Daily Search Forum Recap: May 13, 2025
Briefly

Recent discussions in search forums have focused on critical insights regarding Google's search practices and decisions. A Google engineer has openly criticized the DOJ's reasoning behind certain rulings against the company. Additional transparency has emerged concerning Google's ranking systems, specifically clarifying that Navboost is not a machine learning system. Furthermore, the company has advised against using different URLs for the same images and warned that hreflang tags do not automatically assure indexing. Notably, search ranking fluctuations have been evident, leading to discussions about their implications for websites.
A Google search engineer criticized the DOJ's logic in its rulings against Google, emphasizing the need for better understanding of search technologies and their implications.
Google clarified that Navboost is not a machine learning system, challenging previous assumptions about its internal ranking mechanisms.
As Google experienced increased ranking volatility, users were prompted to consider their own ranking performance and adapt to the changes.
Despite Google’s recommendations against using multiple image URLs for the same image, many websites continue this practice, which could impact their SEO.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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