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For the past week or so, I've been seeing a lot of chatter around a Google updating happening. The thing is, it is hard to tell what is going on right now.
The WebmasterWorld thread has a lot of chatter that symbolizes an update but that chatter has been pretty steady for the past couple weeks or so. In addition, the monitoring tools, such as MozCast shows higher signs of volatility than normal. Here are the temperatures 73° on June 24, 86° on June 23, 77° on June 22, 71° on June 21 and 72° on June 20. So pretty hot days this week and the week before.
The kicker is on Friday, Matt Cutts tweeted that there is an update being pushed out over multiple weeks. Matt said:
Multi-week rollout going on now, from next week all all the way to the week after July 4th.
I think this is in response to spam algorithm and not the softer Panda algorithm - although, they both might be updating now, as well as other things might be going on at the same time.
The reason I think it is spam algorithm related is because @screamingfrog tweet about a [car insurance] query was what Matt responded to.
I will see if I can get more details from Matt Cutts and will let you know the details when I hear back.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Comments:
Praveen Sharma
06/25/2013 01:29 pm
Nowadays Google rolls out so many updates that even they are confused what update webmasters are talking about. :) But on serious note, hope this update doesn't hurt webmasters who are genuinely making efforts to give their websites exposure on the search giant.
webmaster
06/25/2013 01:52 pm
I really don't know what kind of update algorithm they are doing, because spanish keywords are showing really bad results in some importants keywords. Showing door pages, showing redirect results, so here some example, for the keyword casas de apuestas see the results, the first result it is a domain justo with one page http://www.google.es/#output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=casas+de+apuestas&oq=casas+de+apuestas&gs_l=hp.3..0l10.972.3465.1.3935.17.12.0.5.5.1.317.2790.0j3j7j2.12.0...0.0...1c.1.17.hp.-5iIsfr2bdk&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48293060,d.dmQ&fp=5649ceea6dab4f55&biw=1920&bih=886
klippers
06/25/2013 02:22 pm
Unfortunately it seems like there is a lot of collateral damage in these updates.
Liv
06/25/2013 02:26 pm
Can anyone elaborate why they would make it a multi-week update rather than an insto-chango-serp? It can't be a logistics problem with their back-end, so I'm really confused.
HeavenSent
06/25/2013 03:51 pm
Thanks Google for the Penguin and taking my business, I guess I screwed up...... I have tried so hard to get my business back up but don't think it's possible, the only way out of this mess is to take my own life - God is good and hope Heaven is a more pleasant place than this money grubbing world!
Happy-Contented
06/25/2013 03:52 pm
Here we go again. I still have a few visitors left so google is probably trying to hoover them up too. I doubt by the 4th July I will have that many visitors left but the good news is.....google will be sending them to crap sites. Compounded over the hundreds of thousands of other websites like mine, that will get the same treatment, means google again will fail to deliver the most relevant results. It has been some time since google could claim honestly that they deliver the most relevant results. With a bit of luck google are accelerating their own downfall by continually making the searches for normal visitors worse with every update. Im pleased and disapointed to say that Bing now delivers more traffic to my site than google. Pleased because google can´t get their dirty, greedy hands on those visitors but disappointed because bing just arn´t delivering enough on their own (JUST YET). I am really hoping that google screw this one up more than ever. Come on google, don´t let me down. Drive on towards your inevitable death you greedy leaches.
ethalon
06/25/2013 04:28 pm
I really hope that you are being hyperbolic about the situation. But just assuming you aren't: "the only way out of this mess is to take my own life" That is never the way out of any mess. It may stop the e-business problem you are having, but it also stops everything else for you. There is no heaven, please do not think of death as a safe refuge from the world; it isn't. Death is the end of you, you do not carry on, you do not get to watch with renewed vigor, there is no eternity for your consciousness. Seek help, talk about your situation to someone who you trust, call a help line, anything. If it was sarcasm, then well, I look silly. And if you are serious: please, from one human being to another, you are better than a quick escape; you are worth so more than that.
