SEO From The Front Lines

Glenn Gabe

Glenn Gabe covers the latest Google algorithm updates, the latest changes in Search, AI Search, and other disturbances in the SEO force. And he'll do this in less than 15 minutes per episode.

Play

Open in

21 episodes
monthly
Avg 14 min
English

Episodes 21

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

September 3 · 16 min
Google's August 2026 Spam Update - Case Studies and Analysis From Glenn Gabe of GSQi
Glenn covers four case studies based on Google's August 2026 spam update. The update was powerful and impacted many sites that were violating Google's spam policies. Glenn covers a number of important topics, including 'Scaled content abuse', AI-generated content, programmatic content, 'Thin affiliates', 'Malicious functionality', and more. Read the blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/august-2026-google-spam-update-case-studies/ Chapters: 00:00 The August spam update rolls out. 01:27 First stop, Google's spam policies. 02:45 Recovery is possible from spam updates. 03:41 Case One: Programmatic AND AI-Generated Content in an ultra-YMYL niche. 05:42 Case Two: Thin Affiliate (Amazon) AND AI-Generated Content 08:30 Case Three: Scaled Content Abuse, Programmatic Content, Yet Has A Human Element 10:40 Case Four: Scaled Content Abuse and Misleading Functionality 13:19 Recommendations for site owners that are impacted. 15:25 Summary: Google's August 2026 spam update was powerful. Follow Glenn on X: https://x.com/glenngabehttps://x.com/glenngabe Connect with Glenn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ He's on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
June 16 · 18 min
Google's May 2026 Broad Core Update - Interesting Findings and Cases From a Powerful Core Update
The May 2026 Google core update was a powerful algorithm update that rolled out on May 21, 2026 and completed on June 2, 2026. Unlike the March 2026 core update, the May update was extremely powerful and caused a lot of volatility across sites, categories, and countries. In this video, I cover several interesting cases and findings based on my analysis of the update. That includes the rollout, two powerful tremors during the rollout, YMYL impact (especially gambling), if sites gaming AI Search were impacted, how sites impacted by the January 2026 update fared during the update, why Grokipedia surged, and then specific unique cases I tracked and analyzed. This is the companion video to the blog post I published covering my findings. You can find that post here: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/core-roars-back-google-may-2026-core-update-analysis/ Chapters: 00:00 The May Core Update Lands 01:59 Massive impact returns. 02:58 YMYL Impact Especially Gambling Sites 04:12 Two powerful tremors 06:33 Did sites gaming AI Search get hit? 09:23 How did sites impacted by the January 2026 updatefare? 11:00 Interesting case: Manual action and then the May core update. 12:27 Grokipedia Rises (again), but for how long? 15:08 Scaled Content Abuse with Translations 17:17 Summary: The May Core Update Was Powerful Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I’m on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
April 23 · 10 min
When “Mt. AI” crumbles and sites drop in Google, ChatGPT citations drop as well [Case Study]
I coined the phrase “Mt. AI” based on seeing many sites scale with AI-generated content, surge in Google, only to crash as Google’s systems pick up what’s going on (or Google applies a manual action to the site for “Scaled content abuse”.) Well, there was a great example of this happening recently, which provided a unique opportunity to see how citations in ChatGPT were impacted in real-time. The website National Today added a new directory recently containing over 850K AI-generated local news articles. And no, they are not a local news site... The site surged in Google and in AI search platforms like ChatGPT. But those articles got noticed... And then Futurism wrote an expose about the situation, Google picked up the issue, and then applied a manual action for “Scaled content abuse”. And as you can guess, the site tanked in Google’s 10-blue links, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. But how did the site fare in ChatGPT? Well, that's the topic of my case study, which I cover in this video. I dug into AI Search visibility for National Today’s /us/ directory where all of the AI-generated local news content resides. Like I would expect, citations dropped heavily in ChatGPT once the manual action was applied. My video contains all of the details. Chapters: 00:00 When “Mt. AI” crumbles, ChatGPT citations follow suit. 00:52 Scaled content abuse with 850K AI-generated news articles. 01:27 “Mt. AI” and the problem with scaling AI-generatedcontent heavily. 03:14 Google applies a manual action for “Scaled content abuse” 03:54 The site drops in AI Overviews and AI Mode. 04:24 What happens with ChatGPT when a site tanks in Google? 05:52 Examples of citations dropping in ChatGPT. 08:05 Some ChatGPT citations did remain (for now). 09:14 Summary: Don’t become the next “Mt. AI”. Beware. My blog post covering the case study: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/when-mt-ai-crumbles-chatgpt-follows/ Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I’m on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
March 5 · 22 min
Is AEO/GEO different than SEO? Google, Microsoft, and others explain how to be visible in AI search.
