Google’s LocalWWWInfo: An Analysis of Local SEO Signals in the Google Leak
After 25 years in search engine optimisation, it’s rare to see a development that provides such stark clarity as the May 2024 Content Warehouse API leak. My analysis has focused intensely on the LocalWWWInfo data model. For years, we’ve mov…
The PerDocData: An SEO’s Strategic Analysis of Google’s Leaked Core Document Model
Having spent 25 years analysing Google’s results pages, the leak of the PerDocData model is nothing short of a Rosetta Stone. At Hobo, I’ve always worked from the evidence we had, and to be fair, my analysis concludes that Google spokespeop…
Google’s Leaked CompressedQualitySignals: Advanced SEO Analysis
In my latest article about Google Content Warehouse leak I delve into the most important module of the whole leak (in my opinion). Navigating the world of search engine optimisation for a quarter of a century is to live in a state of perpetual adaptati…
The CompositeDoc: Google’s Core Document Data Structure Leaked
After about a quarter of a century in the trenches of SEO (search engine optimisation), I’ve seen fads come and go. I’ve witnessed the rise and fall of countless ‘guaranteed ranking’ tactics and watched as the digital landscape …
The QualityNsrPQData Model: The Core of Google’s Page Quality Assessment
After 25 years in this industry, I’ve seen it all. I was optimising websites for search engines like Alta Vista and Lycos before Google was even a registered domain. In those early days, SEO was a simpler, cruder art. We were a long way from the …
The Definitive Guide to Mobile SEO After the Leak: How Google Ranks Your Website
There’s a reason Google openly tells us “Google uses the mobile version of a site’s content, crawled with the smartphone agent, for indexing and *ranking*. This is called mobile-first indexing.” The emphasis above is mine, natur…
Google Confirms Google Search Serving Issue
Google has confirmed a Google Search serving issue that is currently ongoing and impacting serving “some pages in some locales.” This is a large enough issue that Google posted about it on its Google Search Status Dashboard.
Core Web Vitals SEO After The Google Content Warehouse API Data Leaks
This article dissects the Google Content Warehouse API documentation leak in March 2024 with Core Web Vitals under the spotlight.
Read the full article here Core Web Vitals SEO After The Google Content Warehouse API Data Leaks © Copyright 2006-2025 Sha…
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google AI Mode Visual Update, Ads Reporting Updates, ChatGPT Instant Checkout and More
This week we covered the Google AI Mode news that it is more visual for many queries, including shopping queries. Google AI Mode agentic capabilities can now be opted into. Google AI Overviews…
Why Google Search Console LCP Is Not Wrong, According To Google
Barry Pollard from Google did a long explanation on Bluesky on why Google Search Console says an LCP is bad but the individual URLs are fine. I don’t want to mess it up, so I will copy what Barry wrote.
Google Reviews Labeled Incentivized
Did you know Google can label some of the reviews in the product reviews section as “incentivized”? I am not sure I’ve seen this before, have you?
Google Tests Light Gray Title Links On Hover
Google is testing another variation to the title links in the Google Search results – a light gray effect. So when you hover your mouse cursor over the snippet, the title link turns grayed and washed out.
Google Merchant Center Next New Compact Menu Bar
Google has rolled out the new, more compact, menu bar for Google Merchant Center Next. This was part of a slew of user interface updates that Google has been slowly rolling out for Merchant Center Next over the past several months.
Microsoft Tests Large Images In Bing Search Copilot Ads
Microsoft is testing using really large images in the Bing Search Copilot ads. I don’t believe I’ve seen such large ads in this ad unit before, so it seems new to me.
The Myth of LSI Keywords – It’s Query Fan Out, All The Way Down.
Q: How many SEO experts does it take to change a light bulb? A: light bulb, bulb, lamp, lighting, fixture, replace lightbulb, best light bulb… A Researcher’s Note: The Serendipitous Path to an Answer Let me go through how the central thesis…
The Definitive Guide to Linkbuilding after the Google Content Warehouse Leak
A unified strategy for link acquisition and management.
Read the full article here The Definitive Guide to Linkbuilding after the Google Content Warehouse Leak © Copyright 2006-2025 Shaun Anderson
The Definitive Guide to Linkbuilding after the Google Content Warehouse Leak
A unified strategy for link acquisition and management.
Read the full article here The Definitive Guide to Linkbuilding after the Google Content Warehouse Leak © Copyright 2006-2025 Shaun Anderson
Google’s Product Reviews Updates: Signals in the Google Content Warehouse API Leak
Take note. Within the Google’s Content Warehouse API, the documentation explicitly defines a suite of attributes directly related to the evaluation of product reviews.
Read the full article here Google’s Product Reviews Updates: Signals in the G…
How Ads on your site Kill Your Google Rankings – Evidence From Google Leak
There’s a reason why Google says, “Don’t let ads harm your mobile page ranking“. For more than two decades, we in the SEO profession have navigated the complex relationship between Google’s public mission and its commercia…
Programming Note: Offline Thursday For Yom Kippur 5786
This is just a programming note that I will be 100% offline starting Wednesday night (October 1st) through Thursday night (October 2nd) for Yom Kippur. I am not scheduling any stories on Yom Kippur…