Google Quality Signals And Preferred Sources
Google’s John Mueller answers if Preferred Sources overrides ranking signals. Could it be a “trust button” signal?
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.
I can be contacted at roger@martinibuster.com or use the contact form at: Martinibuster.com
I have presented at many search conferences over the past 20 years across the United States: Pubcon, SMX, and Affiliate Summit and have served as a Head Judge at the U.S. Search Awards.
Articles
WordPress Loses Marketshare. Is Astro Eroding Their User Base?
WordPress is losing market share, with over 10% of sites abandoned. Astro is downloaded 2.5 million times a week.
Google Is Testing New Bot Authorization Standard
Google is testing a cryptographic protocol for verifying bot traffic that could make unwanted crawlers easier to identify.
Google Says A New Wave Of AI Users Is Transforming Search
Google says a new wave of users are learning that Search can handle more complex questions, changing how they search.
Google: Glut Of AI In Content Makes Human Experience Important
Google says AI’s ability to surface common information makes human experience and subjective insights more valuable for content.
Google Says Keyword Fragmentation Is Reshaping AI Search
Google’s Liz Reid unpacks consequential changes to user search behavior that also impact how to approach SEO.
Google’s Insight On “Browsy” Queries: What It Means For SEO
Google’s Liz Reid says AI Mode is suited to complex follow-up queries, while browsy searches may still benefit from the full search results
Google: Use AI in the Best Possible Way for Search
Google’s Director of Software Engineering recommended using AI to boost providing value and said, “clearly, this is something we can advise.”
Google’s Preferred Sources Is Now A Global SEO Signal
Google’s Preferred Sources is now available as a global signal that can help SEO for Top Stories and Google Discover.
Data Shows AI Citation Patterns Reveal Strategic SEO Opportunities
A comparison of 5 AI search engines show they cite different sources but converge on citing brands, a key to SEO for AI search.
GoDaddy Transferred A Domain By Mistake And Refused To Fix It
GoDaddy accidentally transferred someone’s domain name to someone else then refused to fix the problem.
Google Won’t Act On Spam Reports If They Contain Personal Information
Google updated their spam reporting tool to warn they won’t process reports that contain personal information.
The Facts About Google Click Signals, Rankings, And SEO
What Google’s systems actually do with click data and what it means for SEO and rankings.
WooCommerce Stores Can Now Sell Products Via YouTube Videos
Google and WooCommerce announced today that the Google for WooCommerce extension now enables merchants to sell products directly through YouTube. The update connects WooCommerce stores...
Google Adds New Tasked-Based Search Features
Google announced new tools that further transforms Search to a tasked-based platform.
68 Million AI Crawler Visits Show What Drives AI Search Visibility
Research on 68 million AI crawler visits show what SEOs should do to improve AI search performance
Google’s Patent On Autonomous Search Results
A recently updated patent describes how an automated assistant can circle back to a user when an answer is available at a later date.
Google Just Made It Easy For SEOs To Kick Out Spammy Sites
Google just handed SEOs a new way to hit spammy sites with manual actions and get them deindexed from search results.
Google Search Console Glitch Gives SEOs A Scare
A Google Search Console glitch resulted in a message to site owners implying that impressions have only just started being reported.
Google Lists 9 Scenarios That Explain How It Picks Canonical URLs
Google’s John Mueller lists nine scenarios that lead Google to choose one URL as the canonical over another.
Google’s Task-Based Agentic Search Is Disrupting SEO Today, Not Tomorrow
A recent announcement by Google signals the start of a massive change in how the internet and search work.
Google Answers If Outbound Links Pass “Poor Signals”
Google’s Mueller answers whether links pass negative signals and says unhelpful links may be ignored.
Google’s CEO Predicts Search Will Become An AI Agent Manager
Google’s CEO says that informational queries will become agentic search and that search itself will be an agent manager.
Google Says It Can Handle Multiple URLs To The Same Content
Google’s John Mueller answers question about how Google handles multiple URLs and duplicate content.
Google Explains Why It Doesn’t Matter That Websites Are Getting Larger
Google explains why it doesn’t matter if websites are getting heavier and the takeaway has everything to do with SEO.
Google’s Mueller On SEO Gurus Who Are “Clueless Imposters”
Google’s John Mueller says that those who self-identify as SEO gurus are clueless imposters.
WordPress’s Troubled Real-Time Collaboration Feature
Will WordPress’s troubled real-time collaboration feature be worth delaying the release of WP 7.0?
Why Agentic AI Shopping Feels Unnatural And May Not Threaten SEO
Agentic AI shopping may not be good for SEO. But there’s a reason why SEOs won’t need to worry about it.
Mullenweg To Cloudflare: Keep WordPress Out Of Your Mouth
Matt Mullenweg invokes Will Smith’s Oscars slap in response to Cloudflare’s boat that EmDash is a successor to WordPress.
Google Answers Why Some SEOs Split Their Sitemap Into Multiple Files
Google’s John Mueller answers question of whether splitting a sitemap is worth the extra work.