“What do I need to do in order to be visible in AISearch?" I get that question a lot. So the "Gabeback Machine" is back, but with an AI Search twist :) In this video, I cover my blog post titled, “Straight From the (AI) Source: Is AEO/GEO different than SEO? Google, Microsoft, and others explain how to be visible in AI search [Quotes, videos, articles, and more]”. There's a lot of debate about how to make sure you are visible in AI Search. Some say AEO/GEO strategy and tactics are different than what you should be doing for SEO, while others say what you do for SEO should cover AI Search. Well, just like I did when covering Google's site-level quality evaluation, Iwanted to provide a central place where site owners could find all of the information that the various AI search platforms have explained about how to be visible across AI search. Join me as I cover quotes, videos, articles, and more covering what Google, Microsoft, and others have explained about SEO versus AEO/GEO. There is some great information directly from the source. I also plan to update my post as we learn more from the various platforms about AI search visibility. My post about AEO vs GEO vs SEO and information from AIsearch platforms about how to be visible across AI search: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/straight-from-the-ai-source-is-aeo-geo-different-than-seo/ Chapters: 00:00 AEO vs. GEO vs. SEO – Is there a difference? 02:03 Straight from the source: What the AI platforms aresaying about AEO vs. SEO. 02:20 Google’s Jeff Dean about traditional search versus LLMsearch. 04:27 Google’s Danny Sullivan said Good SEO is Google “GEO”. 05:50 Google’s John Mueller and Danny Sullivan cover AEO vsSEO via the SOTR podcast. 07:27 Part two of John Mueller and Danny Sullivan covering AEO vs SEO in the SOTR podcast. 10:40 A quick note about chunking of content. 10:58 A quick warning about spamming for AI searchvisibility. 11:50 Business Insider interviewed Google, Microsoft, andPerplexity about AI search visibility. 14:47 Google’s Nick Fox on the AI Inside podcast about optimizing for AI search. 15:53 Google’s Gary Illyes about ranking in AIOs, simply usenormal SEO practices. 16:40 Microsoft’s Krishna Madhavan about optimizing for AIsearch. 19:28 Microsoft Advertising’s AI search demystified. 21:12 Summary: What you do for SEO should cover what’sneeded for AEO. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
February 5 · 20 min
The January 2026 Google Reviews Update... Maybe?
Many sites are being impacted by a powerful Google algorithm update that was released in late January. And it sure looks like a reviews update to me based on analyzing many sites impacted... In addition, Lily Ray dug in and noticed many self-serving listicles were being impacted. Like we have both said over time, "It works until it doesn't..." Join me as I provide "Reviews update notes" based on what I'm seeing across sites impacted. Chapters: 00:00 The January 2026 Reviews Update. Maybe? 00:40 A self-serving listicle twist via Lily Ray 02:40 Beyond listicles, a big Google reviews system update. 05:00 Volatility at the end of June. Big movement. 06:05 Lily Ray's blog post about self-serving listicles dropping. 08:52 Don't publish self-serving listicles. It won't end well. 10:34 Algorithm updates impacting AIO and AI Mode visibility. 12:57 "Reviews Update Notes". A lot of impact across review sites. 15:18 Wirecutter impacted backs the idea of a reviews update. 16:07 AI search platforms need to build strong anti-spam systems. 18:44 Summary: The January 2026 Google Reviews Update Lily's post about the listicle situation: https://lilyraynyc.substack.com/p/is-google-finally-cracking-down-on My post about AI search platforms needing to build strong anti-spam systems: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/ai-search-core-systems-anti-spam/ Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
Dec 23, 2025 · 25 min
Google’s December 2025 Broad Core Update – "Core Update Notes", Heavy Impact, Tremors, and More