Fedor
06/25/2013 05:13 pm
It's hard to track impact when doing multiple algorithm changes, you won't know which was the cause without more work. They are likely doing one at a time.
Alex Garrido
06/25/2013 06:04 pm
I just hope that they find a more straight-forward way to let customers know what their definition of "good quality content" is.
Barry Schwartz
06/25/2013 06:34 pm
the update gets slowly pushed out over a couple weeks. so you might not see it until July 4th.
aruegger
06/25/2013 07:45 pm
A very small percentage of individuals may experience epileptic seizures or blackouts when exposed to certain light patterns or flashing lights - or animated gifs
Fedor
06/25/2013 07:52 pm
Just to let you know, taking the easy way out won't get you into heaven.
Marcus
06/25/2013 08:17 pm
I hope your not serious bro! But i know this stiff can get real. know a guy who lost his house after the first penguin 1 update, just a local plumber who was only able to scratch out a living, little 3 bed house nothing fancy. His wife soon left him, took the kids and he died of a heart attack 3 months later, stress? What Matt cuts and his team need to keep in mind real people with REAL children to house and feed are being hit by his games. I just hope he has his 30 pieces of silver, if the SERPS looked better then there would at least be some excuse but right now, directories everywhere...
Craig Hamilton-Parker
06/25/2013 10:37 pm
I have noticed that some of my competitors sites that have jumped 30 or so places in SERPS today do not have Google Analytics in their code.
sestuff
06/25/2013 10:55 pm
I have no clue what it is but didn't Google say that they were no longer announcing Panda updates? Would be nice if they still did because it doesn't seem to be revealing anything to webmasters any way. Well, whatever it is, Oh well, whatever...
Peter Pan
06/25/2013 10:57 pm
How many times can you stuff the word "chatter" into the opening 2 paragraphs?!
sestuff
06/25/2013 11:01 pm
BTW is the red Google logo in the image supposed to depict the blood money that they are making off of these updates? I think these updates are supposed to fill the ads that G can no longer make money off of - like the ads they got fined 500 million for...
Graham Ginsberg
06/26/2013 12:03 am
Google's possible side effects: Side effects that you should report to your doctor or health care professional as soon as possible: allergic reactions like skin rash, itching or hives, swelling of the face, lips, or tongue breathing problems changes in hearing chest pain fast, irregular heartbeat Side effects that usually do not require medical attention (report to your doctor or health care professional if they continue or are bothersome): back pain dizziness flushing headache indigestion muscle aches stuffy or runny nose This list may not describe all possible side effects.
Stephen Moyers
06/26/2013 05:13 am
I have seen some changes in some search queries in SERP. So, it might be now update is rolling out. Let see what this new update by Google effect the search industry.
Timothy Srobenhorst
06/26/2013 05:37 am
I think your going to see more localized results and a ton of shifting back and forth as everything propagates throughout the net.
ADESANMI
06/26/2013 06:09 am
This update is really keeping bloggers waiting about their next level of blog algorithm and I think Google should on time do something despite the condition of the weather in the forecast!
Stephen Moyers
06/26/2013 06:46 am
The queries in which I have seen changes are search queries related to a specific location. So, I think they are making some changes in the local search algorithm.
april kroener
06/26/2013 09:18 am
I'm seeing updates go live every 2 weeks or so, and rankings move on a weekly basis... can't rely on anything right now
TheDaveCollins
06/26/2013 11:50 am
Three?
Barry Schwartz
06/26/2013 11:52 am
I like the word. :)
Durant Imboden
06/26/2013 02:34 pm
It's got to be something bigger than a "Payday Loan" update. Surely it wouldn't take two weeks to push out an update that affected only a tiny percentage of queries and sites.
Ralph
06/26/2013 04:02 pm
Fuck you Google!
