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The Role of SEO in Mergers and Acquisitions

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The Role of SEO in Mergers and Acquisitions

SEOs have a lot to offer companies during the merger and acquisition (M&A) process. They can help identify acquisition targets, do due diligence and help with valuation and risk identification, identify future opportunities, work with teams on website migrations, monitor migration progress, and train new teams in best practices.

Acquisitions can have a dramatic impact on your search visibility. Long ago, one of the main competitors of an engineering company I was working with shut down. I asked about acquiring their website and managed to get it for a few hundred dollars. Needless to say, this led to a significant amount of new leads and business growth as we merged the two websites.

Another time, I managed to snag the expired domain of what was the number one HVAC company in my local market. They were consolidating several service companies into one new brand and they let the domain expire. I redirected this to the website of a client who was fairly new in the market, and they saw top rankings for many of their main terms practically overnight.

While this type of acquisition isn’t common for small companies, it is business as usual for larger companies. If you’ve done enterprise SEO, you might have helped with a few of these mergers and acquisitions.

Large companies acquire lots of other companies. Many companies have dedicated Wikipedia pages that tell you about all their acquisitions. For example, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) has a list of 257 acquired companies.

Let’s look at how SEOs can help with mergers and acquisitions.

Once you enter a period of exclusivity, where companies are now only negotiating with each other, it’s time to take a more in-depth look and do due diligence.

SEOs will evaluate the target company’s online presence and SEO strategies. Many of the things we looked at before, like traffic, rankings, backlinks, forecasts, etc., will all be looked at. Any positive or negative items can be noted to help determine the value, potential, and risks of a website.

One additional report you may want to look at is the Opportunities report. You can go through this to see what kind of potential a website has to rank better.

Use the Opportunities report to see the SEO potential of sitesUse the Opportunities report to see the SEO potential of sites

Companies may have more than one domain, so you might have to check a few different websites during this process.

Whether you choose to merge domains usually comes down to whether you want more listings or one listing that potentially ranks higher. This can depend a lot on your current rankings and the resources you have available to maintain your web presence. Or you may have a company policy that says it needs to merge.

Many news sites choose to run the websites on separate domains. Both sites can show in Google News and in organic search results multiple times for the same stories or affiliate content targeting the same terms.

Businesses will often run the websites separately for a while but tend to merge the websites eventually. You may see this happen in several stages:

  1. The acquired company adds a tag of “a xxx company” on the current domain.
  2. The acquired domain is migrated to the main company’s domain with the same branding.
  3. The acquired company is rebranded and more integrated with the product or offering of the main company.

Check out our guide on website migrations to see what it takes to migrate a site successfully.

Some of the main things that can cause traffic loss during migrations are failing to do redirects and killing off content. I’ll show you how to check these in the next section.

You also need to make sure that you support older branded names in some way. Sometimes these terms are still used by people in the market for many years, and you don’t want to lose this valuable search traffic to another website that may rank instead of your own!

You’ll also want to make sure your TLS certificate (what allows HTTPs to work) will work across domains. If not, users may get an error and not be forwarded to the new site, even if you have a redirect in place.

The easiest way to check for any major drops is to create a Portfolio with the old domain and the new path or pages on the site. Then you can use the Site Explorer Overview report to look for any major traffic drops and use the compare mode in any of the other reports, like Organic Keywords, to zero in on where traffic may have been lost.

Portfolio view of two websites that mergedPortfolio view of two websites that merged

Depending on the setup, you may be able to just add the old domain as a competitor in the overview report to see how the migration went.

Add merged website as a competitor to check for any traffic dropsAdd merged website as a competitor to check for any traffic drops

You’ll want to check the old URLs to make sure redirects were done, and all the content was migrated successfully.

To get a list of your most linked URLs, you can use the Best by links report in Site Explorer.

Best by Links report in Ahrefs' Site ExplorerBest by Links report in Ahrefs' Site Explorer

You can upload that list as a custom list in Site Audit in the URL sources tab. Alternatively, you could just select Backlinks as the source in this tab. I would remove any other crawl sources for this use case.

Adding most linked URLs as a custom URL list in Site AuditAdding most linked URLs as a custom URL list in Site Audit

We’ll then crawl all the URLs with links. In Page Explorer, you can customize the table to include things like Redirect URL, Redirect status code, Final redirect URL, and Final redirect status code to get an easy view of all the redirects that are happening.

Redirects in Site Audit's Page ExplorerRedirects in Site Audit's Page Explorer

Make sure your redirects are 301 or 308 rather than 302 or 307 status codes if you are doing a permanent move and want URLs indexed on the new website instead of the old one.

You should monitor the renewal of the old domains as well. You wouldn’t want a competitor registering them or for the site to be repurposed into something more nefarious.

SEOs can also help with the transfer of knowledge and best practices between companies. There are lots of different ways they can facilitate this. See this section for some ideas.

Final thoughts

Even if you weren’t involved in the original migration process, you probably should check behind some of the main company acquisitions to see if any value was left on the table. Look for redirects not done, content not migrated, etc. In my experience, there’s a lot of value to be had cleaning up after these old acquisitions.