The Google December 2025 broad core update is in full swing and I’ve been covering my “Core Update Notes” daily on social media based on heavily analyzing the rollout. In this video, I’ll cover findings based on my analysis of sites across verticals, including the impact they are seeing based on the broad core update. Topics I’ll cover include when the update actually landed, heavy YMYL impact (like finance and health and medical), impact to news and media publishers, how sites impacted by previous spam updates are being impacted, a big tremor we saw on December 20th, impact to career/jobs sites, and then some interesting cases like Wirecutter and X dropping with the update. I also cover how the various search visibility tracking tools like Sistrix, ahrefs, and Semrush handle AIOs (how they affect visibility trending). I end the video witha wild situation where I messaged a publisher with a warning just one day before the update rolled out about a super-aggressive ad situation. You can learn what happened at the end of the video. The December broad core update should take two to three weeks to complete and I will post more information as the update rolls out (based on my analysis). “Core Update Notes” thread on X: https://x.com/glenngabe/status/1999478656352076012 Chapters: 00:00 The December 2025 Broad Core Update Rolls Out 01:00 Glenn’s “Core Update Notes” 02:13 Smaller core updates during the fall of 2025 04:24 The update lands! 05:59 YMYL Impact including heavy Finance movement. 07:09 Top Stories impact for news and media publishers. 8:08 Reversals from the June 2025 core update. 09:06 Sites impacted by previous Spam Updates. 10:23 How the visibility tools handle AIOs for searchvisibility trending. 11:31 Massive health and medical volatility. 12:52 Major news publishers impacted. 13:57 The first tremor of the December 2025 broad coreupdate. 16:49 Wirecutter heavily impacted (again). 18:50 Career and Jobs sites impacted. 20:07 X drops with the update. 21:38 Wild situation – Messaging a publisher with a broadcore update warning. 24:02 Summary of “Core Update Notes” Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabeConnect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/I’m on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
Dec 4, 2025 · 13 min
AI Search, hreflang, and translated content. How ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and more handle multilingual queries?
For companies translating content into other languages, andpossibly using hreflang tags, it’s important to understand how that content is being surfaced across AI Search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, and Claude. The AI Search platforms are in their infancy and will continue to evolve, but it’s important to understand the current state ofaffairs with multilingual content. In this video, I provide several examples of translated content and how the various AI Search tools surface that content (or not). I also cover Google’s 10-blue links, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. And Bing results are covered as well. Blogpost: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/ai-search-hreflang-multilingual-queries/Chapters: 00:00 AI Search and multilingual content. 00:32 International SEO, hreflang, and AI Search 01:30 Example 1 – Google’s Search Documentation for Sitemaps 05:50 Example 2 – Google’s Search Documentation for HTTPResponses 07:37 Example 3 – Cloudflare blog post 10:25 Quick recap of other tests. 11:18 Key points and recommendations for site owners. 12:34 Summary – Why AI Search needs to improve (and willneed to). Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabeConnect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/I’m on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
Nov 2, 2025 · 16 min
AI Search platforms and the need for anti-spam systems, core systems, and site-level quality scoring
The AI Search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude,and others are in their infancy and some are taking advantage of that by implementing tactics that spam those platforms. But that will not always be the case. I cover how the AI Search platforms are building their own search indexes, will need to developer their own core visibility systems, while also building strong anti-spam systems. And when they do, sites gaming the system can potentially tank as those updates roll out. In addition, the AI Search platforms could even have their own version of Google’s webspam team that can place manual actions (penalties) on websites spamming to rank across AI chatbots. And beyond that, I cover the importance of understanding site-level quality and authority to ensure high-quality and trusted content can surface across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and others. The AI Search platforms have work to do on that front. I cover all of this, and more, in my video. Blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/ai-search-core-systems-anti-spam/ Chapters: 00:00 The spamming and gaming of AI Search platforms. 02:36 With spamming Search or AI Search, it works until itdoesn’t… 04:13 AI Search platforms are building their own indexes. 05:40 The need for anti-spam systems in AI Search. 07:20 How are companies spamming AI Search now? 09:56 Site-level quality and trust in AI Search. 11:47 AI Search and “Authority” 14:42 Combining site-level quality and anti-spam systems. 15:58 The AI Search core systems and anti-spam systems arecoming. Follow me on x: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I’m on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
