Google Promises To Review Feedback On Zero Results

Mar 16, 2018 • 7:53 am | comments (23) by | Filed Under Google Search Engine Optimization
 

Google Glitch

As you know, Google is now sometimes showing no search results on the search results page - instead, Google is just showing answers for queries related to time, conversions and calculations. Then, if you want to see search results on the search results page (I keep saying that because it sounds like an oxymoron to not show search results on a search results page - sorry), you need to click "show all results."

Anyway, Danny Sullivan promised two things: (1) That he is compiling the feedback to bring back to the search team at Google and (2) this does not kill SEO.

Here are those tweets from the Danny Sullivan of Google:

So let's share some examples of when this can go bad.

Poor Time Magazine:

Hope you are not looking for a date in London:

The poor Five Edmonds brand:

I believe Google fixed the Time Magazine issue already but you can see how this can cause issue. Don't name your brand anything to do with a math equation or conversion or time, because it can get scary for you in Google.

Careful What You Name Things

I joked yesterday on Twitter that Google should have named the Google core update 3-9 so that if you Google that, all you get is a calculator and it can suppress the SEO related content around this algorithm update.

Google3 9

It is a joke but brands or new products might need to consider this going forward.

Slippery Slope

The other issue is that SEOs, webmasters and marketers are worried that this is a slippery slope. Where will Google draw the line. If they do zero results for time, calculations and conversions - why not do it for direct questions, city look ups, health questions, travel, etc etc. Where does Google draw the line and say they won't cross it?

Danny responded to the slippery slope issue:

Welcome to the land of zero results - forget position zero, welcome to zero results.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

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