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
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...
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.
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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...
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...
| 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... Mark as Played May 1, 2025 • 35 mins 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 ... Mark as Played 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
Mark as Played 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
Mark as Played 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 Mark as Played 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... Mark as Played October 31, 2024 • 37 mins 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... Mark as Played October 17, 2024 • 31 mins 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 ... Mark as Played 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: Mark as Played 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... Mark as Played Popular PodcastsDoes hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company. The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day. If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered. Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay. Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S. centering Latino stories, hosted by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Maria Hinojosa Every week, the Peabody winning team brings you revealing, in-depth stories about what’s in the hearts and minds of Latinos and their impact on the world. Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for exclusive episodes, sneak peaks and behind-the-scenes chisme on Latino USA and all our podcasts. www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus |