong in our interpretation here due to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ipullrank.com\/google-algo-leak#:~:text=your%20future%20statements.-,THE%20CAVEATS,-I%20think%20we\">the caveats<\/a> that I highlighted. <\/p>\n<p>To that end, we should take measured <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roaches in developing and testing hypotheses based on this data. <\/p>\n<p>The conclusions I\u2019ve drawn are based on my research into Google and precedents in Information Retrieval, but like I said it is entirely possible that my conclusions are not absolutely correct.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-leak-is-to-stop-us-from-talking-about-ai-overviews\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThe_leak_is_to_stop_us_from_talking_about_AI_Overviews%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cThe leak is to stop us from talking about AI Overviews\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. <\/p>\n<p>The misconfigured documentation deployment happened in March. There\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Derek_Perkins\/status\/1795986969954238649\">some evidence that this has been happening in other languages (sans comments) for two years<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>The documents were discovered in May. Had someone discovered it sooner, it would have been shared sooner. <\/p>\n<p>The timing of AI Overviews has nothing to do with it. Cut it out.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-we-don-t-know-how-old-it-is\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CWe_dont_know_how_old_it_is%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cWe don\u2019t know how old it is\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This is immaterial. Based on dates in the files, we know it\u2019s at least newer than August 2023. <\/p>\n<p>We know that commits to the repository happen regularly, presumably as a function of code being updated. We know that much of the docs have not changed in subsequent deployments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We also know that when this code was deployed, it featured exactly the 2,596 files we have been reviewing and many of those files were not previously in the repository. Unless whoever\/whatever did the git push did so with out of date code, this was the latest version at the time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"834\" height=\"551\" alt=\"Yoshi Code Bot Version\" class=\"wp-image-442752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version.png.webp 834w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-512x338.png.webp 512w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-800x529.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-171x113.png.webp 171w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-768x507.png.webp 768w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"834\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version.png.webp\" alt=\"Yoshi Code Bot Version\" class=\"wp-image-442752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version.png.webp 834w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-512x338.png.webp 512w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-800x529.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-171x113.png.webp 171w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/yoshi-code-bot-version-768x507.png.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 834px) 100vw, 834px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The documentation has other markers of recency, like references to LLMs and generative features, which suggests that it is at least from the past year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"456\" alt=\"Videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures\" class=\"wp-image-442753\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures.png.webp 811w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-600x338.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-800x450.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-200x113.png.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-768x432.png.webp 768w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"811\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures.png.webp\" alt=\"Videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures\" class=\"wp-image-442753\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures.png.webp 811w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-600x338.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-800x450.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-200x113.png.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativepredictionfeatures-768x432.png.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Either way it has more detail than we have ever gotten before and more than fresh enough for our consideration.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-this-all-isn-t-related-to-search\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThis_all_isnt_related_to_search%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cThis all isn\u2019t related to search\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>That is correct. I indicated as much in my previous article.<\/p>\n<p>What I did not do was segment the modules into their respective service. I took the time to do that now.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a quick and dirty classification of the features broadly classified by service based on ModuleName:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"882\" height=\"590\" alt=\"Service Distribution Leaked Docs\" class=\"wp-image-442754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs.png 882w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-505x338.png.webp 505w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-800x535.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-169x113.png.webp 169w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-768x514.png.webp 768w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 882px) 100vw, 882px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"882\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs.png\" alt=\"Service Distribution Leaked Docs\" class=\"wp-image-442754\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs.png 882w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-505x338.png.webp 505w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-800x535.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-169x113.png.webp 169w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/service-distribution-leaked-docs-768x514.png.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 882px) 100vw, 882px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Of the 14,000 features, roughly 8,000 are related to Search.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-it-s-just-a-list-of-variables\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CIts_just_a_list_of_variables%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s just a list of variables\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Sure.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a list of variables with descriptions that gives you a sense of the level of granularity Google uses to understand and process the web.<\/p>\n<p>If you care about ranking factors this documentation is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Festivus.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-it-s-a-conspiracy-you-buried-thing-i-m-interested-in\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CIts_a_conspiracy_You_buried_thing_Im_interested_in%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s a conspiracy! You buried [thing I\u2019m interested in]\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Why would I bury something and then encourage people to go look at the documents themselves and write about their own findings?