Issue 23

Thought Pieces

The rise of ‘like hat’ SEO: When attention replaces outcomes

For decades, the SEO world has been divided into two camps: black hat and white hat practitioners. These opposing forces have waged countless battles across digital forums and social media. But now, a new breed of SEO has emerged. One that’s mastered the art of attention-grabbing and self-promotion.

Enter the “like hat.”

SEO practitioners who trade in social currency rather than business outcomes. They’re not optimizing for search engines or users – they’re optimizing for likes. And it’s becoming one of the industry’s most pressing problems.

Pulse Check: Ranking in a Heartbeat

I wanted to try out parasite SEO myself. So I created a pulse blog on LinkedIn to promote my python course. Here's what I did exactly: I copied the content of my python for SEO course page and published it on LinkedIn as an article (LinkedIn Pulse).

Studies & Data

How geotagging photos affects Google Business Profile rank: Study

How does adding coordinates to the EXIF data affect local rank? Our team wanted to find out. That’s why we recently conducted a 10-week study on the effects of geotagging for local rank.

YouTube SEO Study: Factors That Correlate With Top Rankings

YouTube SEO study finds common factors shared by top-ranked videos. Here's what you need to know.

Engagement metrics strongly impact YouTube rankings.
High-quality, 8-9 minute videos perform best.
Channel authority boosts search visibility.

Guides & Recommendations

The Complete Guide to Product Feed Optimization in Google Merchant Center

Discover how to optimize your product feed in Google Merchant Center to improve visibility, boost Shopping and PMax campaign results, and drive more conversions with less manual effort.

Reddit SEO: Everything you need to know

Reddit’s presence in Google Search has surged over the last year, largely thanks to the Google-Reddit content licensing deal. As a result, Reddit threads are claiming prime real estate in search results, often outranking brand websites and even original content sources.

This guide covers everything you need to know about leveraging Reddit for SEO – finding ranking opportunities, engaging authentically, and boosting organic visibility without getting flagged as spam.

SEO News

Google Business Profiles launches 'What's Happening'

Google is rolling out a new feature in Google Business Profiles named What’s Happening. This feature offers restaurants and bars a new way to highlight events, deals, and specials prominently at the top of your Google Business Profile.

Google said: “What’s Happening puts your timely updates, like ‘Today’s Special’ or ‘Live Music on Saturday,’ front and center!”

Googler's Deposition Offers View Of Google's Ranking Systems

A Google engineer’s redacted testimony published online by the U.S. Justice Department offers a look inside Google’s ranking systems, offering an idea about Google’s quality scores and introduces a mysterious popularity signal that uses Chrome data.

The document offers a high level and very general view of ranking signals, providing a sense of what the algorithms do but not the specifics.

Paid News

Google rolls out 'Ads funded by' labels in search results

Searchers can now find out who paid for the ads they see, as Google is beginning to roll out its Ads Transparency policy. This update makes ad funding more visible to users.

This new label could impact how consumers perceive and trust advertisements.
Advertisers now have less ability to obscure financial relationships.

Google Merchant Center adds AI-powered product filtering

Google just made it easier for merchants to manage messy product catalogs.

Driving the news. Emmanuel Flossie shared on LinkedIn that Google is rolling out an AI-driven search feature in Google Merchant Center Next that simplifies how retailers find and filter their products.

AI News

Google Launches Generative AI Certification With Free Training

Google launches a generative AI certification with free training, focusing on Google's tools. Is this credential worth adding to your resume?

Google has launched a generative AI certification program.
The certification is focused exclusively on Google's own AI tools.
The certification exam costs $99, but all training materials are free.

U.S. Copyright Office Cites Legal Risk At Every Stage Of Generative AI

The United States Copyright Office released a pre-publication version of a report on the use of copyrighted materials for training generative AI, outlining a legal and factual case that identifies copyright risks at every stage of generative AI development.

The report was created in response to public and congressional concern about the use of copyrighted content, including pirated versions, by AI systems without first obtaining permission. While the Copyright Office doesn’t make legal rulings, the reports it creates offer legal and technical guidance that can influence legislation and court decisions.

Other News

YouTube unveils new shopping ads for TV viewers

YouTube pitched advertisers on a new suite of ad formats aimed at tapping into its massive connected TV audience. Among the highlights from yesterday: interactive shopping ads that let viewers browse and buy products directly from their television screens.

YouTube is capitalizing on its dominance in streaming to blur the line between passive viewing and active shopping, positioning itself as a key player in the convergence of TV and ecommerce.

Reddit Q1 Report: What It Means For Digital Marketing And SEO

Reddit’s first-quarter 2025 earnings report shows strong growth in traffic and user engagement, particularly among logged-out users. Although the announcement and shareholder letter did not mention search engines or the temporary decrease in traffic in February, the increase in logged-out traffic suggests year-over-year growth from external referrals from search engines and social media.