Sep 21, 2025 · 13 min
AI Search and Syndicated Content - How syndicating content impacts visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini
For news or media publishers syndicating content, or thinking about syndicating content, it's important to understand the visibility impact across Google surfaces and AI Search (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude). For example, does the original content rank or does the syndication partner rank instead? In 2023 I wrote a case study analyzing the ranking impact of syndicating content to third-party sites across Google surfaces. Now that AI Search is here, and growing, I decided to run a new study but for AI Search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. The results were super interesting... In this video, I cover four different cases of publishers syndicating content and how that impacted visibility across both Google and AI Search tools. Like traditional search, rankings and visibility were all over the place. So once again, it's important to control what you can control. Noindexing the syndicated content is still the path forward in my opinion. That's easier said than done, but the results were clear -- you can't guarantee that your content will be more visible in AI Search than your syndication partners. There was one unicorn, though, and you can read more about that in my post. Blog post covering my case study: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/ai-search-and-syndicated-content/ Chapters: 00:00 AI Search and Syndicating Content 01:15 An introduction to the case study. 02:14 The influence of traditional search rankings on AI search visibility. 03:00 Case 1: Mixed results. 05:05 Case 2: A ranking mess. 07:21 Case 3: Even more confusion across surfaces and AI tools. 09:58 Case 4: A unicorn for AI Search and syndicated content. 11:24 Recommendations for news and media publishers syndicating content. 13:14 Summary: Control what you can control when syndicating content. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
Aug 25, 2025 · 10 min
Why did Wirecutter drop heavily in Google Search?
Wirecutter dropped heavily in search visibility during the spring and summer of 2025. That was surprising given the high-quality, insightful, and thorough reviews content they publish (and have published over the years). In addition, it's a site within a site, and resides on the New York Times domain (which is a powerful news publisher). In this video, I cover the situation, my analysis of the rankings drop, and explore several theories about what happened. For example, were Google reviews updates to blame, was it Google's 'Starkly different' algorithm or system at play, or was vertical expertise rewarded? I definitely noticed many smaller, niche publishers with reviews content surging as Wirecutter dropped. One thing is for sure, Wirecutter tanked in Google losing 69% of its search visibility over several months according to Sistrix data. So join me as I explore a massive drop in rankings for one of the most authoritative sites on the web. Blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/wirecutter-drops-google-reviews-system/ Chapters: 00:00 Wirecutter drops in rankings heavily. 00:47 Finding the drop. And it was a big one. 01:14 Visibility trending tanks across all three tools. 02:26 3.6M queries dropped in the US alone. 03:29 AI Overviews and AI Mode drop. 04:44 Theories about what happened starting with Reviews updates. 05:44 Google's 'Starkly Different' algorithm/system. 07:13 Wirecutter wasn't alone. Many reviews sites have dropped. 08:18 Vertical expertise rewarded? 09:45 Closing thoughts. Follow me on Twitter: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S2 · E3
Aug 14, 2025 · 11 min
AI Search And JavaScript Rendering - Can ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and others Actually See Your Content?
