Last week, I gave a presentation about Google Search results not being perfect, how we update to improve those results, and how our guidance to creators needs to improve. In this thread, I’ll share my slides and commentary for those who weren’t able to attend my talk…
Further down in the thread is this line from Google’s Search Liaison (GSL):
The gap between what Google says to creators and what creators hear about being successful in Google Search needs to get better.
This, and remarks throughout the thread, connects with our discussion in Griffin & Lurie (2022): the GSL appears to be much more heavily engaged with the search engine optimization (SEO) community than searchers writ-large.1
That said, I do regularly see the SEO folks engaging in search quality complaints on behalf of those searching (not only those searched for or trying to be found). I think SEOs, partially because of their expertise and this relationship with Google, may have a responsibility to engage in more public advocacy for public interest searches. See my other comments on this in [tags:seo-for-social-good].↩︎
Griffin, D., & Lurie, E. (2022). Search quality complaints and imaginary repair: Control in articulations of Google Search. New Media & Society, 0(0), 14614448221136505. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221136505 [griffin2022search]