Stephen Mahaney's Articles

Stephen Mahaney

CEO & Founder of Planet Ocean
Virtual Space

Stephen Mahaney founded Planet Ocean in 1990, published 'The UnFair Advantage Book on Winning The Search Engine Wars' in 1996 (the Web's *original* $97 eBook) and established SearchEngineNews.com—the longest running membership-based publication site on the Internet—in 1997.

These days he's traveling and living in virtual space.

Articles by Stephen Mahaney

1. The Verge Is Laughing at Google's Guidelines
2. The Man Who Killed Google Search
3. The Answer Engine That Just Might Give Google A Run For Its Money!
4. Beware The Japanese Keyword Hack
5. 27 Years of SEN
6. How to Build Your Own GPT Without Any Coding
7. Bing Chat Introduces Multimodal Visual Search & Enterprise Pricing for Copilot
8. Report: Generative AI is Quickly Evolving Superpowers
9. Google Releases New AI Tools to Help Small Businesses
10. ChatGPT Development Being Challenged by Advocacy Group
11. A.I. Vaults Image Creation to a Whole New Level
12. The Algo Masters Who Pick the Winners
13. A.I. Bots Can Improve Your Work But They Cannot Critically Think
14. A Virtual Army of A.I. Tools Are Marching Us Into the Future
15. Interview with ChatGPT
16. 26 Years of SEN & Counting
17. Google Is Good! ...Very Good — but not as good as they pretend to be
18. And the Award for 'Lame Advice of the Year' goes to...
19. Lead Generation Sites Report Problems with Performance Max, and then...
20. 5 Great Keyword Discovery Tools You Can Use for FREE
21. Be Careful That AdBlockers Aren't Blocking Your Images
22. Google's Launches Helpful Content Update
23. Never Give Up!
24. John Mueller Tells Us What He Really Thinks
25. Google Updates Quality Rater Guidelines
26. Google's Data Grab Masquerading as Minority Empowerment
27. Google is Picking Winners & Congress has Noticed
28. Startpage – Google Results Without Google's Crap!
29. Finally! A Secure, Encrypted Email Provider That Doesn't Exploit It's Users
30. If You Aren't Using a VPN, Maybe You Should Be
31. Local Search Update in March Corrects "Vicinity" Update
32. Never Mind Market Research, Just Pay Attention & Follow The Leader
33. It's Time to Focus Your Efforts on Collecting First Party Data
34. When Alt-Text is a Story in The NYTimes, THAT's Your Wake-Up Call
35. Be Careful Your "Stop Lines" Aren't Crippling Your Conversions
36. 25 Years of SEN & Counting
37. Beware the Graphic Artist!
38. Rare Penalty Limbo Can Last Several Years
39. November Core Update 2021
40. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for November 2021
41. Google says 'NeverMind' to Mobile-Indexing Deadline
42. Google Officially Says Mixed Reviews Are More Trustworthy
43. Google Logo Structured Data Changes
44. Why do my pages keep falling in and out of Google's index?
45. Can Googlebot crawl speed be controlled to avoid server overload?
46. GMB becomes GBP
47. High Profile Sites Slamming the Brakes on AMP Pages
48. WordPress Sites At Risk Due to Plugin Vulnerability
49. Do bold tags help SEO?
50. Bonus Bytes from John Mueller
51. Official Googlebot IP Addresses Now Available In JSON File
52. Page Experience Algorithm Coming To Desktop
53. How Key Moments Work In Videos In Search
54. Place Videos on Dedicated Pages For Maximum Exposure
55. MS Advertising Introduces Microsoft Clarity Insights
56. UPI Limited Enforcement in Google Merchant Center
57. Help Documentation Changes for October
58. Google Aligns Search Console Testing Tools with URL Inspection Tool
59. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for October 2021
60. Never "Meta" Worse Company in My Life!
61. The Google "Unannounced Updates" Buzz for October
62. Search Analytics API Now Supports Discover, Google News, and Regex
63. Manual Deep Linking No Longer Required for Google Ads App Campaigns
64. Microsoft Advertising Partners with Shopify
65. BigCommerce Merchants Can Now Sync Product Catalogs to Google
66. Job Posting Structured Data Errors Report Changes in GSC
67. Search Quality Raters Guidelines Updated
68. The One True Google Competitor Over Next 10 Years?
69. Get Faster Indexing with IndexNow
70. Google Search Adds Continuous Scrolling on Mobile
71. On ecommerce pages, should the product name be put into headline tags?
72. How can I prevent Google from showing specific content in my search result description snippet?
