Industry News

We know it has been over 10 months since Google launched a Penguin update and Google explained it is complicated to just refresh it.
But this morning, in a Google+ Hangout, John Mueller kind of hinted that it is coming really soon. He talked about it at 21 minutes and 40 seconds into the video. He said "engineers are working on" and admits it has "been quiet a while" but said it is "not that far away" but it is "not launching this morning." But are you sure? Maybe this afternoon? Google likes launching these larger algorithms late Friday afternoons.

Jennifer Slegg posted an interesting case of a manual action being revoked and then the same day reappearing and then being revoked again. Interestingly enough...

I’ve been saying for at least a couple of years that Google’s local search is a proof of concept for the search giant to use on how to find and understand entities. With local search, Google goes out and looks for a mention of a business on the Web,...

Google has quietly updated their Webmaster Guidelines, the little or no original content section. They added a example reference there for "low-quality guest blog posts." I would not be surprised to see manual actions for guest blogging, not link specific, but content specific penalties.

Everyone is posting about this today but I don’t care because it is really that good and it wins all the points on the Internet today. Paul Ford in How to Be Polite:

People silently struggle from all kinds of terrible things. They suffer from depression, ambition, substance abuse, and pretension. They suffer from family tragedy, Ivy-League educations, and self-loathing. They suffer from failing marriages, physical pain, and publishing. The good thing about politeness is that you can...

It seems like Google Penguin has been on some sort of vacation, since it has now been over 10 months since the last refresh.

The sad part is, those who have spent the past 10 months trying to "fix" their sites, are in a penalty box just waiting...

I nodded along vigorously to Cap Watkins’s The Fight:

What I’ve come to realize in the past two years is how important it is to find a company and a product worth fighting for. To find a team that is dedicated to delivering the best product they can, despite the bumps, the frustrations, the exhausting moments along the way. Hurdles and failure are totally unavoidable. Having a resilient team around you working on a product you all believe in will make those hurdles easier to clear....

As we learn more about the Google HTTPS algorithm I want to keep you posted.

Three new tidbits came out on the topic through yesterday's Google webmaster hangout with Google's John Mueller on Google+...

Dhruv Khullar described The Trouble With Medicine’s Metaphors:

The words we choose to describe illness are powerful. They carry weight and valence, creating the milieu in which goals of care are discussed and treatment plans designed. In medicine, the use of metaphor is pervasive. Antibiotics clog up bacterial machinery by disrupting the supply chain. Diabetes coats red blood cells with sugar until they’re little glazed donuts. Life with chronic disease is a marathon, not a sprint, with...