Graham Ginsberg
06/26/2013 04:18 pm
Heavensent wrote Thanks Google for the Penguin and taking my business, I guess I screwed up...... I have tried so hard to get my business back up but don't think it's possible, the only way out of this mess is to take my own life Firstly, we have all experienced death. We were dead before we had life. You remember nothing of it because there is nothing to remember. There is no heaven for humans. The soul cannot die. Taking your own life is illegal in most instances, even though, one would think that its yours for the taking. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger With that said, try to overcome and experience the pitfalls of life and the joys as in both pain and pleasure, you know one thing for sure. That you are alive
brand
06/26/2013 04:54 pm
again google out of money??? or they just trying to spam their own search results?
brand
06/26/2013 04:56 pm
you forgot about depression, insult or infarct, brain scabies, multiply allergic reactions to matt cutt face & google logo
brand
06/26/2013 04:59 pm
they are luckly, but google using their adsense accounts to get stats.
brand
06/26/2013 04:59 pm
it not penguinopanda, it new update to get rid of tiers system. after it you will need to use unique content on t2+
brand
06/26/2013 05:00 pm
good quality content, is content which personally approved by matt cutts and white-listed. or it just any spammy youtube video for example.
brand
06/26/2013 05:02 pm
yes, google using KGB methods.
brand
06/26/2013 05:06 pm
yeah. I was funny (about his condolences) when I see m. cutts condolences for family of seo guy. Surely, later google tanked this seo guy sites as additional apologies.
brand
06/26/2013 05:08 pm
looks like very soon we will need to use voodoo or some kind of magic for seo purposes.
Barry Schwartz
06/26/2013 06:23 pm
Ha, I make a fortune from this.
NanditaB
06/26/2013 07:01 pm
Forget about "multi-week" update... Google is on for "Multi-Year" update (>500/yr)... after its able Panda +Penguin; PIG, PUG & Panther are in row...
Fedor
06/26/2013 07:17 pm
Hmmm... I guess there are 2 Fedors on here now. Interesting.
Jaimie Sirovich
06/26/2013 07:17 pm
Fedor, I'm sure Barry & Danny have their own thoughts on lots of matters — but something that's lost on you is that they have to act like reporters in public and walk a fine line. If they bashed Google all day, they'd never get information. Occasionally they should push hard, and they do. They're reporters. That's the point. People like you bore me. There's no conspiracy. It's just politics.
Jaimie Sirovich
06/26/2013 07:22 pm
Be careful. There is no "reinclusion" request for life. (This was a joke right?)
HomOmaha
06/26/2013 07:32 pm
Platypus update in progress...
Stephane Brault
06/26/2013 08:05 pm
Wow Mozcast currently shows 113 for June 25th...! Has it ever been this high?
Jim Christian
06/26/2013 08:33 pm
Its interesting, in a good way. I'm seeing a few people that compete in our space drop 1-5 spots (in the top 10). One interesting note is they had pretty shady links (insert blackhat link technique here).
Nate Johnson
06/26/2013 08:36 pm
+1
Nate Johnson
06/26/2013 08:36 pm
Ours have been jumping around quite a bit over the past few weeks... Just waiting for the dust to settle.
BrentNau
06/26/2013 08:47 pm
Seeing "local" SERPs really focusing on businesses that are in the exact area. Fewer "out of area" listings, even when looking at generic terms with no geo-modifiers.
mastersat
06/26/2013 10:01 pm
mozcast shows 113 degree check it
Adam
06/26/2013 10:04 pm
I make a lot of money, thanks to traffic from Google, and I've yet to be hit by any of the recent updates, so I really have nothing to complain about. But I am going to complain nonetheless. These updates are getting a little ridiculous, and completely overkill. Reminds me of my wife driving in the snow and losing control. Turning too far to the right, then over correcting to the left, and so on....never completely gaining control because of the aggressive over correcting. Finally I have to just tell her to stop the car, take a breath, and re assess the road in front of her. These updates have brought them no closer to quality results than they were before May.
Brian
06/26/2013 10:21 pm
Perfect answer...
sestuff
06/26/2013 10:29 pm
We don't mind. At least someone here is making some money.
sestuff
06/26/2013 10:41 pm
Don't forget the Google toolbar, Chrome, the poll code, Google checkout buttons, Google trusted merchant code, Google play buttons, Google+ buttons as well as countless other "widgets" and "tools".
Fredrik Eriksson
06/26/2013 11:01 pm
My new dart board fixed the Cutt issue
Peter Pan
06/26/2013 11:15 pm
So i noticed on this and other occassions.. it's getting slightly annoying now though.. "chatter on the blackhat forums" etc etc.. try mixing it up once in a while, "talk" is a nice word too :P
nemekn
06/26/2013 11:50 pm
Liv, it is most likely a 'back-end issue' - a lot of data needs to be processed and pushed out. There must be a bottle neck either with the processing power or the human oversight needed over the roll-out. There is another option too - that Google is doing it just for the sake of increasing volatility in the SERPs - but I hope they have not come to that kind of madness yet ;-)
Stephane Brault
06/27/2013 01:57 am
So basically, you mean Matt Cutts is like a women driving a car?
brand
06/27/2013 02:34 am
welcome to ugly world of google, where youtube spammy video mean more (for google) than any million dollars text article.
brand
06/27/2013 02:39 am
dancing with big red destroy-seo button and playing dinosaurs to make us think him is austin powers. last thing to show mojo to webmasters and his secret world-saving mission will completed
brand
06/27/2013 02:49 am
coming soon multi-second's updates.
Liv
06/27/2013 03:10 am
Thank you for the genuine response. I just find this fact odd, and the fact it's went "under the radar" so-to-speak, confuses me. I've wondered if we're not seeing another "changing engines in mid-flight" algo change as Cutts stated with the original Panda. Let's hope the need for more time, means a much more profound update.
Fedor
06/27/2013 05:23 am
So you mean the privet networks, which many of us control, have not been hit yet? Do you seriously think this is gonna last? You've basically made most of your money at the right time... I see this going down the tubes in the future, unfortunately. Looking back I could have made a lot more money if I wasn't so lazy. I fear our time for easy money is going to end if Google keeps up their rampage.
Alan Smith
06/27/2013 05:30 am
SEO world is waiting for it
Adam
06/27/2013 05:34 am
Huh? I have to assume you accidentally replied to the wrong person. How in the world did you get the terms 'private networks' and 'easy money' out of my post?
Adam
06/27/2013 05:45 am
Cutts, or whoever makes the final decision on these algorithm updates. And it's a woman driving a car in the snow, there's a difference =) Either way, the big G has gone completely bonkers with all these updates recently. I'd actually prefer they just stop being public about them, because its not even news anymore, it's equivalent to the sun rising every morning. A massive update from Google every few days should just be expected by now. That's how ridiculous this has gotten.
Fedor
06/27/2013 06:00 am
I did a little bit of stalking online. You're on a bunch of forums. Although "easy money" is what I'd call 06' till now. Please don't take it the wrong way, I have a high admiration for what you've accomplished and your involvement in the community.
the koon
06/27/2013 06:33 am
oh yes it is mctts got publicly humiliated last week monday.. this update is to save face
Similar Results = True Results
06/27/2013 10:43 am
I discovered something rather unnerving today. I did a search for my money term and found the first truly relevant result at spot 10. I then used the little green pull down arrow next to the name of the site and clicked on Similar... BOCHE..... There was my site in second spot. So, google knows very well that my site is relevant to the other site it listed but because it has been busted down by every penguin and panda you can mention (EVEN THOUGH ITS AS WHITE AS IT GETS) it does not see fit to list it in the top 100. So the moral of this story is ... find the first TRULY relevant result and then click on similar. This is the only way Google now has of serving relevant results. Well done Google. Your user experience would have your own site panda´d and penguin-ed. If only you played fair :)
Mark Warner
06/27/2013 10:54 am
I believe that the tweet was meant to say: "Multi-week rollout going on now, from *LAST* week all the way to the week after July 4th." That would coincide with your report on the 19th at which time no one signed up to my forum for 12 hours (I get about 1-2 an hour) and I think that it's been going on ever since and is a real biggie full of tweaks. But I am normally wrong about things :)
Craig Hamilton-Parker
06/27/2013 01:09 pm
True but maybe the less we give them the better it is. I'm tempted to just add it on my best pages with the best click through rate etc. But whatever the issues it is intollerable that Google has such a hold on us with its use of data.