73. Search On '21 Reveals New Features, More Details About MUM
74. New Budget Report in Google Ads
75. Mysterious Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update?
76. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for September 2021
77. Google Adds Some Data, Drops Some Data In Search Terms Report
78. Unique Product Identifiers Now Required on Free Merchant Listings
79. New Ecommerce SEO Guide Documentation
80. Google Reveals How YouTube Recommends Videos
81. Lighthouse 8.4 Upgrades LCD, FID, PageSpeed Insights
82. Page Experience Tutorial - Improving First Input Delay
83. Google Expands 'About This Advertiser' Initiative
84. Is shared hosting ok?
85. How long should it take for a site to get re-crawled and re-ranked after cleaning out low quality pages?
86. What's the best way to redirect a short domain name to a longer one without having duplicate content issues?
87. Titlepocalypse Update
88. The SEO Impact of WordPress Themes
89. Google Shows How to Optimize for Discover's Follow Feature
90. Which page title is Google using for ranking, my original or their autogenerated one?
91. GSC Permanently Loses Performance Report Data for August 23rd and 24th
92. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for August 2021
93. Google Publishes Video on Getting a "Great" Page Experience
94. Reporting Channel for Indexing Bugs in the US Now Available in GSC
95. Titlepocalypse! Google Updates How They Generate Web Page Titles
96. Google Removes Safe Browsing and Ad Experience Widgets from Page Experience Report
97. Behind the Curtains of Google Search Console Insights
98. Large Images in Discover Improve CTR and Increase Traffic
99. 15 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Google Trends
100. Why are most of my site's pages missing in a Google site query?
101. Will changing an IP address or DNS cause us to lose our first page rankings?
102. What's the best type of website for SEO optimization purposes?
103. Why your GMB listing might be filtered out of Google Maps
104. CWVs More Than "just" A Tiebreaker
105. Google Publishes Copyright Guidelines Video
106. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for July 2021
107. Multiple Instances of Fact Check Markup Not Allowed
108. How to Succeed With Google Posts: Case Study
109. Facebook Expanding Access to AR Try On
110. Facebook Pay Extends Availability to Streamline Checkout on Your Site
111. Microsoft Advertising Now Offering Video Extensions
112. Multimedia Ads Now Available on Microsoft Advertising
113. Microsoft Ads Expands Verticals For Dynamic Remarketing
114. Link Spam Update Rolling Out Until Aug 10th
115. Showcase Product Promotions Across More Surfaces during Seasonal Shopping Moments
116. GSC Links AMP Debugging to AMP Page Experience Guide
117. AdSense Releases Faster New Embed Code
118. Google Graphs & Explains Search Traffic Drops
119. Ad Policy Violators: Three Strikes, Yer Out!
120. Google Announces New Privacy Sandbox Timeline
121. Google's Search Rankings Explained
122. How long should a 301 redirect be kept in place?
123. July 2021 Core Update
124. How can product schema be added to a page when the price of the product is variable?
125. Are Local Services Ads a good deal for service type businesses?
126. Are reciprocal links OK if they are relevant and useful?
127. Here's How Long It Takes to Get New Content Indexed
128. Core, Page Experience, & Spam Updates All Rolled-out in June
129. New Guidance - Redirects, HTTP Status Codes, Network Issues, & DNS Errors
130. WordPress 5.8 adds WebP Support
131. Facebook's Publishes Ad Review Process Guidelines
132. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for June 2021
133. AdSense Site Approvals Video Tutorial Series
134. New Tutorial Workflow Shows SMB's How to Advertise on YouTube
135. Google Expands GMB Profile Editing & Adds Pointy for FREE
136. Create A Web Story in 5 Steps in 5 Minutes
137. You Can Now Edit Robots.txt in Shopify
138. RSS-Powered Follow Button Being Tested in Chrome Canary
139. Sunsetting the Generic Rich Results Search Appearance on GSC
140. Google Updates GSC Help Docs For Robots.txt & Structured Data
141. Google Limits FAQ Rich Results to Two Max Per Snippet
142. PageSpeed Insights Showing More Field Data
143. Lighthouse 8.0 to be Released With Chrome 93 in August
144. Google Adds Negative Match Option to RegEx Filter
145. Google Launches Search Console Insights
146. Google Pauses FLoC & Extends Third Party Cookie Support Until Late 2023
147. Yelp Releases New Yelp for Business Features
148. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for May 2021
149. May 7th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
150. May14th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
151. May21st Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
152. May 28th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
153. Project Starline Brings The WOW Factor to Video Conferencing
154. MUM's The Word On Search
155. Breakthrough in Conversation Technology - LaMDA
156. Google Reveals Four Pillars of User Experience
157. Google Wants Everyone to Just Get FLoC'ed!
158. Google I/O Showcases Data-Hungry Apps & Long Overdue Privacy Controls for Android 12
159. 17 Pro-Tips You Need to Know About Core Web Vitals Going LIVE
160. Facebook Rolling Out New Ad Measurement Protocols
161. Indexing Issues Can Now Be Reported to Google
162. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for April 2021
163. Google Discover Nixes Satire
164. The Only Reasons Google Will Remove a Page
165. Algorithm Update - Google Product Reviews
166. Google Updates Cumulative Layout Shift Scoring
167. Page Experience Algorithm Launching Mid-June
168. Google Is Going All-IN on Web Stories
169. April 23rd Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
170. April 16th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
171. April 9th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
172. April 1st Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
173. March 26th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
174. March 19th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
175. March 12th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
176. March 5th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
177. WordPress Elementor Vulnerability
178. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for March 2021
179. Static Headlines Now Available for Dynamic Search Ads
180. Bing URL Submission Plugin for WordPress
181. Bing Upgrades Search to Include Visually Rich Imagery
182. Sketchy One Star "Fake" Review Ratings Win in Court
183. New GMB Review Management Tool
184. Check your Business Profile Performance in GMB
185. Best Practices For Videos
186. Mueller on Image Optimization
187. How To Get Your Products Into Search
188. HTTP/2 Magically Improves Core Web Vital Scores
189. Core Web Vitals: How Prepared Are Leading Industries Today?
190. Google Ads Developer Blog Summary for February 2021
191. Facebook Breaks the News in Australia to Prove a Point
192. Facebook Knew for Years Ad Reach Estimates Were Based on 'Wrong Data' But Blocked Fixes Over Revenue Impact
193. Facebook Puff Piece Stirs Controversy For NYTimes Writer
194. GMB Auto Populating Services
195. GMB Messaging Rolling Out For Desktop
196. Years in Business Feature Added to GMB
197. GSC Changes To Web Story Performance Report
198. Search Console Discover Report Adds Chrome Data
199. Updated Metric Boundaries for Core Web Vitals
200. Use 503 To Avoid Losing Rankings While in Social Statement Mode
201. Official Google Video On Duplicate Content
202. New Manual Action Penalties for Google News and Discover Policy Violations
203. Google Expands Phrase Match To Include Broad Match Modifier Traffic
204. Google Launches Passage Ranking
205. Google Announces Price Enforcements for Merchants
206. February 26th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
207. February 19th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
208. February 12th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
209. February 5th Digest - John Mueller's Hangouts - Search Central Office Hours
210. WebSite Cleanup Tips for a faster, better-indexed site
211. How to relocate a GMB attorney listing
212. Tips for getting listed in People Also Ask
213. Does using the disavow tool indicate to Google that a site might be shady?
214. What, exactly, is Core Web Vitals?
215. DuckDuckGo Hits 100 Million Searches Per Day -- Updates Privacy Protections
216. GMB Updates Flag Review Options
217. Google to Invite Advertisers to Test Alternative to 3rd Party Cookies