If your site is using JavaScript to render content via client-side rendering then it's important to understand that most AI search platforms cannot currently see your content. That includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and others. In this video, I cover a case study of a site that wasn't ranking well across AI Search, how they were leveraging client-side rendering, how that was causing problems, and what the AI platforms could actually see. It's great example of how JavaScript-based content can cause problems beyond Google and Bing in AI search platforms that are rapidly growing. I also end with a list of action items for site owners that might be affected by this issue. Blog post covering my case study: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/ai-search-javascript-rendering/ Chapters: 00:00 AI Search and JavaScript Rendering 00:50 An introduction to the case study. 01:25 Vercel's research about AI platforms and JavaScript rendering 02:52 First signs of trouble - Favicons and Citation Problems 04:30 Testing ChatGPT for JavaScript rendered content 05:40 Testing Perplexity for JavaScript rendered content 06:24 Testing Claude for JavaScript rendered content 07:52 What site owners can do now. 09:15 Don't use client-side rendering for ALL of your page content. 09:45 Yes, Google (Gemini) and Bing (Copilot) can render JavaScript just fine. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S2 · E2
Jul 10, 2025 · 14 min
AI Search Currently Drives Less Than 1% of Traffic To Sites, Google Is Still Dominant, and Watch The Long-term Risk of Ignoring Google Search
Has AI Search taken over in July 2025? Is Google still important or should you just focus on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI search platforms? In this video, I explain how to set up AI Search tracking in Google Analytics 4 to view the difference between AI Search traffic compared to Google Search and organic search overall. After setting this up across many accounts, AI search accounts for under 1% of traffic, and under .5% for most sites I checked.I’ll also explain how ignoring Google Search could lead to a drop in quality, which could cause problems with Google’s broad core updates (as core updates can impact all areas of Google including AI Overviews and AI Mode).Blog post covering the topic: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/ai-search-traffic-compared-to-google/ Chapters: 00:00 AI Search versus Google Search in 2025 00:46 A conversation with an IT executive about AI Search and the demise of Google. 02:20 How to set up AI search tracking in Google Analytics 4 (GA4). 03:45 What I found when analyzing AI Search traffic compared to Google. 05:15 AI Search example: B2C 06:16 AI Search example: Niche news publisher 06:42 AI Search example: Health and medical 07:18 AI Search example: Smaller publisher 07:41 Google organic drives the most traffic (by a mile). 08:33 AEO, GEO versus SEO - Be careful. 09:40 Google broad core updates and the danger of ignoring Google search. 10:12 A strong SEO strategy covers most of what you need for AI Search. 11:10 All Google surfaces that can be impacted by broad core udpates. 12:18 AIOs and AI Mode can be impacted by Google's broad core updates. 12:50 Wrapping up - AI Search is important, but don't ignore Google. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S2 · E1
May 30, 2025 · 13 min
How to measure the CTR impact of Google's AI Overviews using third-party visibility tools and the GSC API
Have you read AI Overview studies and wondered how *your own site* is being impacted? I got you covered. This video covers my blog post that walks you step-by-step through combining third-party AIO data with Google Search Console performance data (via the Search Console API) and using vlookup magic to see the change in clicks and CTR when AIOs are ranking for your queries. Note, this definitely works best for sites with a lot of search visibility and traffic from Google. So if your site doesn't have a ton of visibility, this process might not yield great results. BTW, having to write a 14-step process using multiple third-party tools, the GSC API, etc., to TRY to analyze AIO impact is RIDICULOUS, but that's exactly what Google wants unfortunately. And no, I don't think we will get AIO or AI Mode data broken out, so this may be the best approach for site owners trying to gauge the impact of AIOs on clicks and CTR. Note, AIOs officially rolled out in May of 2024, so you can definitely compare to pre-AIO SERPs if you want (or any timeframe you want to compare to). I've been running this for several clients and it works pretty well (especially for larger-scale sites with a lot of search visibility and traffic from Google). So watch this video and read my blog post, walk through the steps, run the numbers, and analyze the impact of AIOs for your own site. You might be surprised with what you find -- or not. :) Have fun. Blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/how-to-measure-the-impact-of-google-ai-overviews/ Chapters: 00:00 Tracking the impact of AI Overviews on CTR and clicks. 01:01 Combining third-party AIO data and GSC performance data. 03:00 Exporting all AIO data via third-party visibility tools. 04:08 Export GSC data via the Search Console API (for two timeframes). 05:40 Apply vlookup magic in Excel. 07:31 An example of CTR and clicks impact based on AIOs ranking. 08:41 Recommendations and tips for site owners. 11:08 My thoughts about why Google isn't breaking out AIO data in GSC. 13:07 Summary: Tell me how this goes for you! X: https://x.com/glenngabe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S2 · E1
Apr 9, 2025 · 10 min
When Links Go Wrong: Why News and Media Publishers Need To Embrace Earned Links and Ditch Nofollow