Durant Imboden
06/27/2013 03:11 pm
Good catch! I tried that just now by clicking the green arrow by the #1 result on a SERP where three of the four top results were garbage, and five of the 10 results on the "similar" SERP were from my site (which ranked #5 for the initial query).
Red Dragon Vapors
07/03/2013 09:58 pm
I disagree, with the top 10 for my money keyword I found that only 3 (posisitons 2, 5,9) did not have google analytics. But the top ranking one does as well as the others. Looking further into it I see that the text to html ratio is above 15% but less then 30% on all the top 10.
Brent
07/16/2013 10:30 am
How does Google define advertorials in relation to Penguin 2.0? I believe I have been hit by Penguin 2.0. The traffic started decreasing on May 22 or 23, 2013 - the same time that the new algorithm came out. I analyzed the backlink profile and found some unnatural looking links and I also found some of what seems to be "advertorials" (though I'm not sure - this is where I need your opinion). Penguin 2.0 has partly to do with advertorials. Here's what I did - I paid a company to write high-quality articles for me and then post them on sites like Forbes, HuffPost, Business Insider, etc. I'm trying to figure out if those would be considered advertorials or not. Based on what Matt Cutts from Google says the answer is yes. The links from those articles to my sites were all dofollow and there was not any disclosure stating that the articles were ‘advertisements’ or ‘sponsored’. There were many of these 'guest blogs' and they were all done by the same company that used mostly the same targeted anchor text for all the links pointing back to my site. I wanted to get your opinion as to whether these are advertorials or not. I've done a lot of research online as far as what Matt Cutts from Google says about these. I have not listened to nobody except Matt Cutts thus far since he would know what an advertorial is or is not. But now I'm opening this debate up for discussion. Here are the things I have found that he (Matt Cutts) has said in regard to advertorials (almost everything below has been said by Matt Cutts): Just because it is a high-quality article on a high quality site does not mean that it's not an advertorial. Advertorials – This is paid content that is made to look like genuine, organic content. Matt says it shouldn’t flow pagerank to the target site. If it does flow pagerank then you could have gotten hit for that as well. Inbound links with rich anchor text are powerful for helping boost search engine rankings. Therefore, many companies have tried to game Google’s algorithm by acquiring inbound links using the anchor text they want to rank for. One of the acquisition methods is buying paid text links from sites they believe are powerful to Google. This is clearly against Google’s guidelines and can get you in a lot of trouble with Big G. So, if a company gets hammered by Google overnight, it very well could be that the company was engaging in paid links. One quick way to identify this is to analyze the anchor text leading to a site. Note, a natural link profile will contain some rich anchor text links, but will also be balanced with other types of links. For example, a normal link profile might contain links that contain the URL, the brand name, non-descriptive links like “click here” or “learn more”, etc. Rarely (if ever) will a website naturally contain 99% rich anchor text links. Many websites were hit by Penguin based on risky link profiles filled with unnatural links. To address the issue, make sure that any paid links on your site don't pass PageRank. You can remove any paid links or advertorial pages, or make sure that any paid hyperlinks have the rel="nofollow" attribute. After ensuring that no paid links on your site pass PageRank, you can submit a reconsideration request and if you had a manual webspam action on your site, someone at Google will review the request. After the request has been reviewed, you'll get a notification back about whether the reconsideration request was granted or not. A lot of people guest post or guest blog to try and increase their personal brand, gain new readers, and one would think improve the performance of their website in search engines. This is not a bad thing in and of itself as long as it’s done the right way according to Google. Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, posted a new video today on YouTube clarifying Google’s stance on Advertorials and “native advertising.” Matt Cutts says, “Now there’s nothing wrong inherently with advertorials or native advertising, but they should not flow PageRank and there should be clear and conspicuous disclosure so that users realize that something is paid, not organic or editorial.” Google doesn’t care about advertorials or outside advertising per say. The only time they care about it is when they think it might be manipulating their ranking algorithm. One option is to write to the site and ask them to remove the link. Keeping the post, especially if it mentions your site or business by name, may still help your rankings. Another option is to ask site owners to change the anchor text and keep the link but make the link a no follow link. This can help diversify your anchor text profile. Google’s Cutts wanted to make it clear that it is