218. URL Removal Tool in GSC Doesn't Actually Remove Pages
219. Price Drop Added to Google Rich Results
220. Google to Stop Collecting Ad ID's To Avoid Pop Up Warning in iOS Apps
221. Google Notifies Site Owners About New HTTP/2 Protocol Crawling
222. Google Wants Web Stories, not Web Teasers
223. Google Threatens to Leave Australia
224. WordPress Launches New Website Building Service
225. High-severity Vulnerability in WordPress Plugin Contact Form
226. Facebook Moving UK Users to US Privacy Terms & Conditions
227. Facebook Attacks Apple's Plan to Give Users a Privacy Choice
228. Twitter Relaunching Verified Accounts
229. Update on the Structured Data Testing Tool
230. Noindexed Pages Can Impact Core Web Vitals
231. Google Placing UK Users Under U.S. Jurisdiction
232. Why Ad Heavy Pages Might Still Rank Well in the SERP
233. Copied Content is Sometimes More Relevant
234. Request Indexing Tool Reenabled in GSC
235. Google Rolls Out Dec 2020 Core Algorithm Update
236. Top Google Searches for 2020
237. An Important Message from The Founder of Planet Ocean / SEN
238. Would owning a new top level domain (TLD) with keywords provide a ranking advantage?
239. Are keyword heavy titles a problem?
240. Free Online Video Converter Tools
241. Editorial: Subscribe With Google / The Google News Initiative
242. Google for Jobs is LIVE & Based on Schema Markup
243. Google Launches 'Ad Experience Report Tool' in their Fight Against "Bad" Ads
244. Google Launches Free 'Website' for GMB Participants
245. AdWords Expands Language Options for Structured Snippets Globally
246. Need to Know Details of 'Ads Added by AdWords'
247. SEO for Voice Search: Digital Assistants
248. SEN Celebrates 20 Years!
249. OMG! Here Comes A Whole New Can Of Black-Hat Whoopass!
250. Why is America so polarized? ...it's the Echo Chamber!
251. A Virtual Paradi$e of Low Hanging Fruit
252. Search Engine Book - Chapter Eleven
253. Search Engine Book - Chapter Ten
254. Search Engine Book - Chapter Nine
255. Search Engine Book - Chapter Eight
256. Search Engine Book - Chapter Seven
257. Search Engine Book - Chapter Six
258. Search Engine Book - Chapter Five
259. Search Engine Book - Chapter Four
260. Search Engine Book - Chapter Three
261. Search Engine Book - Chapter Two
262. Search Engine Book - Chapter One
263. How to track customers without hurting your Local Listings in Google
264. Once They Find Your Page How Do You Get Them to Take Action?! Common Mistakes Marketers Make.
265. Once They Find Your Page How Do You Get Them to Take Action?
266. The Missing Link To Writing Effective Ad Copy
267. The Missing Link To Writing Effective Ad Copy
268. How to Easily Analyze your Competition in Seconds Using the Site Strength Indicator Tool
269. The 'Local Search' Gold Rush Begins
270. The Top 12 Link-Offenders You Should Avoid Like A Ticking Bomb!
271. Google's Local Business Center
272. Advanced SEO Tutorials
273. Essential Title Tag Strategies for Top Ranking Pages in 2009
274. Entrepreneurial Thoughts on the so-called Financial Meltdown
275. 7 Ways to Boost Your Sales and Build More Links By Increasing Your Site's Speed!
276. 9 Critical Steps to Evaluating Incoming Link Quality
277. Proof Positive that Run-of-Site 'Paid' Links are BAD for your Website!
278. How to Use Flash in Top Ranking Pages
279. Your 4 Week Step-by-Step Link Building Task Planner
280. Wikia Search Launch
281. The Ultimate Link Building Quick-Start Guide, Part II
282. How to Legally and Instantly Download All of Your Competitor's Top-Secret PPC Keywords!!!
283. How to Leverage Your Company's Most Powerful Asset
284. How to Automatically Build an AdWords Campaign
285. How to Craft a Money Making Home Page
286. There are Some Lists You Just Don't Want to be On
287. "The Most Effective, Yet Overlooked, Marketing Strategy on the Internet"
288. Are you ignoring 350,000 potential customers?
289. Check your Popularity!
290. Guide to Infoseek's ESP Search Engine
291. How to get your pages to "Stick" in Excite
292. The Best Kept Secret on the Internet?
293. Making Money the Easy Way
294. The Best Way to Sell Products or Services On The Internet
295. Mining "Gold" from your "Back-End" Market
296. Creating Web Sites that Load Fast & Sell
297. Once they find your page how do you get them to take action?