If you have questions, message me on X or LinkedIn.



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Google Cautions On Blocking GoogleOther Bot

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Google cautions about blocking and opting out of getting crawled by the GoogleOther crawler

Google’s Gary Illyes answered a question about the non-search features that the GoogleOther crawler supports, then added a caution about the consequences of blocking GoogleOther.

What Is GoogleOther?

GoogleOther is a generic crawler created by Google for the various purposes that fall outside of those of bots that specialize for Search, Ads, Video, Images, News, Desktop and Mobile. It can be used by internal teams at Google for research and development in relation to various products.

The official description of GoogleOther is:

“GoogleOther is the generic crawler that may be used by various product teams for fetching publicly accessible content from sites. For example, it may be used for one-off crawls for internal research and development.”

Something that may be surprising is that there are actually three kinds of GoogleOther crawlers.

Three Kinds Of GoogleOther Crawlers

  1. GoogleOther
    Generic crawler for public URLs
  2. GoogleOther-Image
    Optimized to crawl public image URLs
  3. GoogleOther-Video
    Optimized to crawl public video URLs

All three GoogleOther crawlers can be used for research and development purposes. That’s just one purpose that Google publicly acknowledges that all three versions of GoogleOther could be used for.

What Non-Search Features Does GoogleOther Support?

Google doesn’t say what specific non-search features GoogleOther supports, probably because it doesn’t really “support” a specific feature. It exists for research and development crawling which could be in support of a new product or an improvement in a current product, it’s a highly open and generic purpose.

This is the question asked that Gary narrated:

“What non-search features does GoogleOther crawling support?”

Gary Illyes answered:

“This is a very topical question, and I think it is a very good question. Besides what’s in the public I don’t have more to share.

GoogleOther is the generic crawler that may be used by various product teams for fetching publicly accessible content from sites. For example, it may be used for one-off crawls for internal research and development.

Historically Googlebot was used for this, but that kind of makes things murky and less transparent, so we launched GoogleOther so you have better controls over what your site is crawled for.

That said GoogleOther is not tied to a single product, so opting out of GoogleOther crawling might affect a wide range of things across the Google universe; alas, not Search, search is only Googlebot.”

It Might Affect A Wide Range Of Things

Gary is clear that blocking GoogleOther wouldn’t have an affect on Google Search because Googlebot is the crawler used for indexing content. So if blocking any of the three versions of GoogleOther is something a site owner wants to do, then it should be okay to do that without a negative effect on search rankings.

But Gary also cautioned about the outcome that blocking GoogleOther, saying that it would have an effect on other products and services across Google. He didn’t state which other products it could affect nor did he elaborate on the pros or cons of blocking GoogleOther.

Pros And Cons Of Blocking GoogleOther

Whether or not to block GoogleOther doesn’t necessarily have a straightforward answer. There are several considerations to whether doing that makes sense.

Pros

Inclusion in research for a future Google product that’s related to search (maps, shopping, images, a new feature in search) could be useful. It might be helpful to have a site included in that kind of research because it might be used for testing something good for a site and be one of the few sites chosen to test a feature that could increase earnings for a site.

Another consideration is that blocking GoogleOther to save on server resources is not necessarily a valid reason because GoogleOther doesn’t seem to crawl so often that it makes a noticeable impact.

If blocking Google from using site content for AI is a concern then blocking GoogleOther will have no impact on that at all. GoogleOther has nothing to do with crawling for Google Gemini apps or Vertex AI, including any future products that will be used for training associated language models. The bot for that specific use case is Google-Extended.

Cons

On the other hand it might not be helpful to allow GoogleOther if it’s being used to test something related to fighting spam and there’s something the site has to hide.

It’s possible that a site owner might not want to participate if GoogleOther comes crawling for market research or for training machine learning models (for internal purposes) that are unrelated to public-facing products like Gemini and Vertex.

Allowing GoogleOther to crawl a site for unknown purposes is like giving Google a blank check to use your site data in any way they see fit outside of training public-facing LLMs or purposes related to named bots like GoogleBot.

Takeaway

Should you block GoogleOther? It’s a coin toss. There are possible potential benefits but in general there isn’t enough information to make an informed decision.

Listen to the Google SEO Office Hours podcast at the 1:30 minute mark:

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Cast Of Thousands

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AI Search Boosts User Satisfaction

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AI chat robot on search engine bar. Artificial intelligence bot innovation technology answer question with smart solution. 3D vector created from graphic software.

A new study finds that despite concerns about AI in online services, users are more satisfied with search engines and social media platforms than before.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) conducted its annual survey of search and social media users, finding that satisfaction has either held steady or improved.

This comes at a time when major tech companies are heavily investing in AI to enhance their services.

Search Engine Satisfaction Holds Strong

Google, Bing, and other search engines have rapidly integrated AI features into their platforms over the past year. While critics have raised concerns about potential negative impacts, the ACSI study suggests users are responding positively.

