Stephen Mahaney's Articles

Stephen Mahaney

CEO & Founder of Planet Ocean
Washington State / Hawaii

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.

Today he splits his time between Kona, Hawaii and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

Articles by Stephen Mahaney

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