Yes, Clicks and Engagement Impact SEO

For years Google denied using clicks on organic listings as a ranking signal. We now know otherwise. Recently revealed documents show Google indeed uses click-related signals in its algorithm.

Here’s an overview of those documents with my takeaways on the search engine optimization impact.

Organic Clicks

At Google’s federal antitrust trial last year, Google Search V.P. Pandu Nayak testified the search engine uses a ranking system called “Navboost” (also called “Glue”) that analyzes user interactions on search results (such as clicks, hovers, scrolls, and swipes) and keeps the data for 13 months.

Navboost delivers results based on users’ interactions with related search result pages. The system also determines whether search results should include other features, such as videos, featured snippets, “People also ask,” and local packs.

The same trial produced an internal Google PDF from 2016 naming “user interactions” (i.e., clicks) as one of the top three ranking factors.

Many in the search engine community have long suspected that Google uses clicks in its ranking algorithm. We’ve also shared that it’s highly limiting, existing only for higher-ranking pages (that generate many clicks). Thus other ranking signals, such as inbound links and on-page relevance and quality, remain fundamental for all but the very top listings.

Chrome Browser Clicks

Last month, documents leaked from Google Search’s internal engineering department. The contents revealed the importance of organic clicks on rankings. Moreover, the documents described Google’s monitoring of users’ Chrome browser interactions with websites. Google has denied that for years.

So, no matter the traffic source, Google knows how visitors using Chrome interact with a website.

‘Long clicks’

SEO pros have theorized for years that click data informs content quality. “Dwell time” and “pogo-sticking” are oft-discussed bounce-rate metrics.

Thanks to the engineering leak, we know Google does have such a metric, calling it “long clicks.” The longer a ranking page holds users, the better.

SEO Takeaways

• Keep a close eye on your highest-traffic pages. Google has the most data about them. Make sure they are engaging and trigger meaningful interactions. Use heatmaps and other usability tools to understand visitors’ actions and optimize accordingly.

• Focus on meaningful clicks, not just from search results. Try to improve click-throughs from email newsletters and even ads. Google accumulates this data from Chrome. Aim link-building campaigns on those that drive clicks.

• Optimize page titles as they impact click-throughs on search result pages. Review top SERP listings and snippets regularly to improve clicks. Use structured data where possible to earn rich snippets.

Top SEO & Content Marketing Trends To Future-Proof Your Strategy via @sejournal, @hethr_campbell

What are the key SEO and content marketing trends you should prioritize in 2024 and beyond?

Join us and find out! 

With search taking on a more human-first and user-centric approach, powered by AI intelligence and collaboration, now’s the time to adapt your strategy.  

That’s why on June 18, we’re hosting a live webinar with Conductor about which SEO trends to focus on this year (and which to ignore) in order to drive sustainable growth and success. 

Here are some key takeaways from the presentation:

• Predictions on SGE’s Potential Impact on SEO: Understand how Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) could transform the SEO landscape and what it means for your strategy.
• How to Adapt to Industry-Wide Disruptions: Learn best practices for navigating significant changes in search, while maintaining a competitive edge.
• Deep Dive into E-E-A-T: Discover everything you need to know about Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) and how to integrate these principles into your content.
• Agile Approach to Algorithm Updates: Find out why flexibility and agility are crucial in responding to rapid and significant changes in Google’s algorithms.  
• Staying Indexed in 2024: Learn why staying indexed is becoming a new challenge and how to ensure your content remains visible.
• Trends to Ignore: Save time and resources by identifying which SEO trends aren’t worth your focus.

In this webinar, Zack Kadish, Sr. SEO Strategy Director at Conductor, and Alex Carchietta, Sr. Customer Success Manager at Conductor, will provide the expert insights you need to thrive in this ever-evolving industry.

Don’t miss this opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and ensure your SEO and content marketing strategies are primed for the future.

Plus, if you join us live, Zack and Alex will answer any questions you have at the end of the presentation. 

Can’t make it to the live event? Sign up anyway, and we’ll send you a recording of the webinar to watch at your convenience.

Google Validates Leak, Igniting Questions Around Search Transparency via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has officially acknowledged that some internal documents recently leaked online are authentic.

The files containing details about data Google collects and potentially uses in its search ranking algorithms ignited speculation and analysis within the SEO community.

Now, there’s a question of whether the leak will cause Google to tighten its already restricted communication channels.

Background Information

The existence of the leaked documents was first reported earlier this week by Rand Fishkin and Mike King.

