Search Off the Record

Search Off the Record

Search Off the Record takes you behind the scenes of Google Search and its inner workings! In each episode, the folks from the Search Relations team will give you background info on the decision-making behind launches, feature prioritization in Search Console, and the projects Google Search teams are working on. They will share fun stories from the many conferences they attend as well as from their day-to-day working life at Google. They will also dive into the currently trending conversations in the SEO community at large. Have a listen!

Episodes

July 10, 2025
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Are you a developer or small business owner struggling with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? In this episode of Search Off the Record, Google Search Advocates John Mueller and Martin Splitt break down the essentials of SEO for small businesses.

Learn practical tips for understanding your target audience, crafting a content strategy, and measuring your SEO efforts. They debunk SEO myths and explain when it...

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June 26, 2025 33 mins

Developers often have misconceptions about SEO. In this episode of Search Off the Record, John Mueller and Martin Splitt clarify what matters and what doesn't. They cover areas including: Optimizing themes for SEO, The indexing API, and common HTML mistakes. This podcast delivers essential knowledge for developers to enhance their SEO strategies and avoid common pitfalls.

Resources: 

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June 12, 2025 31 mins

In this candid episode of Search Off the Record, Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt from the Google Search team peel back the curtain to reveal a more human side of their work and challenges. Instead of diving deep into technical concepts, they reflect on their personal journeys—touching on everything from public speaking nerves to building empathy between developers and SEOs. Through playful banter and thoughtful commentar...

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May 29, 2025 32 mins

In this episode of Search Off the Record, Martin and Gary from the Google Search Relations team take a deep dive into how Googlebot and web crawling work—past, present, and future. Through their humorous and thoughtful conversation, they explore how crawling evolved from the early days of the internet, when scripts could index a chunk of the web from a single homepage, to the more complex and considerate systems used t...

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In this episode of Search Off the Record, Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt from the Google Search team dive deep into the foundations of how the web works—specifically HTTP, TCP, UDP, and newer technologies like QUIC and HTTP/3. The two reflect on how even experienced web professionals often overlook or forget the mechanics be...

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In this episode of Search Off the Record, Google's Martin Splitt, Cherry, and Gary Illyes discuss the exciting expansion of Search Central Live with the introduction of Search Central Live Deep Dive. They share the history of Search Central events, the inspiration behind creating a more advanced, multi-day experience, and how community feedback helped shape the new format. Cherry explains how the Deep Dive events will ...

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April 17, 2025 44 mins

Ever wondered how web standards are made? Martin and Gary from Google Search take you behind the scenes of the internet's governing bodies. From the IETF to the W3C, learn about the consensus-driven processes that shape the web. Find out why these standards are crucial for ensuring a consistent and reliable online experience.

Resources:

Episode transcript →  https://goo.gle/sotr089-transcript 

 

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December 30, 2024 37 mins

As 2024 comes to a close, we're reflecting on what SEO things happened this year. Listen along as we chat about what we learned from going to events, the importance of understanding how AI works, and whether everything will be replaced with JavaScript.

 

Resources:

Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr088-transcript

Encoding + Googlebot → https://goo.gle/4iZEKXO

 

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December 5, 2024 32 mins

In this episode of Search Off the Record, John and Martin talk to Allan Scott from the Google Search team that handles duplicate content. They explore how Google Search deals with duplicated content, clustering, and canonicalization.

 

Resources:

Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr087-transcript

 

Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt

Su...

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November 21, 2024 31 mins

In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi and John are joined by Rio Ichikawa, a product manager working on UX, CRO, and SEO, to discuss the intersection of SEO and UX. They explore how user experience impacts SEO, emphasizing the shared goals of attracting and converting users. Tune in for a discussion on common UX mistakes - like carousels - and how heatmaps can be a valuable tool for understanding user behavio...

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Sometimes talking to your users is the best way to figure out why that pesky bounce rate is high. But how do you actually do that, especially if you're on a budget?

 

In this episode of Search Off the Record, we're learning all about user experience research (UXR) and how getting a better understanding of how your users interact with your website can help when you're looking for ways to improve it. Tune in...

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What does recursion, Weather Frog, and Momo the Magic Cat have in common?

 

In this episode of SOTR, Lizzi and John go behind the scenes of a Google Doodle with Jessica Yu, the lead for Doodles and delight on Google Search, about designing experiences that resonate with your audience. Listen along as we learn more about what's involved in getting an easter egg into Google Search, from hatching the idea to ...

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October 3, 2024 36 mins

In this episode of Search Off the Record, Ben Walton and David Yule from the Google Search Site Reliability Team (SRE) walk us through their day to day work, which surprisingly is not just about putting out fires! Learn what Search SREs really do, how they handle incidents that occasionally occur, and what it takes to be an SRE for Google Search. 

 

Resources:

Episode transcript →...

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September 19, 2024 37 mins

It's been a few months since you hired an SEO; how can you tell if things are headed in the right direction? 

 

In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi and John interview Erika Varangouli, head of Branded Content at Riverside.fm, about all things hiring and working with SEOs. Just because uplift isn't happening doesn't mean they're not doing work; we walk through practical things to check throughou...

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