against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines for webmasters and advertisers to use advertorials or native advertising as a means of passing PageRank to your webpages. Matt explained that Google treats links as editorial votes and editorial votes helps sites rank higher because of the way that the algorithm is written. When links are embedded into advertorials or paid stories, if they are not disclosed, that is against Google’s guidelines because they see it as trying to manipulate their ranking algorithm. Matt Cutts posted a slide showing their guidelines for both user advertorial disclosure and search engine advertorial disclosure. Here's what the slide said: Guidelines Disclosure to search engines • Paid links should not flow PageRank Ex: rel=”nofollow” Disclosure to readers • Clear and conspicuous Ex: “Advertisement” or “Sponsored” In summary, the Google guidelines for Advertorials are: (1) Search Engines: If links are paid for, i.e., money changes hands, then links should not pass PageRank. You should nofollow links in Advertorials. (2) Users & Readers: It should be clear to your readers that this is a paid story by labeling it advertisement or sponsored story. So, why is Google talking about this now? There was no change in Google policy, but Matt said that there has been an increase of webmasters using this technique in the recent months. Here are the things I think I need to do for those “guest blogs” I have which I think Google calls advertorials: Make sure that any paid hyperlinks have the rel="nofollow" attribute. Another thing I would do is to modify the anchor text on those links pointing back to your site. Make the anchor text more diversified. Note, a natural link profile will contain some rich anchor text links, but will also be balanced with other types of links. For example, a normal link profile might contain links that contain the URL, the brand name, non-descriptive links like “click here” or “learn more”, etc. Rarely (if ever) will a website naturally contain 99% rich anchor text links. And then the last thing I would do is have those paid articles marked “Advertisement” or “Sponsored”. That's 3 different things to do. Does that make sense? According to Matt Cutts from Google, any link that is acquired as a result of money changing hands is not viewed as legitimate in Google’s eyes. It doesn’t matter that money was not changed hands between the company that wrote/posted the articles and the site where the post was published (Forbes, HuffPost, etc). What does matter is that money exchanged hands somewhere in order for the posts to have been posted (i.e. money changed hands between me and the company that wrote and posted my guest blogs). It basically means that someone gave some money to someone else and that’s the reason the post got published (rather than Forbes, HuffPost, etc. or Heather writing about you naturally because they thought it was interesting or because they wanted to). Had it not been for the money that particular post would not have been published. These words come directly from Matt Cutts from Google. The way I understand it is that I should make sure that if links are paid (especially in regard to guest blogs/advertorials) – that is if money changed hands (anyone’s hands) in order for a link to be placed on a website – that it should not flow PageRank. For a supporting reference, this is a video from a Webmaster Central Hangout from February: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xEu_VzVU3s&feature=player_embedded When someone in the video says they submit articles to the Huffington Post, and asks if they should nofollow the links to their site, Google’s John Mueller says, “Generally speaking, if you’re submitting articles for your website, or your clients’ websites and you’re including links to those websites there, then that’s probably something I’d nofollow because those aren’t essentially natural links from that website.” Here’s another supporting reference in another February Webmaster Central hangout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEv59p2aQbg&feature=player_embedded In that one, when a webmaster asks if it’s okay to get links to his site through guest postings, Mueller says, “Think about whether or not this is a link that would be on that site if it weren’t for your actions there. Especially when it comes to guest blogging, that’s something where you are essentially placing links on other people’s sites together with this content, so that’s something I kind of shy away from purely from a linkbuilding point of view. I think sometimes it can make sense to guest blog on other peoples’ sites and drive some traffic to your site because people really liked what you are writing and they are interested in the topic and they click through that link to come to your website but those are probably the cases where you’d want to use something like a rel=nofollow on those links.” Another thing (according to Google) that most likely caused me to get caught up in this latest algorithm update: My guest blog post was not written by an independent and neutral third party. Instead, it written by someone at my company or someone my company paid to guarantee placement. Advertorials are considered “guaranteed” placement because they have been paid for. The money is what guarantees their placement. In contrast, true