They claim the materials offer a look under the hood of Google’s closely guarded search engine, suggesting the company tracks data like user clicks and Chrome browsing activity – signals that Google representatives have previously downplayed as ranking factors.

However, Google has cautioned against jumping to conclusions based on the leaked files alone.

Many in the SEO community have made potentially inaccurate assumptions about how the leaked data points fit into Google’s systems. Google cautions against this.

A Google spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge:

“We would caution against making inaccurate assumptions about Search based on out-of-context, outdated, or incomplete information.”

Potential Impact On Google’s Public Communication

The leak has put Google in an awkward position, forcing the typically tight-lipped company to respond publicly.

With so much speculation and argumentation now swirling around the leaked files, Google may hesitate to reveal new details about its search engine and ranking processes.

Historically, the company has walked a fine line between guiding SEO professionals and publishers while protecting its algorithms from manipulation and abuse.

Looking Ahead

While the documents provide clues about Google’s search algorithms, much remains unknown about how Google collects and weights the various data points.

The consensus view emerging is to treat the leaked information as a jumping-off point for further research and testing, not as gospel truth about what drives search rankings.

Open and collaborative discussion has always been a strength of the SEO world. Still, it’s important to pair that knowledge-sharing with rigorous testing, healthy skepticism, and respect for the limitations of any one data source – even from inside Google itself.

Featured Image: Veroniksha/Shutterstock

Why Do I Need A Privacy Statement? via @sejournal, @DrSScheuing

This edited extract is from How to Use Customer Data by Sachiko Scheuing ©2024 and reproduced with permission from Kogan Page Ltd.

Do you use personal data?

I bet you do because otherwise, you would not be reading this book. If your company uses personal data for marketing, accounting, HR, or whatever other purposes, you need a privacy policy.

The traditional approach to data protection and informational self-determination suggests that meaningful control of your own data is only possible if you were informed about how the data will be used.

One of the first rules GDPR lays down in its text, after clarifying the scope of the law and the different definitions, is Article 5 (legislation.gov.uk, 2016):

1. Personal data shall be:

(a) processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’)

This very requirement triggers the need for a privacy statement.

Companies, in particular, when they are data controllers, must be accountable for their data use and have a privacy statement. This requirement is also spelled out in Article 24(2) of the GDPR (legislation.gov.uk, 2016).

This article covers the topic of automated individual decision-making, including profiling – not profiling for marketing that automates the selection of ads to be shown and so on, but profiling that can have a serious impact on people.

Article 24(2) says such profiling can only be compliant if an appropriate data protection policy, which includes a privacy statement, is implemented (legislation.gov.uk, 2016).

In any event, a privacy statement is an important document. GDPR dedicates two articles to list out the precise information you need to post on your privacy policy; Article 13 sets out the requirements in case you collect data directly from consumers, and Article 14 those for situations where data is collected indirectly (legislation.gov.uk, 2016).

Who Will Read Your Privacy Statement?

In the case of food labelling, it was me as a customer checking for a particular ingredient that read this. Have you ever wondered who reads your privacy statement?

Customers and prospects are one obvious group of stakeholders who are concerned about what is happening with their data once it’s in your hands. Privacy activists and consumer protection organizations may also be going through your privacy statement.

Authors and academic researchers in the field of data protection find it a great source of information, learning how companies are using personal data. Regulators, judges, and lawyers who are working on a case that involves your company also take great interest in your privacy notice.

Your corporate image is shaped by how your privacy statement reads. Customers, both in business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer markets, pay great attention to your privacy practice.

Business partners and suppliers to your company often formalize the review of your company’s data protection compliance, asking questions about your privacy statement in their due diligence questionnaires.

Whoever the readers are, it is another “touch-point” for a variety of stakeholders, including revenue-generating parties like customers and partners.

You want them to have a good impression of your privacy practices, and the first chance you have to showcase this may be your privacy statement. Borrowing the words of the ICO, a good privacy statement “helps build trust, avoids confusion, and lets everyone know what to expect.” (ICO, 2023)

How Long Should My Privacy Statement Be?

GDPR expects you to draw up a privacy statement long enough so that you can properly explain which data is collected, used, and stored. This makes your privacy statement transparent.

At the same time, your privacy statement must be concise, according to Article 12(1) of GDPR (legislation.gov.uk, 2016). These two requirements seem to contradict each other at first glance. The EU regulators, therefore, give some explanations in their guidelines on transparency (Art 29 WP, 2018).

While a privacy statement aims to give necessary information so that consumers can make decisions about their personal data, regulators are also aware of the phenomena known as “information fatigue” or “information overload.” The hypothesis is that human beings have a limited capacity to digest information.

