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