If you earn a powerful link, you should receive that link. Unfortunately, many news and media publishers are nofollowing those links, which tells Google to not pass signals, including PageRank, downstream to the pages that earned those links. I cover the situation, including examples of that happening, why it’s happening, how Google’s view of nofollow has changed over the years, and even include an example of it happening to me! In addition, I cover important FAQs for news and media publishers that might be nofollowing links now (in order to clear up any confusion about when to link normally versus using nofollow). A link is a terrible thing to waste, so please link out normally. Site owners will appreciate it, Google will appreciate, and the entire web ecosystem will appreciate it. Blog post covering the topic: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/news-media-publishers-link-out-ditch-nofollow/ Chapters: 00:00 When links go wrong. Why some news and media publishers are nofollowing links. 02:08 Examples of news and media publishers nofollowing earned links. 03:30 Link Madness Inception: When it happened to me recently! 04:47 But wait, nofollow is just a hint to Google now. 06:00 Help me, help you. FAQs for news and media publishers. 08:57 Just link out normally. It’s the way the web works. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ Find me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S1 · E24
Feb 22, 2025 · 7 min
Disallow, Canonicalize, Noindex, or Remove? How To Properly Block Content Violating Google's Site Reputation Abuse Spam Policy
Google recently rolled out two additional waves of manual actions for site reputation abuse targeting the EU (including Germany in the second wave). As I’ve been analyzing those drops, I noticed that sites are handling content violating the spam policy in several ways (and some are not the correct ways). For example, disallowing via robots.txt and canonicalizing are NOT valid approaches. Instead, noindexing or removing the content completely are the correct methods for dealing with a manual action for site reputation abuse. In this video, I cover four methods that are being employed now by site owners and why only two are valid. I provide specific examples of sites using each approach and how that worked, or didn’t work, for the site at hand. Companion blog post covering the topic: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/how-to-block-content-site-reputation-abuse/ Chapters: 00:00 New manual actions for site reputation abuse and how sites are trying to block content 00:49 Disallowing via robots.txt (NOT VALID) 03:39 Canonicalizing site reputation abuse content (NOT VALID) 04:35 Noindexing content (VALID) 05:44 User-agent blocking 06:15 Removing content completely (VALID) 06:50 Summary: Two valid choices for blocking content for site reputation abuse Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I’m on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S1 · E23
Jan 30, 2025 · 12 min
The Twiddler That Didn’t Twiddle - How To Track Clicks and Click-Through Rate For Google’s AI Overviews (But You Need A Manual Action!)
GSC data for AI overviews, including clicks and click-through rate, has been nearly impossible to view... UNTIL NOW. But there's a catch. You need a manual action! My latest episode covers my blog post titled The Twiddler That Didn’t Twiddle – How To Track Clicks and Click Through Rate For Google’s AI Overviews (but only if you have a manual action.) In this video I explain the loophole in Google right now where sites with manual actions can still rank well in AIOs even when they are heavily demoted (or removed) from ranking in the core search results (10-blue links). But I also explain that you better move fast. I don't know how long it take before Google closes that loophole. This may be one of the few times (or only time) a manual action will benefit a site owner. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction - When the Twiddler Doesn't Twiddle 00:50 Murky and Confusing AIO Performance Data 01:29 Google's loophole where sites with a manual action can rank in AI overviews 02:42 Lily Ray's tweet and my retweet about sites ranking in AIOs with manual actions 03:07 Twiddler Down! When Twiddlers don't Twiddle 03:54 How deindexing with manual actions works 04:40 The maddening adventure of tracking AIOs 05:39 You couldn't see pure AIO performance data... until now! 06:20 Steps for tracking pure AIO data in Google Search Console 08:10 Examples of AIO clicks and CTR in Google Search Console 09:20 Click-through rate with #1 AIO rankings. 10:20 A note about using regex in GSC to combine queries. 11:17 Summary - The only time a manual action can benefit a site owner. Blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/how-to-track-aio-performance-gsc-manual-action/ Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S1 · E22
Jan 23, 2025 · 10 min
Google Algorithm Updates, ML Classifiers, Precision, and the Impact To Collateral Damage
Interested in the amount of collateral damage that can occur when major Google algorithm updates roll out? Well, a recent appearance by Mark Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan podcast provides a great explanation of how classifiers, confidence levels, and precision work with machine learning algorithms. He also covered how adjusting confidence can impact the amount of collateral damage occurring when updates roll out. And if you swap “Social” for “Search”, Zuckerberg could be talking about any major Google algorithm update. In this video, I cover Mark's comments about classifiers and collateral damage, I cover how classifiers are used by Google with major algorithm updates (and part of its core rankings systems), I cover yo-yo trending and why that can happen with certain sites, and I end by covering the future of broad core updates (from my perspective). Blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/classifiers-confidence-and-google-algorithm-updates/ 00:00 Introduction 00:39 Mark Zuckerberg about classifiers, confidence levels, and collateral damage. 01:58 The connection to SEO and Google algorithm updates. 03:18 The September 2023 Helpful Content Update (HCUX) 04:23 Classifiers and Google's guide to search ranking systems 05:18 Yo-yo trending with Google updates 06:25 The 'Kitchen Sink' approach to remediation is the path forward. 07:17 The future of Google's broad core updates. 09:02 Wrapping up. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/ I'm on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glenngabe.bsky.social
S1 · E21
Jan 9, 2025 · 11 min
Google's December 2024 Spam Update - 5 Case Studies Covering Scaled Content Abuse, Doorway Pages, AI content, and more.