Google maintains its position as the most satisfying search engine with an ACSI score of 81, up 1% from last year. Users particularly appreciate its AI-powered features.

Interestingly, Bing and Yahoo! have seen notable improvements in user satisfaction, notching 3% gains to reach scores of 77 and 76, respectively. These are their highest ACSI scores in over a decade, likely due to their AI enhancements launched in 2023.

The study hints at the potential of new AI-enabled search functionality to drive further improvements in the customer experience. Bing has seen its market share improve by small but notable margins, rising from 6.35% in the first quarter of 2023 to 7.87% in Q1 2024.

Customer Experience Improvements

The ACSI study shows improvements across nearly all benchmarks of the customer experience for search engines. Notable areas of improvement include:

  • Ease of navigation
  • Ease of using the site on different devices
  • Loading speed performance and reliability
  • Variety of services and information
  • Freshness of content

These improvements suggest that AI enhancements positively impact various aspects of the search experience.

Social Media Sees Modest Gains

For the third year in a row, user satisfaction with social media platforms is on the rise, increasing 1% to an ACSI score of 74.

TikTok has emerged as the new industry leader among major sites, edging past YouTube with a score of 78. This underscores the platform’s effective use of AI-driven content recommendations.

Meta’s Facebook and Instagram have also seen significant improvements in user satisfaction, showing 3-point gains. While Facebook remains near the bottom of the industry at 69, Instagram’s score of 76 puts it within striking distance of the leaders.

Challenges Remain

Despite improvements, the study highlights ongoing privacy and advertising challenges for search engines and social media platforms. Privacy ratings for search engines remain relatively low but steady at 79, while social media platforms score even lower at 73.

Advertising experiences emerge as a key differentiator between higher- and lower-satisfaction brands, particularly in social media. New ACSI benchmarks reveal user concerns about advertising content’s trustworthiness and personal relevance.

Why This Matters For SEO Professionals

This study provides an independent perspective on how users are responding to the AI push in online services. For SEO professionals, these findings suggest that:

  1. AI-enhanced search features resonate with users, potentially changing search behavior and expectations.
  2. The improving satisfaction with alternative search engines like Bing may lead to a more diverse search landscape.
  3. The continued importance of factors like content freshness and site performance in user satisfaction aligns with long-standing SEO best practices.

As AI becomes more integrated into our online experiences, SEO strategies may need to adapt to changing user preferences.


Featured Image: kate3155/Shutterstock

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Google To Upgrade All Retailers To New Merchant Center By September

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Google To Upgrade All Retailers To New Merchant Center By September

Google has announced plans to transition all retailers to its updated Merchant Center platform by September.

This move will affect e-commerce businesses globally and comes ahead of the holiday shopping season.

The Merchant Center is a tool for online retailers to manage how their products appear across Google’s shopping services.

Key Changes & Features

The new Merchant Center includes several significant updates.

Product Studio

An AI-powered tool for content creation. Google reports that 80% of current users view it as improving efficiency.

This feature allows retailers to generate tailored product assets, animate still images, and modify existing product images to match brand aesthetics.

It also simplifies tasks like background removal and image resolution enhancement.

Centralized Analytics

A new tab consolidating various business insights, including pricing data and competitive analysis tools.

Retailers can access pricing recommendations, competitive visibility reports, and retail-specific search trends, enabling them to make data-driven decisions and capitalize on popular product categories.

Redesigned Navigation

Google claims the new interface is more intuitive and cites increased setup success rates for new merchants.

The platform now offers simplified website verification processes and can pre-populate product information during setup.

Initial User Response

According to Google, early adopters have shown increased engagement with the platform.

The company reports a 25% increase in omnichannel merchants adding product offers in the new system. However, these figures have yet to be independently verified.

Jeff Harrell, Google’s Senior Director of Merchant Shopping, states in an announcement:

“We’ve seen a significant increase in retention and engagement among existing online merchants who have moved to the new Merchant Center.”

Potential Challenges and Support

While Google emphasizes the upgrade’s benefits, some retailers, particularly those comfortable with the current version, may face challenges adapting to the new system.

The upgrade’s mandatory nature could raise concerns among users who prefer the existing interface or have integrated workflows based on the current system.

To address these concerns, Google has stated that it will provide resources and support to help with the transition. This includes tutorial videos, detailed documentation, and access to customer support teams for troubleshooting.

Industry Context

This update comes as e-commerce platforms evolve, with major players like Amazon and Shopify enhancing their seller tools. Google’s move is part of broader efforts to maintain competitiveness in the e-commerce services sector.

The upgrade could impact consumers by improving product listings and providing more accurate information across Google’s shopping services.

For the e-commerce industry as a whole, it signals a continued push towards AI-driven tools and data-centric decision-making.

Transition Timeline

Google states that retailers will be automatically upgraded by September if they still need to transition.

The company advises users to familiarize themselves with the new features before the busy holiday shopping period.


Featured Image: BestForBest/Shutterstock

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