SEO News You Can Use: Google Coati Algorithm – The Mystery Google Update No One Ever Heard Of

Hyung-Jin Kim, the Vice President of Google Search, who has been dedicated to improving the search quality at Google for over 20 years now, revealed an algorithm that no one had ever heard of until last week. 

Kim mentioned Google Coati Algorithm in conversation with Barry Swartz of SERountable at SMX Next 2022 on November 15. It can be described as Panda 2.0 or an evolution or successor of Panda. 

Panda evolved and updated and was known internally as Coati or the Coati Optimization Algorithm (COA), said Kim, supposedly named after the animal of the same name due to the fact that the algorithm mimicked its behavior. 

Panda was initially designed to lower the amount of low-quality websites and affected 11.8 percent of Google’s search queries in the U.S. after it rolled out in 2016. 

The idea was to reward high-quality websites that offered in-depth and original content offering valuable information that answered search intent.

Although this is nothing new in terms of search engine optimization (SEO), it is certainly interesting to have discovered an algorithm that seemed to have passed by in the night undetected.

For more on what the SEO community had to say about this mystery algorithm, visit SERoundtable here.

More SEO News You Can Use

Google Release New Products Feature in the Google Search Shopping Tab: eCommerce websites can now look forward to showcasing their products more easily using the new shopping tab in Google search results! Google Search has been updated to allow adding a list of products using Google Search Console and product structure data. You’ll find this new feature in the navigation bar, aptly labeled Shopping tab listings – if you don’t already have one, you’ll need a Merchant Center account to continue. This process will streamline the sign-up process by skipping the regular steps, such as having to submit a product feed or verifying that you own the website. If your site offers different types of a certain product, each with its own web page, it’s recommended that each item uses unique structured data. For more tips on how to get set up, visit Search Engine Journal here.

Google Business Profiles Reports Bug Resulting in Missing Reviews: An automatic Google Business Profile (GBP) listings update, recently reported, removed all reviews. Various representatives reported having lost all their reviews as well as some stated that their GBP had changed. This has been attributed to a new review filter implemented with the latest Suggested Edits update, resulting in changes made to the customer ID (CID), said Mike Blumenthal, writer at Near Media. It’s recommended to save your Google CID as well as the user name and reviews of every listing, and store the content elsewhere to avoid losing them for good, as Google cannot always restore lost reviews, said Blumenthal. It is also recommended to carefully track these Suggested Edits and reject those that don’t apply to your GBP. For more details, visit Search Engine Land here.

Google Review Snippet Structured Data Update: Google has updated its review structured data help doc, suggesting the use of dots instead of commas when indicating decimal places. This is to standardize writing numbers as they vary from country to country. This update will likely affect sites that offer books, courses, how-to guides or content on movies, recipes and products, among others. This, however, won’t affect how decimal numbers are showcased on the web page. Although structured data will still work if you’ve used or prefer to use commas, Google now advises against it for a more accurate interpretation. It is currently not critical to update commas to dots in your review snippet markup; it’s certainly a good idea to allocate time to do so for your rich snippets and website. For more information, visit Search Engine Journal here.

Google Search Indexing Can’t Be Guaranteed: John Mueller, Google Search Advocate, replied to a query regarding content that isn’t indexed on Google. “Search is never guaranteed,” said Mueller, in response to a query on the r/TechSEO forum on Reddit from a website owner, asking why the content on their website wasn’t indexed. Mueller explained why and how Google prioritizes indexing some content over others. He suggests ensuring that your content is valuable to users, focussing on providing unique, high-quality content that hasn’t been published on numerous websites. Although admittedly challenging, it’s essential to ensure that content can easily be found and is significant to the user, even if it means blocking content that doesn’t add value. Using Google’s Indexing API is not a quick fix, said Mueller, as it is usually reserved for specialized content, like job postings and live streams. However, minor changes can make a huge difference when it comes to getting indexed. For example, linking to new web pages from your homepage can signal to Google that the content is worth being indexed. For more information, visit Search Engine Journal here.

Yelp Creates New Veteran Attribute, Business Fund and Resource Hub: Research shows that searches for veteran-owned businesses on Yelp have increased by a whopping 101 percent when compared to the third quarter results in 2021. Veterans Day is celebrated annually on November 11. To add to the celebrations and appreciation of U.S. veterans, Yelp has introduced three products in their iOS and Android app. These help users find and support businesses owned by veterans. The first one is a searchable attribute that helps businesses identify that they are veteran-owned on their Yelp page. In addition, the Veteran Business Fund will award 10 eligible veteran-owned businesses with $10,000. At the same time, the Veteran Business Resources Hub provided veteran entrepreneurs with useful information, tools and stories from the community to help make their businesses more visible in search results. For more information on implementing these attributes or accessing these resources and funds, visit Search Engine Land here.

Editor’s Note: “SEO News You Can Use” is a weekly blog post posted every Monday morning only on SEOblog.com, rounding up all the top SEO news from around the world. Our goal is to make SEOblog.com a one-stop-shop for everyone looking for SEO news, education and for hiring an SEO expert with our comprehensive SEO agency directory.