I have blogged before about my frustrations at the hysteria that often accompanies SEO related ‘news’. Supposed experts declare that a titbit of information is seismic in nature and that life as we know it is no more.
Maybe I am just getting too old / cynical, but it is incredibly rare that I actually raise my eyebrows when reading around digital marketing news. I did, however, find myself twitching when the digital legend (in the SEO world at least!) that is Rand Fishkin announced that he was privy to a fairly sizeable leak of Google Search API documentation a couple of weeks ago.
It should be said that the announcement was subject to the usual hyperbole, as Rand claimed that “In the last quarter century, no leak of this magnitude or detail has ever been reported from Google’s search division“. He announced the leak in a blog post on the 27th May, although he was made aware of the documentation by a certain Erfan Azimi on the 5th May. The documentation was actually published on Github on the 27th March but then removed on the 7th May.
I have spent some time reading the leaked documents. I will not claim to have read every detail, which will take some time, but I have felt no urge to jump on the furore bandwagon for the very simple reason that I do not believe that it changes anything about how we, as an agency, should approach search engine marketing. Everything that I have read so far supports the Browser Media way of approaching SEO and I feel reassured that we are doing things properly.
What is interesting to me, however, are two key revelations:
- The leaked documentation directly contradicts many public statements that have been issued by the search engine’s PR teams over the years. I am not surprised, as the evidence that I have seen with my own eyes over the past 20yrs of Browser Media’s existence often suggested that the opposite of what Google was saying was actually true. I expect that any future announcements from Google are going to be met with a reasonable degree of scepticism. Whilst it doesn’t really affect users, so I doubt Google will really care, I do wonder if more savvy digital marketers will stop hanging on to every word that is uttered by the Google oracle?
- Google has a political bias. I am not surprised in the least, but it is fairly damning to see evidence of how white listed sites are prioritised over those which present an alternative view to the the one that the Google gods wish you to see. This is true for election related content (errrrrr – not really demonstrating a respect for democracy are we Google?) but the manipulation of search results was also very strong during the Covid misery. The results were heavily controlled and any voices questioning the official narrative were quashed. I don’t think it is quite Orwellian controls over the ‘truth’ but it does feel very ‘Big Brother’ and I fear that such behaviour does considerable damage to the trust that users have in Google SERPs. Coupled with the brazen lies from the PR teams about what data is, and isn’t, used in their search algorithms, I feel that a lot of digital marketers will feel angry at Google. The reality, however, is that I have no doubt that most users will not even know about the leaks, so I am not expecting the imminent downfall of the search behemoth.
I suspect that it won’t dent the popularity of the search engine amongst the general population, but it has not helped a growing frustration that I know a lot of digital marketers are feeling towards Google. It is not quite as annoying as GA4 but the apparent contempt for the SEO community leaves a bitter taste and most definitely undermines future SEO announcements.
What does the leaked information mean for your SEO strategy?
The answer to this question will depend entirely on what your current SEO strategy is :-)
Wearing the Browser Media hat, I do not feel that the leak has made us question anything about our approach to SEO. As hinted above, I have often felt that you can ignore most of Google’s PR official announcements. Whilst I absolutely support their overriding mantra of focusing on your target audience’s needs / interests, I often see evidence of the success of specific tactics that Google officially declares as dead.
I believe that the importance of (good quality) link building is probably the most significant, as we are repeatedly told that links don’t really matter any more, but I was personally interested to read about ‘NavBoost’, which is all about looking at user behaviour on SERPs and subsequently on sites they click through to.
This is a slightly personal one as I have often been challenged about making recommendations to improve meta descriptions, as they are not ranking factors. The accusation is that it is an old-school SEO obsession that has no relevance in the modern era. I have always agreed that meta descriptions are not a direct ranking factor, but I have seen so many examples of search rankings improving following work to polish meta descriptions that I have always been convinced that trying to improve click through rates will be rewarded with improved visibility. Whilst I accept that the highly irritating habit of Google not actually using meta descriptions as the text snippet undermines the importance of the meta description, I was please to see that the leaked API documentation supported what I have been seeing with my very eyes.
Having read as much as I have of the search API, I have been sleping very soundly. Not just because it starts to get boring fairly quickly, but because I feel more reassured that our focus on excellent content, both on and off-site, and a digital PR strategy to amplify such content is the right strategy for longer term SEO success. I have seen this work across a lot of different domains and all the API documentation supports what we have felt for many years. Whilst it does not always fly with what Google is publicly saying, it is comforting to see evidence from the horse’s mouth that we have been barking up the right tree.
I often feel that people are looking for shortcuts with SEO. This explains the obsession with SEO news, as people hope that it is a key to unlock a lazy hack to SEO success. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there really isn’t a secret to good SEO. It is just very hard work!
In a nutshell, I do not personally agree with Rand Fishkin that the leak is really the biggest news of the past 25yrs. If it is all new news to you, you have probably been doing SEO wrong?