<\/p>\n<p><em>Make it make sense.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-this-won-t-change-anything-about-how-i-do-seo\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThis_wont_change_anything_about_how_I_do_SEO%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>\u201cThis won\u2019t change anything about how I do SEO\u201d<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>This is a choice and, perhaps, a function of me purposely not being prescriptive with how I presented the findings.<\/p>\n<p>What we\u2019ve learned should at least enhance your approach to SEO strategically in a few meaningful ways and can definitely change it tactically. I\u2019ll discuss that below.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-faqs-about-the-leaked-docs\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQs_about_the_leaked_docs\"><\/span>FAQs about the leaked docs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve been asked a lot of questions in the past 48 hours so I think it\u2019s valuable to memorialize the answers here.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-were-the-most-interesting-things-you-found\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_were_the_most_interesting_things_you_found\"><\/span>What were the most interesting things you found?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s <em>all <\/em>very interesting to me, but here\u2019s a finding that I did not include in the original article:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Google can specify a limit of results per content type.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In other words, they can specify only X number of blog posts or Y number of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> articles can appear for a given SERP.<\/p>\n<p>Having a sense of these diversity limits could help us decide which content formats to create when we are selecting keywords to target.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, if we know that the limit is three for blog posts and we don\u2019t think we can outrank any of them, then maybe a video is a more viable format for that keyword.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-should-we-take-away-from-this-leak\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_should_we_take_away_from_this_leak\"><\/span>What should we take away from this leak?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Search has many layers of complexity. Even though we have a broader view into things we don\u2019t know which elements of the ranking systems trigger or why.<\/p>\n<p>We now have more clarity on the signals and their nuances.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-the-implications-for-local-search\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_implications_for_local_search\"><\/span>What are the implications for local search?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Andrew Shotland is the authority on that. He and his group at LocalSEOGuide have begun to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.localseoguide.com\/local-seo-according-to-the-leaked-google-api-documents\/\">dig into things from that perspective<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-the-implications-for-youtube-search\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_implications_for_YouTube_Search\"><\/span>What are the implications for YouTube Search?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I have not dug into that, but there are 23 modules with <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> prefixes.<\/p>\n<p>Someone should definitely do and interpretation of it.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-does-this-impact-the-space\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_does_this_impact_the_space\"><\/span>How does this impact the (_______) space?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The simple answer is, it\u2019s hard to know.<\/p>\n<p>An idea that I want to continue to drill home is that Google\u2019s scoring functions behave differently depending on your query and context. Given the evidence we see in how the SERPs function, there are different ranking systems that activate for different verticals.<\/p>\n<p>To illustrate this point, the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/patents.google.com\/patent\/US8572075B1\/en\">Framework for evaluating web search scoring functions<\/a> patent shows that Google has the capability to run multiple scoring functions simultaneously and decide which result set to use once the data is returned.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1228\" alt=\"Web Scoring Functions\" class=\"wp-image-442755\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions.png.webp 1999w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-550x338.png.webp 550w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-800x491.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-184x113.png.webp 184w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-768x472.png.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-1536x944.png 1536w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1228\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions.png.webp\" alt=\"Web Scoring Functions\" class=\"wp-image-442755\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions.png.webp 1999w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-550x338.png.webp 550w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-800x491.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-184x113.png.webp 184w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-768x472.png.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/web-scoring-functions-1536x944.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>While we have many of the features that Google is storing, we do not have enough information about the downstream processes to know exactly what will happen for any given space. <\/p>\n<p>That said, there are some indicators of how Google accounts for some spaces like <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Travel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"809\" height=\"900\" alt=\"Quality Travelgoodsitesdata\" class=\"wp-image-442756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata.png.webp 809w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-304x338.png.webp 304w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-539x600.png.webp 539w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-102x113.png.webp 102w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-768x854.png.webp 768w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 809px) 100vw, 809px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"809\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata.png.webp\" alt=\"Quality Travelgoodsitesdata\" class=\"wp-image-442756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata.png.webp 809w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-304x338.png.webp 304w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-539x600.png.webp 539w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-102x113.png.webp 102w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/quality-travelgoodsitesdata-768x854.png.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 809px) 100vw, 809px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The QualityTravelGoodSitesData module has features that identify and score travel sites, presumably to give them a Boost over non-official sites.