Google on Tag Clouds in Search Results

Sep 26, 2008 - 8:07 am 0 by

Andy Beard started a Google Groups thread asking why Google seems to be handling tagged pages (tag cloud results) in a "fairly random fashion." Andy goes through examples of how Google sometimes indexes these pages, sometimes shows a cache page, sometimes ranks them well and sometimes not.

Google's JohnMu has a fairly long response on the topic. In short, John said he does not believe that Google treats tag pages any different than any other page on the Internet. Let me quote John:

I'm not aware that we're treating this kind of page any different than other pages. A tag page can be a good resource for users, at the same time it can also be that it would make sense to send the users to an article directly instead of having them take the "detour" through a tag page (I imagine it depends on the actual query). In most cases, I would assume that these tag pages are more of value to us in helping us to find the content that is linked from them. If a new article comes up and is listed there, we'll want to go grab that article as fast as we can.

But tag pages can be problematic in many cases because:

  • They don't often have very much unique content from your other pages
  • Some tags may be very close to others, where the only difference may be punctuation or capitalization
  • In a sense, they are a form of search results - kind of

We went through this dilemma when adding our tag cloud about a year ago. Honestly, I find my tag cloud here incredibly useful and relevant for my search experience - so I am glad I allowed it to be indexed.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google Updates

Google Urges Patience As The March 2024 Core Update Continues To Rollout

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google

Official: Google Replaces Perspective Filter With Forums Filter

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Maps

Google Business Profiles Now Offers Additional Review After Appeal Is Denied

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

EU Searchers Complaining About Google Maps Features Changes Related To DMA

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:21 am
Google

Google Showing Fewer Sitelinks Within Search

Mar 18, 2024 - 7:11 am
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 15, 2024

Mar 15, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Previous Story: Why Don't My Google Ads Rotate Evenly?