journalistic editorials are never “guaranteed”. For example, you might write up a blog post and then submit that post to a blog such as Forbes, Huffpost, etc. and then at that point the blog has the choice of whether or not to publish it or not. Sometimes they might and other times they might not. Google can easily figure out that a paid-for company (which is in business and gets gets paid to do this) has posted my blog posts on sites like Forbes, Huffpost, etc. on my behalf. If you visit the company site (the ones who wrote and posted my articles) you can see that they do not offer their services for free. They charge money for the “guarantee” or service that your blog post will be published. This, in Google’s eyes, is not a true editorial. It is a post that has been paid for in one way or the other. Google says, "True journalistic editorials are usually written by the editors of the blog, not by a company. When a company writes a blog post it will almost universally be biased and slanted towards the favor of the company writing the post. True editorials can be like that too but they are written by the editors of the blog and not by the company seeking to publish it’s blog post." Also according to Google, something else that could have caused those posts to be considered advertorials is the fact that the company which I paid to write and post the guest blogs on my behalf consistently requires that blogs (Forbes, HuffPost, etc.) keep a link to my site in place in the author bios section of the article. Here are the facts of how Google currently views this issue: Editorial is unpaid. It’s difficult to define but editorial is generally considered to be content that appears in a newspaper, news channel, magazine or website that is considered timely, relevant news. Editorial cannot be paid for and you cannot demand that it be run nor anything about the story or how it’s covered. Companies do not control the final content. I know many bloggers receive releases from brands and companies. They are hoping that if you find their pitch interesting enough you will write about it. Some will. Some won’t. It’s the same as a newspaper or a magazine. And yes, writers for those publications get paid. But they get paid BY THE PUBLICATION, not by the company. “Editorials” technically refer to opinion articles in newspapers. Since a vast majority of blogging falls into the “opinion” category, “editorial blog content” has come to mean posts that the blogger has posted out of genuine interest, and unpaid. If you see an awesome pair of shoes and want to share it with your readers by posting on your blog or social media, that is editorial content. If you want to talk about your experience going shopping for the first time, again editorial content. If you get tipped off that your favorite designer is having a 80% off sale and you want to share that with your readers, that is editorial content. An advertorial is paid. Obviously if you are paying for it, you are guaranteed inclusion in the news outlet. Of course, then there is the argument that the “article” now loses credibility as it is biased and contains outright company messaging. But the message is out there and that is important to many brands. Sponsored posts are advertorial too according to Google. Advertising content is content that you have been paid to produce (i.e you paying Heather). This is usually negotiated in advance. The brand will have certain parameters and goals with it’s post and it will probably have negotiated a package with services: • Writing a post with specific links (sometimes tracked links) • Publishing the post on a specified date • Using specified language from the brand in your post • Giving the brand final approval for post publishing The list goes on. If a brand has specific branding to be included in the post, then that is indeed advertising content according to Google. The bottom line is, Google wants links that are freely given (or at least appear to be freely given) and anything else (to them) smacks of attempted manipulation. Furthermore, the posts that this company got published for me looked unnatural because each post linked to my site with targeted anchor text. Not only that, but also because of the fact that all of those published posts were done by the same person (company). That in and of itself smells of some sort of “package deal” for money (at least in Google’s eyes anyway). Although Google has no way of finding out whether a link or post was truly paid for or not their new algorithm update has been created to weed out paid for content that masquerades as ‘real’ content such as advertorials, sponsored content, etc. Google doesn’t know what your intent is. They have no way of knowing that you’re simply submitting guest posts for branding (not to gain ranking power via links). It is easy to misconstrue as an advertorial. Google is not saying to cease writing guest content on other people's sites all together. I am not saying that either. In fact, they say that they are not against that and that it could be a good thing to do if done properly. I also say that it could still be a good thing (for now) if done according to Google's guidelines. I know that’s a lot of information but based on what I’ve told you do you think it’s possible that Google could be viewing my “guest blogs” as advertorials?