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-do-you-really-think-google-is-purposely-torching-small-sites\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_you_really_think_Google_is_purposely_torching_small_sites\"><\/span>Do you really think Google is purposely torching small sites?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p>I also don\u2019t know exactly how smallPersonalSite is defined or used, but I do know that there is a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/housefresh.com\/david-vs-digital-goliaths\/\">lot of evidence of small sites <\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mtnweekly.com\/health\/google-wants-to-erase-the-mountain-weekly-news-kill-small-publishers-across-the-globe\/\">losing most of their traffic<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/who-sends-traffic-on-the-web-and-how-much-new-research-from-datos-sparktoro\/#:~:text=fewer%20referrals\">Google is sending less traffic to the long tail of the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/retrododo.com\/google-is-killing-retro-dodo\/\">impacting the livelihood of small businesses<\/a>. And their outcry seems to have fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1969\" height=\"1463\" alt=\"Referrals Top 170 Sites Vs Long Tail\" class=\"wp-image-442757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail.jpg.webp 1969w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-455x338.jpg.webp 455w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-800x594.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-152x113.jpg.webp 152w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-768x571.jpg.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-1536x1141.jpg 1536w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 1969px) 100vw, 1969px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail.jpg.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1969\" height=\"1463\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Referrals Top 170 Sites Vs Long Tail\" class=\"wp-image-442757\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail.jpg.webp 1969w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-455x338.jpg.webp 455w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-800x594.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-152x113.jpg.webp 152w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-768x571.jpg.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/referrals-top-170-sites-vs-long-tail-1536x1141.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1969px) 100vw, 1969px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Signals like links and clicks inherently support big brands. Those sites naturally attract more links and users are more compelled to click on brands they recognize. <\/p>\n<p>Big brands can also afford agencies like mine and more sophisticated tooling for content engineering so they demonstrate better relevance signals. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a self-fulfilling prophecy and it becomes increasingly difficult for small sites to compete in organic search.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the sites in question would be considered \u201csmall personal sites\u201d then Google should give them a fighting chance with a Boost that offsets the unfair advantage big brands have.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-do-you-think-googlers-are-bad-people\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Do_you_think_Googlers_are_bad_people\"><\/span>Do you think Googlers are bad people?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I don\u2019t. <\/p>\n<p>I think they generally are well-meaning folks that do the hard job of supporting many people based on a product that they have little influence over and is difficult to explain. <\/p>\n<p>They also work in a public multinational organization with many constraints. The information disparity creates a power dynamic between them and the SEO community. <\/p>\n<p>Googlers could, however, dramatically improve their reputations and credibility among marketers and journalists by saying \u201cno comment\u201d more often rather than providing misleading, patronizing or belittling responses like the one they made about this leak. <\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s worth noting that the PR respondent <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/davis-thompson-554bbb67\/\">Davis Thompson<\/a> has been doing comms for Search for just the last two months and I\u2019m sure he is exhausted.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-there-anything-related-to-ai-overviews\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_there_anything_related_to_AI_Overviews\"><\/span>Is there anything related to AI Overviews?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I was not able to find anything directly related to SGE\/AIO, but I have already presented a lot of clarity on how that works. <\/p>\n<p>I did find a few policy features for LLMs. This suggests that Google determines what content can or cannot be used from the Knowledge Graph with LLMs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"741\" height=\"160\" alt=\"Llmpolicymetadata\" class=\"wp-image-442758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata.png.webp 741w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata-600x130.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata-200x43.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"741\" height=\"160\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata.png.webp\" alt=\"Llmpolicymetadata\" class=\"wp-image-442758\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata.png.webp 741w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata-600x130.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/llmpolicymetadata-200x43.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 741px) 100vw, 741px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-there-anything-related-to-generative-ai\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_there_anything_related_to_generative_AI\"><\/span>Is there anything related to generative AI?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>There is something related to video content. Based on the write-ups associated with the attributes, I suspect that they use LLMs to predict the topics of videos.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"879\" height=\"418\" alt=\"Videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures\" class=\"wp-image-442759\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures.png.webp 879w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-600x285.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-800x380.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-200x95.png.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-768x365.png.webp 768w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 879px) 100vw, 879px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"879\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures.png.webp\" alt=\"Videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures\" class=\"wp-image-442759\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures.png.webp 879w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-600x285.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-800x380.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-200x95.png.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/videocontentsearchgenerativetopicpredictionfeatures-768x365.png.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 879px) 100vw, 879px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-new-discoveries-from-the-leak\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"New_discoveries_from_the_leak\"><\/span>New discoveries from the leak<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Some conversations I\u2019ve had and observed over the past two days has helped me recontextualize my findings \u2013 and also dig for more things in the documentation.