Google Search Result Typo Or SEO Error?

Nov 20, 2012 - 8:39 am 19 by

I spotted a weird SEO case on Google Web Search Help forums that I thought some SEOs would appreciate looking at.

If you search for [berkshire rxinsider] in Google, Google will list two PDF files. One PDF file has the proper title tag, spelled "EasyClean" but the other one has a spelling error, "Easylllean."

Google PDF Errro

The question is why?

I looked at the PDF. The text doesn't have anywhere on it the word Easylllean, it also doesn't seem to have it in the PDF files meta data - as far as I can tell. So where is Google getting the typo from?

Maybe the font the PDF is using, where the tall C looks to Google's OCR software like three Ls? Or maybe it is webmaster error and they should provide a title in the meta data of the PDF?

What am I missing?

Googler Kousha Navidar said:

You'd have to check out the website where the incorrect spelling originates. The search results only report what is presented by the site itself. If it's misspelled on the site, it's going to show up that way in the results.

But is he right?

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Update: As mentioned in the comments, my theory on OCR being the issue seems right. An SEO uploaded the PDF to Google Docs and it converted it to text and made the same issue. You can see the output over here.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: February 5, 2025

Feb 5, 2025 - 10:00 am
Google Updates

Google Search Ranking Volatility Hits February 4th & 5th

Feb 5, 2025 - 7:51 am
Bing Ads

Microsoft Advertising Lists Performance Max & Feature Updates

Feb 5, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Google AI Overviews With Detailed Comparison Mode

Feb 5, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google News

Alphabet Google Ad Revenue Up 10% Again, Hitting $72.5 Billion

Feb 5, 2025 - 7:21 am
Google

Report: Google AI Overviews Are Killing Click Through Rates

Feb 5, 2025 - 7:11 am
Previous Story: Mysterious Google+ Hot Air Balloon T-Shirt