I cover the December 2024 Spam Update including key information about the rollout, what the update targeted, recovery from spam updates, and the difference between spam updates and link spam updates. Then I cover five case studies spanning doorway pages, scaled content abuse, AI-generated content, and more. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the December Spam Update 01:08 Google's Spam Policies 02:17 Recovery from spam updates 03:21 Case One: Doorway Pages Galore 04:19 Case Two: Scaled Content Abuse with PAA Mining 06:06 Case Three: Scaling To Oblivion 08:32 Case Four: More Scaled Content Abuse With Programmatic Content 09:29 Case Five: More Doorway Pages and AI-generated Content 11:14 In Summary: It works until it doesn't Blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/google-december-2024-spam-update-case-studies/ Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/
S1 · E20
Dec 19, 2024 · 12 min
ChatGPT Search launches new features including Local Search with maps, navigational query changes, and live mode with Search
OpenAI revealed some important new features for ChatGPT Search as part of its 12 days of ship-mas in December. Day 8 yielded local search with maps integration, new treatment for navigational queries (which opens up ad opportunities), and then live mode now having the ability to tap into Search for up-to-date information. I cover each of these features and then end with a live demo of ChatGPT live mode with Search. Blog post covering the new features: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/chatgpt-search-new-features-december-2024/ Chapters: 00:00 ChatGPT Search new features announced on Day 8 of ship-mas. 00:46 ChatGPT Search overview. 01:50 Links to publishers contain utm parameters for tracking ChatGPT Search. 02:20 Heading towards Jarvis personal AI assistants. 03:50 Hello Local Search with maps in ChatGPT Search. 05:46 Special treatment for navigational queries. 07:14 Search advertising opportunities surface! 07:59 ChatGPT Search with live mode brings Jarvis closer to reality. 09:32 Live demo of ChatGPT live mode with Search integration. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/
S1 · E19
Dec 10, 2024 · 9 min
The importance of finding all subdomains with search visibility on your site. SEO tools and tricks.
Learn why it’s important to fully understand all of the subdomains for your site. I have come across this situation a number of times over the years and I’ve seen some ugly situations. There are times companies don’t realize there are subdomains running either with legacy content, hacked content, spammy content, or even subdomains with malware or other security issues. And those issues can impact the site SEO-wise and ad-wise. I cover how sites can be suspended in Google Ads based on malware running on those rogue subdomains. I cover several ways to find subdomains running that have search visibility, including GSC crawl stats, Bing Webmaster Tools Site explorer, third-party visibility tools like Semrush, ahrefs, and Sistrix, and I also cover some creative site queries. So don’t get blindsided by your subdomains. Run some quick checks and surface them. You never know what you’re going to find. Read my blog post: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/find-subdomains-with-search-visibility/ 00:00 How to find subdomains for your site. 00:36 Why it’s important to find your subdomains. 01:28 Quality at the hostname level. 02:46 Security problems causing AD problems. 03:32 GSC Crawl Stats reporting. 04:58 Bing Webmaster Tools Site Explorer 05:45 Third-party visibility tools like Semrush, ahrefs, and Sistrix. 07:00 Creative site queries. 08:05 Bonus: Hosting providers can help. Follow me on X: https://x.com/glenngabe Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenngabe/

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes