GOOGLE

How Google Responds to a Site Move

Published

3 years ago

October 15, 2021

Google’s John Mueller answered a question about how Google processes a site move, in particular if the site move might trigger a so-called “sandbox effect.” Mueller responded by providing a highly detailed response about how Google deals with site moves.

What is a Sandbox Effect?

There is an old idea from the early 2000s that Google will hold back a site from ranking and put it into a “sandbox” until it can know the site can be trusted.

Although Google has denied there is a sandbox the idea of a sandbox continues today, fifteen years later.

The person asking the question was concerned about a “sandbox effect” happening to their site as a consequence of a site move.

Redirect Entire Site or In Phases?

The person asking the question wanted to know what the best way to move a site was, in sections little by little or all at once.

This is the question:

“What is the best course of action to take when you have to 301 redirect all of the URLs to a new set of URLs?

The number of pages will be over one million.

And you want to minimize the sandbox effect, if there is a sandbox effect, how long could it be?

Would we lose ranking that we might not recover?

We plan on doing a one-to-one redirect and had requested batch redirects but that’s not a possibility so pages, images, URLs, etc would have to flip at the same time.”

No Sandbox Effect in a Site Move

John Mueller began his answer by confirming that there is no “sandbox” involved during a site move.

John Mueller answered:

“To me this sounds like a traditional site move situation. You move from one domain to another and you redirect all of the URLs from your old site to a new one and we have to deal with that.

And there is at least, from my point of view, there’s nothing like a sandbox effect.

There is definitely nothing defined as a sandbox effect on our side when it comes to a site move.”

Do a Site Move All At Once

John Mueller next addressed the question of whether they should move the site in phases or just do it all at once.

Mueller responded:

“So if you have to do a site move, then do a site move and redirect all of your pages.

It’s often the easiest approach is just to redirect all pages at once. Our systems are also tuned to that a little bit
to try to recognize that.”

Google Processes Site Moves Quickly

This next part of his answer is where it gets very interesting because he describes how Google’s systems take note of a site move and actually speed up the site processing rather than slow it down. That makes sense.

Mueller explained how Google processes site moves:

“So when we see that a website starts redirecting all pages to a different website, then we’ll try to reprocess that a little bit faster so that we can process that site move as quickly as possible.

And it’s definitely not the case that we would say, oh they’re doing a site move, therefore we will slow things down.

But rather we try to process things actually a little bit faster when we recognize there is a site move.”

How Google Responds to Site Moves

Mueller’s explanation of how Google responds to site moves makes sense. It’s the rational response to design a system to recognize when a site move is underway and to tune the system to pick up the pace of site processing so that Google can continue to refer sites to pages that are useful to users.

It would be counterproductive to do otherwise.

Citation

Sandbox Effect from Redirecting Millions of URLs?

Watch Mueller discuss how Google responds to site moves at the 44:31 Minute Mark

Searchenginejournal.com

GOOGLE

Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

Published

1 month ago

September 12, 2024

Max

Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

Google has updated its Indexing API documentation with a clear warning about spam detection and the possible consequences of misuse.

Warning Against API Misuse The new message in the guide says:

“All submissions through the Indexing API are checked for spam. Any misuse, like using multiple accounts or going over the usage limits, could lead to access being taken away.”

This warning is aimed at people trying to abuse the system by exceeding the API’s limits or breaking Google’s rules.

What Is the Indexing API? The Indexing API allows websites to tell Google when job posting or livestream video pages are added or removed. It helps websites with fast-changing content get their pages crawled and indexed quickly.

But it seems some users have been trying to abuse this by using multiple accounts to get more access.

Impact of the Update Google is now closely watching how people use the Indexing API. If someone breaks the rules, they might lose access to the tool, which could make it harder for them to keep their search results updated for time-sensitive content.

How To Stay Compliant To use the Indexing API properly, follow these rules:

Don’t go over the usage limits, and if you need more, ask Google instead of using multiple accounts.
Use the API only for job postings or livestream videos, and make sure your data is correct.
Follow all of Google’s API guidelines and spam policies.
Use sitemaps along with the API, not as a replacement.

Remember, the Indexing API isn’t a shortcut to faster indexing. Follow the rules to keep your access.

GOOGLE

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Published

4 months ago

June 30, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:

1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update

Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.

2. Changes to Google Search Interface

Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.

3. New Features and Tests

Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.

4. Search Rankings and Quality

Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.

5. Advice for Content Creators

Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.

6. New Search Features in Google Chrome

Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.

7. New Tests and Features in Google Search

Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.

8. Bing’s New Feature

Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.

9. Local Search Ranking Factors

Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.

10. Google Ads Updates

Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.

These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.

AI

Exploring the Evolution of Language Translation: A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

Published

8 months ago

February 26, 2024

Max

A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

According to an article on PCMag, while Google Translate makes translating sentences into over 100 languages easy, regular users acknowledge that there’s still room for improvement.

In theory, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are expected to bring about a new era in language translation. These models consume vast amounts of text-based training data and real-time feedback from users worldwide, enabling them to quickly learn to generate coherent, human-like sentences in a wide range of languages.

However, despite the anticipation that ChatGPT would revolutionize translation, previous experiences have shown that such expectations are often inaccurate, posing challenges for translation accuracy. To put these claims to the test, PCMag conducted a blind test, asking fluent speakers of eight non-English languages to evaluate the translation results from various AI services.

The test compared ChatGPT (both the free and paid versions) to Google Translate, as well as to other competing chatbots such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. The evaluation involved comparing the translation quality for two test paragraphs across different languages, including Polish, French, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Amharic.

In the first test conducted in June 2023, participants consistently favored AI chatbots over Google Translate. ChatGPT, Google Bard (now Gemini), and Microsoft Bing outperformed Google Translate, with ChatGPT receiving the highest praise. ChatGPT demonstrated superior performance in converting colloquialisms, while Google Translate often provided literal translations that lacked cultural nuance.

For instance, ChatGPT accurately translated colloquial expressions like “blow off steam,” whereas Google Translate produced more literal translations that failed to resonate across cultures. Participants appreciated ChatGPT’s ability to maintain consistent levels of formality and its consideration of gender options in translations.

The success of AI chatbots like ChatGPT can be attributed to reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF), which allows these models to learn from human preferences and produce culturally appropriate translations, particularly for non-native speakers. However, it’s essential to note that while AI chatbots outperformed Google Translate, they still had limitations and occasional inaccuracies.

In a subsequent test, PCMag evaluated different versions of ChatGPT, including the free and paid versions, as well as language-specific AI agents from OpenAI’s GPTStore. The paid version of ChatGPT, known as ChatGPT Plus, consistently delivered the best translations across various languages. However, Google Translate also showed improvement, performing surprisingly well compared to previous tests.

Overall, while ChatGPT Plus emerged as the preferred choice for translation, Google Translate demonstrated notable improvement, challenging the notion that AI chatbots are always superior to traditional translation tools.

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/articles/google-translate-vs-chatgpt-which-is-the-best-language-translator