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-baby-panda-is-not-hcu\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Baby_Panda_is_not_HCU\"><\/span>Baby Panda is not HCU<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Someone with knowledge of Google\u2019s internal systems was able to answer that the Baby Panda references an older system and is not the Helpful Content Update. <\/p>\n<p>I, however, stand by my hypothesis that HCU exhibits similar properties to Panda and it likely requires similar features to improve for recovery. <\/p>\n<p>A worthwhile experiment would be trying to recover traffic to a site hit by HCU by systematically improving click signals and links to see if it works. If someone with a site that\u2019s been struck wants to volunteer as tribute, I have a hypothesis that I\u2019d like to test on how you can recover.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-leaks-technically-go-back-two-years\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_leaks_technically_go_back_two_years\"><\/span>The leaks technically go back two years<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1206\" height=\"1202\" alt=\"Derek Perkins X Contentwarehouse Github 2022\" class=\"wp-image-442760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022.png.webp 1206w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-339x338.png.webp 339w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-602x600.png.webp 602w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-113x113.png.webp 113w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-768x765.png.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-95x95.png.webp 95w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 1206px) 100vw, 1206px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1206\" height=\"1202\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022.png.webp\" alt=\"Derek Perkins X Contentwarehouse Github 2022\" class=\"wp-image-442760\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022.png.webp 1206w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-339x338.png.webp 339w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-602x600.png.webp 602w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-113x113.png.webp 113w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-768x765.png.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/derek-perkins-x-contentwarehouse-github-2022-95x95.png.webp 95w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1206px) 100vw, 1206px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Derek Perkins and @SemanticEntity <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Derek_Perkins\/status\/1795968785335415203\">brought to my attention<\/a> on Twitter that the leaks have been available across languages in Google\u2019s client libraries for Java, Ruby, and PHP. <\/p>\n<p>The difference with those is that there is very limited documentation in the code.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-there-is-a-content-effort-score-maybe-for-generative-ai-content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"There_is_a_content_effort_score_maybe_for_generative_AI_content\"><\/span>There is a content effort score maybe for generative AI content<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Google is attempting to determine the amount of effort employed when creating content. Based on the definition, we don\u2019t know if all content is scored this way by an LLM, or if it is just content that they suspect is built using generative AI.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"713\" height=\"129\" alt=\"Contenteffort\" class=\"wp-image-442761\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort.png.webp 713w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort-600x109.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort-200x36.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 713px) 100vw, 713px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"713\" height=\"129\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort.png.webp\" alt=\"Contenteffort\" class=\"wp-image-442761\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort.png.webp 713w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort-600x109.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/contenteffort-200x36.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 713px) 100vw, 713px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Nevertheless, this is a measure you can improve through <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ipullrank.com\/content-engineering-value\">content engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-significance-of-page-updates-is-measured\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_significance_of_page_updates_is_measured\"><\/span>The significance of page updates is measured<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The significance of a page update impacts how often a page is crawled and potentially indexed. Previously, you could simply change the dates on your page and it signaled freshness to Google, but this feature suggests that Google expects more significant updates to the page.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"745\" height=\"165\" alt=\"Lastsignificantupdate\" class=\"wp-image-442762\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate.png.webp 745w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate-600x133.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate-200x44.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"745\" height=\"165\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate.png.webp\" alt=\"Lastsignificantupdate\" class=\"wp-image-442762\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate.png.webp 745w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate-600x133.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/lastsignificantupdate-200x44.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-pages-are-protected-based-on-earlier-links-in-penguin\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pages_are_protected_based_on_earlier_links_in_Penguin\"><\/span>Pages are protected based on earlier links in Penguin<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>According to the description of this feature, Penguin had pages that were considered protected based on the history of their link profile.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"380\" height=\"125\" alt=\"Penguinearlyanchorprotected\" class=\"wp-image-442763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/penguinearlyanchorprotected.png.webp 380w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/penguinearlyanchorprotected-200x66.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/penguinearlyanchorprotected.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"380\" height=\"125\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/penguinearlyanchorprotected.png.webp\" alt=\"Penguinearlyanchorprotected\" class=\"wp-image-442763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/penguinearlyanchorprotected.png.webp 380w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/penguinearlyanchorprotected-200x66.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>This, combined with the link velocity signals, could explain why Google is adamant that negative SEO attacks with links are ineffective.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-toxic-backlinks-are-indeed-a-thing\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Toxic_backlinks_are_indeed_a_thing\"><\/span>Toxic backlinks are indeed a thing<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve heard that \u201ctoxic backlinks\u201d are a concept that simply used to sell SEO software. Yet there is a badbacklinksPenalized feature associated with documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"280\" alt=\"Anchorcount\" class=\"wp-image-442764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount.png.webp 683w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount-600x246.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount-200x82.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"280\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount.png.webp\" alt=\"Anchorcount\" class=\"wp-image-442764\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount.png.webp 683w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount-600x246.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/anchorcount-200x82.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-there-s-a-blog-copycat-score\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Theres_a_blog_copycat_score\"><\/span>There\u2019s a blog copycat score<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In the blog BlogPerDocData module there is a copycat score without a definition, but is tied to the docQualityScore. <\/p>\n<p>My assumption is that it is a measure of duplication specifically for blog posts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"428\" height=\"137\" alt=\"Copycatscore\" class=\"wp-image-442765\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/copycatscore.png.webp 428w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/copycatscore-200x64.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 428px) 100vw, 428px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/copycatscore.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"428\" height=\"137\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/copycatscore.png.webp\" alt=\"Copycatscore\" class=\"wp-image-442765\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/copycatscore.png.webp 428w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/copycatscore-200x64.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 428px) 100vw, 428px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-mentions-matter-a-lot\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mentions_matter_a_lot\"><\/span>Mentions matter a lot<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Although I haven\u2019t come across anything suggesting that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seobythesea.com\/2014\/08\/brand-mentions-not-new-link-building\/\">mentions are treated as links<\/a>, there are lot of mentions of mentions as they relate to entities.<\/p>\n<p>This simply reinforces that leaning into <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/wordlift.io\/blog\/en\/use-vocabulary\/\">entity-driven strategies with your content<\/a> is a worthwhile addition to your strategy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"759\" height=\"737\" alt=\"Mention Name Profile Referent\" class=\"wp-image-442766\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent.png.webp 759w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent-348x338.png.webp 348w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent-618x600.png.webp 618w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent-116x113.png.webp 116w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 759px) 100vw, 759px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"759\" height=\"737\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent.png.webp\" alt=\"Mention Name Profile Referent\" class=\"wp-image-442766\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent.png.webp 759w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent-348x338.png.webp 348w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent-618x600.png.webp 618w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/mention-name-profile-referent-116x113.png.webp 116w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 759px) 100vw, 759px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-googlebot-is-more-capable-than-we-thought\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Googlebot_is_more_capable_than_we_thought\"><\/span>Googlebot is more capable than we thought<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Googlebot\u2019s fetching mechanism is capable of more than just GET requests. <\/p>\n<p>The documentation indicates that it can do POST, PUT, or PATCH requests as well. <\/p>\n<p>The team previously <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/search\/blog\/2011\/11\/get-post-and-safely-surfacing-more-of\">discussed POST requests<\/a>, but the other two HTTP verbs weren\u2019t previously revealed. If you see some anomalous requests in your logs, this may be why.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"704\" height=\"227\" alt=\"Postdata\" class=\"wp-image-442767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata.png.webp 704w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata-600x193.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata-200x64.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"704\" height=\"227\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata.png.webp\" alt=\"Postdata\" class=\"wp-image-442767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata.png.webp 704w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata-600x193.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/postdata-200x64.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-specific-measures-of-effort-for-ugc-nbsp\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Specific_measures_of_%E2%80%98effort_for_UGC\"><\/span>Specific measures of \u2018effort\u2019 for UGC\u00a0<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019ve long believed that leveraging UGC is a scalable way to get more content onto pages and improve their relevance and freshness. <\/p>\n<p>This ugcDiscussionEffortScore suggests that Google is measuring the quality of that content separately from the core content.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"380\" height=\"133\" alt=\"Ugcdiscussioneffortscore\" class=\"wp-image-442768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/ugcdiscussioneffortscore.png.webp 380w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/ugcdiscussioneffortscore-200x70.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/ugcdiscussioneffortscore.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"380\" height=\"133\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/ugcdiscussioneffortscore.png.webp\" alt=\"Ugcdiscussioneffortscore\" class=\"wp-image-442768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/ugcdiscussioneffortscore.png.webp 380w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/ugcdiscussioneffortscore-200x70.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>When we work with UGC-driven marketplaces and discussion sites, we do a lot of content strategy work related to prompting users to say certain things. That, combined with heavy moderation of the content, should be fundamental to improving the visibility and performance of those sites.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-google-detects-how-commercial-a-page-is\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Google_detects_how_commercial_a_page_is\"><\/span>Google detects how commercial a page is<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We know that intent is a heavy component of Search, but we only have measures of this on the keyword side of the equation. <\/p>\n<p>Google scores documents this way as well and this can be used to stop a page from being considered for a query with informational intent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"724\" height=\"159\" alt=\"Commercialscore\" class=\"wp-image-442769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore.png.webp 724w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore-600x132.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore-200x44.png.webp 200w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"724\" height=\"159\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore.png.webp\" alt=\"Commercialscore\" class=\"wp-image-442769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore.png.webp 724w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore-600x132.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/commercialscore-200x44.png.webp 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>We\u2019ve worked with clients who actively experimented with consolidating informational and transactional page content, with the goal of improving visibility for both types of terms. This worked to varying degrees, but it\u2019s interesting to see the score effectively considered a binary based on this description.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-cool-things-i-ve-seen-people-do-with-the-leaked-docs\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Cool_things_Ive_seen_people_do_with_the_leaked_docs\"><\/span>Cool things I\u2019ve seen people do with the leaked docs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019m pretty excited to see how the documentation is reverberating across the space.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Natzir\u2019s Google\u2019s Ranking Features Modules Relations: <\/strong>Natzir builds a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ranking-features.streamlit.app\/\">network graph visualization tool<\/a> in Streamlit that shows the relationships between modules.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"730\" alt=\"Google Ranking Features Modules Relations\" class=\"wp-image-442770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations.png.webp 680w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations-315x338.png.webp 315w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations-559x600.png.webp 559w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations-105x113.png.webp 105w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"730\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations.png.webp\" alt=\"Google Ranking Features Modules Relations\" class=\"wp-image-442770\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations.png.webp 680w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations-315x338.png.webp 315w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations-559x600.png.webp 559w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-ranking-features-modules-relations-105x113.png.webp 105w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>WordLift\u2019s Google Leak Reporting Tool<\/strong>: Andrea Volpini built a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/wordlift.io\/google-leak-reporting-tool\/\">Streamlit app<\/a> that lets you ask custom questions about the documents to get a report.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-direction-on-how-to-move-forward-in-seo\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Direction_on_how_to_move_forward_in_SEO\"><\/span>Direction on how to move forward in SEO<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The power is in the crowd and the SEO community is a global team. <\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t expect us to all agree on everything I\u2019ve reviewed and discovered, but we are at our best when we build on our collective expertise. <\/p>\n<p>Here are some things that I think are worth doing.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-read-the-documents\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_read_the_documents\"><\/span>How to read the documents<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you haven\u2019t had the chance to dig into the documentation on HexDocs or you\u2019ve tried and don\u2019t know here to start, worry not, I\u2019ve got you covered.\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Start from <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hexdocs.pm\/google_api_content_warehouse\/0.4.0\/api-reference.html\"><strong>the root<\/strong><\/a><strong>: <\/strong>This features listings of all the modules with some descriptions. In some cases attributes from the module are being displayed.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make sure you\u2019re looking at the right version<\/strong>: v0.5.0 Is the patched version The versions prior to that have docs we\u2019ve been discussing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" alt=\"Google Api Content Warehouse Version 5\" class=\"wp-image-442771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-api-content-warehouse-version-5.png.webp 300w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-api-content-warehouse-version-5-195x113.png.webp 195w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-api-content-warehouse-version-5.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-api-content-warehouse-version-5.png.webp\" alt=\"Google Api Content Warehouse Version 5\" class=\"wp-image-442771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-api-content-warehouse-version-5.png.webp 300w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/google-api-content-warehouse-version-5-195x113.png.webp 195w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Scroll down until you find a module that sounds interesting to you: <\/strong>I focused on elements related to search, but you may be interested in Assistant, YouTube, etc.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Read through the attributes<\/strong>: As you read through the descriptions of features, take note of other features referenced in them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Search: <\/strong>Perform searches for those terms in the docs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Repeat until you\u2019re done<\/strong>: Go back to step 1. As you learn more, you\u2019ll find other things you want to search and you\u2019ll realize certain strings might mean there are other modules that interest you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Share your findings: <\/strong>If you find something cool, share it on social or write about it. I\u2019m happy to help you amplify.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One thing that annoys me about HexDocs is how the left sidebar covers most of the names of the modules. This makes it difficult to know what you\u2019re navigating to.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1903\" height=\"943\" alt=\"Hexdocs Google Api Content Warehouse\" class=\"wp-image-442772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse.png.webp 1903w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-600x297.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-800x396.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-200x99.png.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-768x381.png.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-1536x761.png 1536w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 1903px) 100vw, 1903px\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse.png.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1903\" height=\"943\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse.png.webp\" alt=\"Hexdocs Google Api Content Warehouse\" class=\"wp-image-442772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse.png.webp 1903w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-600x297.png.webp 600w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-800x396.png.webp 800w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-200x99.png.webp 200w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-768x381.png.webp 768w,https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/hexdocs-google-api-content-warehouse-1536x761.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1903px) 100vw, 1903px\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>If you don\u2019t want to mess with the CSS, I\u2019ve made <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/ipullrank\/GLeaks\">a simple Chrome extension<\/a> that you can install to make the sidebar bigger.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-your-approach-to-seo-should-change-strategically\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_your_approach_to_SEO_should_change_strategically\"><\/span>How your approach to SEO should change strategically<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Here are some strategic things that you should more seriously consider as part of your SEO efforts. <\/p>\n<p>If you <em>are <\/em>already doing all these things, you were right, you do know everything, and I salute you. \ud83e\udee1<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEO and UX need to work more closely together <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With NavBoost, Google is valuing clicks as one of the most important features, but we need to understand what session success means. <\/p>\n<p>A search that yields a click on a result where the user does not perform another search can be a success even if they did not spend a lot of time on the site. That can indicate that the user found what they were looking for. <\/p>\n<p>Naturally, a search that yields a click and a user spends 5 minutes on a page before coming back to Google is also a success. We need to create more successful sessions.<\/p>\n<p>SEO is about driving people to the page, UX is about getting them to do what you want on the page. We need to pay closer attention to how components are structured and surfaced to get people to the content that they are explicitly looking for and give them a reason to stay on the site. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough to hide what I\u2019m looking for after a story about your grandma\u2019s history of making apple pies with hatchets (or whatever recipe sites are doing these days). Rather, it should be more about providing the exact information, clearly displaying it, and enticing the user to remain on the page with something additionally compelling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pay more attention to click metrics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We treat Search Analytics data as outcomes, but Google\u2019s ranking systems treat them as diagnostic features. <\/p>\n<p>If you rank highly and you have a ton of impressions and no clicks (aside from when SiteLinks throws the numbers off) you likely have a problem. <\/p>\n<p>What we are definitively learning is that there is a threshold of expectation for performance based on position. When you fall below that threshold you can lose that position.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Content needs to be more focused <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve learned definitively that Google uses vector embeddings to determine how far off given a page is from the rest of what you talk about. <\/p>\n<p>This indicates that it will be challenging to go far into upper funnel content successfully without a structured expansion or without authors who have demonstrated expertise in that subject area. <\/p>\n<p>Encourage your authors to cultivate expertise in what they publish across the web and treat their bylines like the gold standard that it is.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEO should always be experiment-driven<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Due to the variability of the ranking systems, you cannot take best practices at face value for every space. You need to test, learn and build experimentation in every SEO program. <\/p>\n<p>Large sites leveraging products like SEO split testing tool Searchpilot are already on the right track, but even small sites should test how they structure and position their content and metadata to encourage stronger click metrics. <\/p>\n<p>In other words, we need to actively test the SERP, not just the site.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Pay attention to what happens after they leave your site<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We now have verification that Google is using data from Chrome as part of the search experience. There is value in reviewing the clickstream data from SimilarWeb and Semrush.<\/p>\n<p>Trends provide to see where people are going next and how you can give them that information without them leaving you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Build keyword and content strategy around SERP format diversity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Google potentially limits the number of pages of certain content types ranking in the SERP, so checking the SERPs should become part of your keyword research. <\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t align formats with keywords if there\u2019s no reasonable possibility of ranking.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-your-approach-to-seo-should-change-tactically\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_your_approach_to_SEO_should_change_tactically\"><\/span>How your approach to SEO should change tactically<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Tactically, here are some things you can consider doing differently. Shout out to Rand because a couple of these ideas are his.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Page titles can be as long as you want <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We now have further evidence that the 60-70 character limit is a myth. <\/p>\n<p>In my own experience we have experimented with appending more keyword-driven elements to the title and it has yielded more clicks because Google has more to choose from when it rewrites the title.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Use fewer authors on more content<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rather than using an array of freelance authors, you should work with fewer that are more focused on subject matter expertise and also write for other publications.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Focus on link relevance from sites with traffic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve learned that link value is higher from pages that prioritized higher in the index. Pages that get more clicks are pages that are likely to appear in Google\u2019s flash memory. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve also learned that Google highly values relevance. We need to stop going after link volume and solely focus on relevance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Default to originality instead of long form<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We now know originality is measured in multiple ways and can yield a boost in performance. <\/p>\n<p>Some queries simply don\u2019t require a 5,000-word blog post (I know, I know). Focus on originality and layer more information in your updates as competitors begin to copy you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Make sure all dates associated with a page are consistent<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s common for dates in schema to be out of sync with dates on the page and dates in the XML sitemap. All of these need to be synced to ensure Google has the best understanding of how hold the content is. <\/p>\n<p>As you refresh your decaying content, make sure every date is aligned so Google gets a consistent signal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Use old domains with extreme care<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking to use an old domain, it\u2019s not enough to buy it and slap your new content on its old URLs. You need to take a structured approach to updating the content to phase out what Google has in its long-term memory. <\/p>\n<p>You may even want to avoid there being a transfer of ownership in registrars until you\u2019ve systematically established the new content.