Google Answers: Is this Cloaking?
John Mueller explains why it’s okay to block Google from seeing certain things on a web page
About
I have 25 years hands-on experience in SEO, evolving along with the search engines by keeping up with the latest research, patents and what’s happening in the search results.
Need a consultation? Contact me at roger@martinibuster.com or use the contact form at: Martinibuster.com
I recently presented at Pubcon Vegas in October and March 2024, and over the past 20 years have presented at search conferences across the United States: Pubcon, SMX, Affiliate Summit & SES (Search Engine Strategies) and have served as a Head Judge at the U.S. Search Awards .
Articles
Countries with Slow Internet Can Affect Core Web Vitals Scores
Google’s John Mueller discusses Core Web Vitals calculations for sites with users from slow Internet countries
Google Research Paper Reveals a Shortcoming in Search
New research highlights a little known area of information retrieval that Google hasn’t quite succeeded in: Long Form Question Answering
Wix and WordPress Tensions Rise
WordPress and Wix exchange accusations and negative attack ads. Wix publishes open letter to Matt Mullenweg
Vulnerabilities in 17+ Elementor Add-on Plugins for WordPress
Millions of WordPress sites affected by vulnerabilities in Elementor add-on plugins
Bug in How Google Detects Soft 404s May Be Causing Traffic Losses
A recent update to how Google detects soft 404s is resulting in innocent websites losing their rankings
How Often Will Core Web Vitals Ranking Factor Be Calculated?
Will the Core Web Vitals ranking factor be updated on a real-time basis or will it be rarely updated?
Google Discover Now Excludes 5 Kinds of Content
Google Discover is excluding Satire and four other types of content. There is a report of non-satire content being excluded
Clubhouse “Leak” Might Be a Simple Data Scrape
The Clubhouse “data leak” has the hallmarks of a scraper bot downloading public information, appears to not be a hack.
Facebook Adding Context Labels to Pages Seen in News Feeds
Facebook will begin testing labels applied to articles in USA member feeds in order to provide more context and avoid confusion
Wix Negative Ads Against WordPress Generate Backlash
Wix negative attack ads against WordPress met with disapproval in search marketing community
Jetpack Boost – A Web Vitals WordPress Plugin
WordPress plugin repository offering a pre-release version of Core Web Vitals optimization plugin by Automattic. Final version coming soon
How Long it Takes to Re-rank a Site with Fixed Quality Issues
Google’s John Mueller answers how long it takes to re-rank a site with quality issues that were fixed
Google: How to Increase Offline Sales for Local Businesses
Latest trends and research by Google show how to gain more earnings for local based businesses
WordPress Ultimate Addons for Elementor Vulnerability Affects +1 Million
Two Brainstorm Force addon plugins for Elementor were discovered to have vulnerabilities affecting over a million websites.
Google Says There’s No Limit on Title Tag Length
Google’s Gary Illyes says that industry standards on title tag lengths are externally created and not Google recommendations.
Facebook for WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Targets +500,000 Sites
Two exploits affecting the popular Facebook for WordPress plugin can lead to a total site takeover and malicious backdoors
Wix and Google Announce GMB Integration
Expanded partnership with Google integrates Google My Business. Makes Wix a stronger presence in local search
Google: Zero Click Claims Are Misleading
Google offers convincing evidence that claims surrounding “zero click” searches are erroneous
Research: Trillions of Site Visits Uncover SEO Insights
Analysis of trillions of actual site visits yields insights into user behavior shifts that may impact SEO
Facebook Update Will Target Specific Groups and Individuals
Global Facebook update will target individuals and groups that break official community standards and impose limits on their reach as well as removal
Google Clarifies SharedArrayBuffer Email
Google tries to explain the baffling Search Console SharedArrayBuffer email. Failure to understand and fix the issue could cause sites to break.
WordPress Gutenberg 10.2 Causing Fatal Errors
WordPress compatibility issue is causing Fatal Errors when Gutenberg updates to version 10.2.
Research: Core Web Vitals Ranking Boost by Industry
Research unveils which industries may receive a ranking boost, which will fall behind and explores the reasons why
WordPress Elementor Vulnerability Affects +7 Million
Stored Cross-site Scripting Vulnerability on WordPress page builder plugin Elementor can enable a full site takeover
WP Super Cache Vulnerability Affects Over 2 Million Sites
Authenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability Discovered in WP Super Cache. Although low severity it’s recommended all users update now.
OVH Fire Outage May Last Until March 22
New update to OVH data center fire recovery. Outage may continue until March 22, 2021 for some customers
New Job Posting Structured Data Requirements
BETA Job Posting Structured Data offers opportunity to be first to rank in Google’s updated Job Posting Search Experience
Google Explains Featured Snippets Volatility
John Mueller of Google explains general reasons for changing what triggers Featured Snippets
OVH Data Center Fire Darkens Popular Sites Worldwide
Fire at an OVH Data Center in Europe takes down millions of sites, including WP Rocket and Imagify