Google Search Wants To Reward The Best Content No Matter The Size Of The Site 101

For the previous 20 years, most likely even longer, the controversy about Google giving preferential remedy to large sites over small sites has been an enormous matter within the search engine optimization world and that has not modified in 2024 from 2004. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, lately stated on X, “sure, we ought to be rewarding the very best content material, no matter web site measurement.” He added that he hopes Google will get higher at that, saying, “I hope we’ll get higher right here.”

This response got here after a chunk named How Google is killing independent sites like ours was revealed on Home Contemporary by Gisele Navarro and Danny Ashton. Go learn it, I do know a lot of you’ve got already.

Danny Sullivan responded to the criticism saying, we’ll do higher. Yea, Google has been saying that for a long long time now and we’re still waiting for that next update. Sullivan wrote:

Thanks. I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the put up, and the considerations and the element in it. I’ve handed it alongside to our Search workforce together with my ideas that I would wish to see us do extra to make sure we’re displaying a greater range of outcomes that does embody each small and enormous publications.

One word to an in any other case glorious write-up. The article suggests we do some kind of “guide test” on claims made by pages. We don’t. That reference and hyperlink is about guide evaluations we do if a web page has a guide *spam* motion in opposition to it, and information a reconsideration request. That is completely completely different from how our automated rating methods look to reward content material.

Considerably associated, simply making a declare and speaking a couple of “rigorous testing course of” and following an “E-E-A-T guidelines” would not assure a prime rating or by some means robotically trigger a web page to do higher. We speak about E-E-A-T as a result of it is a idea that aligns with how we attempt to rank good content material. However our automated methods do not have a look at a web page and see a declare like “I examined this!” and assume it is higher simply due to that. Quite, the issues we speak about with E-E-A-T are associated to what folks discover helpful in content material. Doing issues typically for folks is what our automated methods search to reward, utilizing completely different indicators. Extra here.

Thanks once more for the put up. I hope we’ll be doing higher sooner or later for most of these points.

Gisele Navarro responded saying:

Concerning Google’s E-E-A-T pointers, I utterly perceive your level and the explanation why you’ve got developed them. My level was maybe extra geared in direction of how these pointers have develop into a box-ticking train for a lot of, the place the main focus is on 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 these qualities greater than really creating them.

I didn’t anticipate this put up to magically repair all these points, but it surely’s encouraging to know that you simply agree that there’s a lack of range of outcomes in the meanwhile, with giant publications cannibalising huge sections of Google outcomes off the again of their well-known manufacturers (and their all-encompassing factories of content material) greater than the standard of the content material itself.

Danny Sullivan responded once more, hope to do higher:

I agree that too many interpret the self-assessment questions on our key page here.

As some kind of box-ticking train moderately than concentrate on the larger image of “are you doing issues which are typically useful for folks, as a result of that is additionally what’s useful for Google. It does point out these questions on how folks may self-evaluate, not how Google evaluates. However, I’ve talked about earlier than that I would wish to see that web page additional up to date, and it is considered one of my prime priorities that I hold voicing internally. Sadly, altering our docs can take time, so it is most likely going to be a couple of extra weeks or months.

As for the broader query of, let’s name it, “massive web site versus small web site,” I’ve additionally raised this concern over the previous weeks, as a result of it should not be that manner (and it is not all the time, both). However sure, we ought to be rewarding the very best content material, no matter web site measurement. As I stated, I hope we’ll get higher right here.

It jogs my memory a little bit of when Matt Cutts, former Google spam cop, a decade in the past, requested SEOs to inform Google which small sites should rank that aren’t ranking.

That type continues to be open however I doubt anybody has entry to it anymore.

I do know lots of you’re bored with listening to the “we’ll do higher” from Google’s search workforce:

Heck, final evening after I coated this at Search Engine Land I confirmed how Reddit outranked the unique article from HouseFresh!

After which as anticipated:

Unhappy to see…

Discussion board dialogue at X.