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Make gold-standard documents<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We now have evidence that quality raters are doing feature engineering for Google engineers to train their classifiers. You want to create content that quality raters would score as high quality so your content has a small influence over the next core update.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bottom-line\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bottom_line\"><\/span>Bottom line<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s shortsighted to say nothing should change. Based on this information, I think it\u2019s time for us to reconsider our best practices.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s keep what works and dump what\u2019s not valuable. Because, I tell you what, there\u2019s no text-to-code ratio in these documents, but several of your SEO tools will tell you your site is falling apart because of it.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-google-can-repair-its-relationship-with-the-seo-community\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Google_can_repair_its_relationship_with_the_SEO_community\"><\/span>How Google can repair its relationship with the SEO community<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A lot of people have asked me how can we repair our relationship with Google moving forward. <\/p>\n<p>I would prefer that we get back to a more productive space to improve the web. After all, we are aligned in our goals of making search better.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know that I have a complete solution, but I think an apology and owning their role in misdirection would be a good start. I have a few other ideas that we should consider.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Develop working relationships with us:<\/strong> On the advertising side, Google wines and dines its clients. I understand that they don\u2019t want to show any sort of favoritism on the organic side, but Google needs to be better about developing actual relationships with the SEO community. Perhaps a structured program with OKRs that is similar to how other platforms treat their influencers makes sense. Right now things are pretty ad hoc where certain people get invited to events like I\/O or to secret meeting rooms during the (now-defunct) Google Dance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bring back the annual Google Dance: <\/strong>Hire <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/lilyray.nyc\/dj-lily-ray\/\">Lily Ray<\/a> to DJ and make it about celebrating annual OKRs that we have achieved through our partnership.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Work together on more content:<\/strong> The bidirectional relationships that people like Martin Splitt have cultivated through his <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLKoqnv2vTMUN6lFDz6qMBsz7-Jm8YRV9H\">various video series<\/a> are strong contributions where Google and the SEO community have come together to make things better. We need more of that.<\/li>\n<li><strong>We want to hear from the engineers more.<\/strong> I\u2019ve gotten the most value out of hearing directly from search engineers. Paul Haahr\u2019s presentation at SMX West 2016 lives rent-free in my head and I still refer back to videos from the 2019 Search Central Live Conference in Mountain View regularly. I think we\u2019d all benefit from hearing directly from the source.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-everybody-keep-up-the-good-work\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Everybody_keep_up_the_good_work\"><\/span>Everybody keep up the good work<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen some fantastic things come out of the SEO community in the past 48 hours. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m energized by the fervor with which everyone has consumed this material and offered their takes \u2013 even when I don\u2019t agree with them. This type of discourse is healthy and what makes our industry special. <\/p>\n<p>I encourage everyone to keep going. We\u2019ve been training our whole careers for this moment.<\/p>\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: Join Mike King and Danny Goodwin at <strong>SMX Advanced<\/strong> for a late-breaking session exploring the leak and its implications.\u00a0Learn more here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n    About the author<\/p>\n<div class=\"information\">\n<div class=\"author-module\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" alt=\"Michael King\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/images\/authors\/MichaelKing-lg.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/images\/authors\/MichaelKing-lg.jpg\" alt=\"Michael King\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\">\n                                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div class=\"about\">\n<div class=\"name\">\n                            <strong>Michael King<\/strong>\n                        <\/div>\n<div class=\"row g-2 pt-2\">\n<div class=\"col-auto twitter\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2F&amp;region=follow_link&amp;screen_name=ipullrank&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;variant=2.0\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-x-twitter\"><\/i><\/a>\n                            <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-auto\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/michaelkingphilly\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\n                                <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        An artist and a technologist all rolled into one, Michael King is the CEO and founder of digital marketing agency, iPullRank focused on technical SEO, content strategy and machine learning. King consults with enterprise and mid-market companies all over the world, including brands like SAP, American Express, Nordstrom, SanDisk, General Mills, and FTD. King&#8217;s background in Computer <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science<\/a> and as an independent hip-hop musician sets him up for deep technical and creative solutions for modern marketing problems. Check out his book \u201cThe Science of SEO\u201d coming in Q2 of 2023 from Wiley Publishing.                 <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/how-seo-moves-forward-google-leak-442749\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Addressing common questions, critiques and concerns following the massive Google Search leak and how your approach to SEO should change. In case you missed it, 2,569 internal documents related to internal services at Google leaked. A search marketer named Erfan Amizi brought them to Rand Fishkin\u2019s attention, and we analyzed them. Pandemonium ensued. As you&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":622458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/05\/leaking-google-logo-1920.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[78070],"class_list":["post-622457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}