Kyle Sutton

Head of SEO and AI Discovery @ The Washington Post. Former: USA TODAY, U.S News & World Report. Composer for TV. Proudest boy dad.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

One last hurrah from USA TODAY in this week’s @wtf_is_seo newsletter. Hope you find it helpful! #AskANewsSEO

[Lily Ray 😏 @lilyraynyc]

The fact that 'position 1' in GSC means:

Ranking in the top organic position
AND/OR
Ranking anywhere in AI Overviews (when AIO is at the top of the page)

...even when you're the 5-10th link in AIO...

...is soooo unhelpful.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

@screamingfrog h/t @CECabrera_

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

Looks like the ride's over for publishers with coupon integrations. Google's guidance would have you believe 3rd party coupon integrations with close supervision are "not spam," but the proof is in the pudding here.

[Glenn Gabe @glenngabe]

@LauraChiocciora @rustybrick @lilyraynyc You're right. I'm seeing the same thing. USA Today, CNN, and LA Times are gone for "subway coupons" and other queries. Sure seems like the update is underway. :) First screenshot is now and second is as of yesterday.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

@glenngabe @LauraChiocciora @rustybrick @lilyraynyc USA TODAY also did not noindex, from what I'm seeing

[John Shehata @JShehata]

2024 Top Trends, Challenges & Predictions for News SEO by the Top SEO Experts . https://t.co/rkH0vGEiqv
Thanks to @rustybrick, @gregjarboe, @stevewbeales, @tobias_willmann, @LouisaFrahm, @KyleW_Sutton, @alliberry3, @annasbuttoni, @lilyraynyc, Mateusz Mikoś and Barry Adams for their amazing insights.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

Super grateful for the opportunity from @wtf_is_seo !

[Google Search Central @googlesearchc]

Today we released the October 2023 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/pooeFs6tEC

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

Yep. This could be big for large publishers who host partner content on subdomains.

[Lily Ray 😏 @lilyraynyc]

Some important updates regarding “helpful content”

[Google Search Central @googlesearchc]

Today we released the August 2023 core update. We'll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/sQ5COfdNcb

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

Huh. New survey in Google Search Console to improve reporting for the news industry (about time!), including a link to a survey. Sample questions shown below. (@rustybrick)

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

Yet another feature we get to say goodbye to (and apologize to dev for maintaining).

FAQ rich results to only appear for "well-known, authoritative government and health websites." For all other sites: they won't be shown "regularly."

https://t.co/7zQaqSzCnr

[Leslie Harvey @TripsWithTykes]

Are you getting your travel advice from a bot impersonating a human? Content mills have always been a problem in the digital space. AI is making things worse. But I just uncovered next level deception from a larger player in the family travel niche that needs to be talked about.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

Yep. It’s not so easy for publishers to go back to the negotiating table with syndication partners bc Google pulled a 180 on best practice.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

Super relevant analysis from @JShehata with @newzdash. Definitely something we grappled with during my time at USA TODAY!

[John Shehata @JShehata]

https://t.co/aVMQ42y6fN

Here is a complete data analysis of Content Syndication impact in Google Search for News publishers with the list of most impacted sites and estimated traffic share going to Yahoo syndicated content vs original content. Data by NewzDash based on millions of news rankings in Google Mobile Search Top Stories (News Box Carousel) from Jan to Jun 2023.
Enjoy!!

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

@nineinchnails @RickRubin What a wonderful conversation- listened in its entirety in one go. Thank you both.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

I'd keep an eye out for potential displacement of national brands by smaller trusted outlets, especially when there's a local angle to a story. Kudos to @Tennessean for the nod here.

[Google Search Central @googlesearchc]

To better surface relevant, expert, and knowledgeable content in Google Search and News, we developed a system called topic authority that helps determine which expert sources are helpful to newsy queries in certain specialized topic areas. Read more: https://t.co/y8G0HbqMJO

[Google Search Central @googlesearchc]

To better surface relevant, expert, and knowledgeable content in Google Search and News, we developed a system called topic authority that helps determine which expert sources are helpful to newsy queries in certain specialized topic areas. Read more: https://t.co/y8G0HbqMJO

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

@shelbyblackley 😂😂😂

[Jono Alderson @jonoalderson]

New section on https://t.co/AHNqOBzFCd about using canonical URLs for syndicated content (typically in the context of news articles).

Paraphrasing, "don't use cross-site canonicals for syndication; noindex it instead".

That seems like a step backwards. Not gonna work for many.

[Kyle Sutton @KyleW_Sutton]

@badams Wow.