When too much information is presented, people become overwhelmed and either ignore the information or make illogical decisions to cope with the psychological stress they experience (Simmel, 1950; Milgram, 1969).

There are two strategies to avoid this that can, at the same time, still provide all the details required.

Have A Clear Structure

Before starting to write a privacy notice, list out all the information you need to provide in it. Then, think about how you want to present it to your customers and other data subjects in a logical manner.

In doing so, you might want to read the privacy statements of big consumer brands and governmental organizations and find out how their privacy statements are structured.

There is a good chance that their privacy notices are prepared by experienced in-house lawyers or by law firms that specialize in data protection. The idea is to get the feeling of what great privacy statements look like.

You might also want to read up on the privacy statements of your competitors, as well as those of your partners in your business field.

Ask your privacy person which competitors have good reputations with regard to their data protection practices, or perhaps you already know who they are. Just take a look at how their privacy notices are structured. You can also simply adopt the structure of ICO’s privacy policy template.

Whatever you do, the key is to improve the readability of your privacy statement by giving it a logical structure.

Prepare Privacy Notices In Layers

Another approach, endorsed by the regulators, is the so-called layered approach (Art 29 WP, 2018).

Assuming that the privacy notice is going to be online, you can make your privacy policy interactive by using links, so that users can click on them when they want more information, or skip them and stay on the first-level summary information if they so wish, just as you would use an online encyclopedia.

This way, the key messages are simplified, and readers of your privacy statement will have a good overview of the first layer of the statement.

Regulators recommend the following information should be visible on the first layers of the privacy notice (Art 29 WP, 2018, p 19, para 36):

1. Details of the purposes of processing
2. The identity of the data controller
3. Description of the data subjects’ rights
4. Information on the processing which has the most impact on the data subject
5. Information on the processing which could surprise them.

When Do I Have To Present The Privacy Statement?

Consumers must be informed what data is collected for, for instance marketing purposes, as early as possible.

When you are collecting data directly from your customers, you must present your privacy notice the moment you are collecting the data (see Article 13(1) GDPR; legislation.gov.uk, 2016).

In a scenario where you license the data from other organizations, such as from public sources or marketing data providers, Article 14(3)a and b require the privacy information to be provided in the following manner (legislation.gov.uk, 2016):

• within a reasonable period after obtaining the personal data, but at the latest within one month, having regard to the specific circumstances in which the personal data are processed;
• if the personal data are to be used for communication with the data subject, at the latest at the time of the first communication to that data subject; or
• if a disclosure to another recipient is envisaged, at the latest when the personal data are first disclosed.

In short, for licensed data that is not contact detail data, the privacy notice must be communicated within a month.

If you are using contact data like names, telephone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses, you need to communicate the privacy statement the first time you send a commercial message to them.

In practice, companies embed a link to the privacy statement in email messages or print that link on direct mail pieces to fulfill this requirement.

References:

• Art 29 WP (2018) Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, WP260 rev.01 Guidelines on transparency under Regulation 2016/679, adopted on 29 November 2017, last revised and adopted on 11 April 2018, https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/items/622227 (archived at https://perma.cc/4HWYURKL)
• ICO (2023) UK Information Commissioner’s Office: Transparency direct marketing detailed guidelines, https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/advice-for-smallorganisations/frequently-asked-questions/transparency-cookies-and-privacynotices/ (archived at https://perma.cc/K3ZR-T7E5)
• legislation.gov.uk (2016)‘Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 27 April 2016, www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/contents (archived at https://perma.cc/NVG6-PXBQ)
• Milgram, S (1969) The experience of living in cities, Science 167, 1461–1468
• Simmel, G (1950) The metropolis and mental life, in K H Wolff (ed.), The Sociology of Georg Simmel, Free Press, New York, USA.

To read the full book, SEJ readers have an exclusive 25% discount code and free shipping to the US and UK. Use promo code SEJ25 at koganpage.com here.

More resources: 

Featured Image: Rawpixel.com/Search Engine Journal

Google Ads Now Being Mixed In With Organic Results via @sejournal, @brodieseo

Google has an incentive to encourage users to click its sponsored ads – but this should not be to the detriment of user experience.

This aspect of Search seems to have gone awry in recent years, with Google engaging in activities that negatively impacted users.

Historically, search engine users are accustomed to ads either being placed at the top or the bottom of a SERP, with the page itself either being purely organic results or having the organic results placed in between the ads. Search features are often mixed in, too.

This has now changed.

A change was recently added to Google’s documentation, stating that:

“Top ads may show below the top organic results on certain queries.”

Detailing how placement for top ads is dynamic and may change.

In this article, we explore this change and its impact on users and organic search results.

Timeline Of Changes

Leading up to the change, Google had been testing mixing sponsored ads within organic listings in various capacities over a 10-month period.

Here is a timeline of the changes leading up to the official launch.

June 17th, 2023: Initial Testing

This was the first time the test appeared in Google’s search results, only showing on mobile devices at the time. Within this initial testing period, it was showing for very few users with more discrete inclusion only on mobile, easily being mistaken for an organic listing for users.

October 23rd, 2023: Heavier Testing

Within this testing period, it was the first time that the broader SEO community started to notice the ad labels appearing within organic listings, being visible across both mobile and desktop.

This testing period was more prolonged in the lead-up to launch.

March 28th, 2024: Launch

On this date, Google’s Ads Liaison announced that the change would be a permanent one, with a new definition being added to the “top ads” documentation. From this date, users were then to expect an official change where ads would be mixed in with organic results beyond limited testing.

Different Types Of Placements

Now that Google has been mixing sponsored ads within organic results for almost two months, we’re able to gain a better understanding of the extent of the change and how the sponsored ads are appearing.

Based on my research, there are two common situations where Google is presenting ads within organic listings.

Mixed With Organic Results

The standard approach involves a simple ad placement within the top organic results.

Based on my experience, it is common for there to be one or two ads that are placed together in this situation. It is rare for there to be a maximum of four ads in a row.

An example of this can be found below:

Screenshot from search for [seo expert melbourne], Google, May 2024

In this example, the sponsored ad technically appears in position #2 on the page. Normally, the ad would have appeared above my page, but in this instance, it is below.

For the Semrush page, the visibility on the SERP would be unchanged if they were above, but for my page it is at an advantage in terms of ranking visibility.

Directly Below Featured Snippets

What seems to be the most common way ads are mixed in with organic listings is by placing them directly below a featured snippet.

In cases like this, it is common for there to be a full lot of four ads that appear below the featured snippet. In this example, there are two ads that are appearing.

Screenshot from search for [backruptcy], Google, May 2024

In the past, and still having the ability to show right now, ads would always be placed directly above the featured snippet.

This could have been perceived as a poor user experience, considering featured snippets tend to show when an answer to a query can be explained with a short description from the page.

What Are Google’s Intentions?

Each of the situations explained in the previous section could be interpreted differently.

The first situation (mixed within organic results) is pretty clear about Google’s intentions: to encourage more clicks on ads and desensitize users to ads appearing at the top, with users mistaking ads for organic listings.

In contrast, the second situation with featured snippets could be perceived differently. While ads continue to appear in the viewport on desktop, the answer to the user’s query is prominently displayed at the top of search results without ads getting in the way.

I can’t see this being a bad thing for users or SEO, as Google is making the organic listing more visible across these instances.

In general, I’m aware of Google’s need to prioritize ad revenue with changes to ad placement. While there are certainly arguments to be made from both angles with this change, my perception is that the outcome is fairly neutral from both sides.

Ads mixed in with organic results are still exceptionally rare, but featured snippet placements are a more common use case, and there are some clear upsides to this.

How To Analyze With Semrush

Screenshot from Semrush, May 2024

While Semrush does have an Advertising Research tool that shows you the position of your ads across various queries, I found that the data wasn’t being collected in a way that allows you to compare ad position relative to organic listings.

As an alternative, I found the best approach for analysis to be through using “Ads top” as a SERP feature filter through Organic Research to locate instances where ads were being mixed with organic listings.

Here’s where this filter is located:

This filtering doesn’t allow you to filter by URLs for a specific domain, with it instead showing instances where “top ads” are a SERP feature across the Semrush index.

Using this method, I’m able to review historical top ad inclusions since the launch in March and conclude that ads being mixed in with organic results is still exceptionally rare.

Final Thoughts

Overall, based on how Google currently operates, I’m not particularly concerned about this ad placement change from Google.

While the change is an official one based on the update to Google’s documentation, it still operates more like a test, where ads are continuing to appear in normal positions in the vast majority of instances.

Based on my research, I believe the change should be perceived as neutral for Google users and SEO. If you see ads being mixed with organic listings in the wild, keep your wits about you.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this change to make sure Google’s ad placements don’t get too carried away.

Google’s ad testing has more recently reverted back to using the “ad” labeling instead of “sponsored” on mobile, which was the previous treatment up until recent years.

We can certainly expect these types of tests to continue into the future, with there never being a boring day within our industry.

More resources: 

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