Re:Writing for Snobs
by bserge on Tuesday September 15, 2020 @05:35PM
(#24486981)
Yeah they used to track time on site (with Google Analytics or if the user clicks the "back" button), probably still do.
Hyperlinks still play an important role - if someone links to the article's URL, that automatically increases its rank. No one links to trash. Links from known spam websites will downrank the article or the whole website really fast.
Timestamps used to be abused back when Google preferred the newest stuff - just update it every day or hour and it's the freshest article in the world in Googlebot's eyes.
It's a really impressive piece of technology, and they have a ton of experience fighting abuse on their SERPs - it's happening constantly and it will continue to as long as search engines exist.
Hyperlinks still play an important role - if someone links to the article's URL, that automatically increases its rank. No one links to trash. Links from known spam websites will downrank the article or the whole website really fast.
Timestamps used to be abused back when Google preferred the newest stuff - just update it every day or hour and it's the freshest article in the world in Googlebot's eyes.
It's a really impressive piece of technology, and they have a ton of experience fighting abuse on their SERPs - it's happening constantly and it will continue to as long as search engines exist.