Some info on Google (and Bing sometimes) and its search engine, gleaned here and there unofficially in recent days, with the program, for this relatively busy week, answers to these questions: what is the impact of integrated reviews on the performance of a site? Does it make sense to use ChatGPT to rewrite content? When to update the lastmod tag of a sitemap? How important is Authorship? What is the weight of the number of external links today? Why should we stop abusing the link disavow tool?
Here is a small compilation of information provided by official Google spokespersons in recent days on various informal networks (Twitter, Hangouts, forums, conferences, etc.). So “gossips” (rumor) + Google = “Goossips” 🙂
The communication of the search engine being sometimes more or less subject to caution, we indicate, in the lines below, the level of confidence (reliability rate) that we grant to the information provided by Google (from 1 to 3 stars , 3 stars representing the maximum confidence rate) – and not to the source which speaks about it.
| Reviews from third-party sites do not help to better position yourself |
| On Twitter, a user asked John Mueller of Google whether the fact of integrating local opinions from sites like Facebook, Bing, Google or others on a website could have any impact on its positioning. The interested party replied that this was not the case, at least not for web searches. He also took this question as a reminder not to use structured data for reviews of this type. |
| Source: Search Engine Roundtable |
Reliability rate:  |
 This is no surprise to (almost) anyone. Indeed, this is not the first time that a Google representative has specified that local reviews are not a performance factor. When it comes to structured data, the rule change dates back to 2019, as Search Engine Roundtable recalls. |
| Use ChatGPT for content rewriting? |
| On Twitter, John Mueller spoke with several Internet users around the rewriting of content via ChatGPT in order to modify an article or facilitate its translation into another language. If he does not openly advise against the use of an AI for content rewriting, John Mueller somewhat tempers the use of such a tool by inviting his interlocutors to ask themselves if ChatGPT is able to improve a bad content. Not without humor, Google Search Advocate even seems to have some doubts about the ability of such a tool to create quality content, especially if the person behind this generation of content does not have sufficient knowledge in the area concerned. |
| Source: Search Engine Roundtable |
| Reliability rate: |
| We are not going to lie to each other, several of the answers formulated by John Mueller left us a little skeptical. It must be said that the emblematic figure of Google tends to bring the question back to the usefulness of content generated by AI, without really getting wet as to the impact of such content on the positioning of pages. |
| The usefulness of updating lastmod in the sitemap |
| John Mueller, still him, replied to a question about updating the lastmod tag in the sitemap file. Our King of Goossip indicated that such an update only makes sense if there is significant novelty. Furthermore, John points to CMSs and servers that tend to automatically set an identical date and time for each page, which makes this information de facto unnecessary. |
| Source: Search Engine Roundtable |
| Reliability rate: |
| Nothing new under the sun ! Since 2020, Google has indicated that it takes into account the date mentioned by the lastmod tag. As the official Google documentation reminds us, the lastmod value is only used if it is consistent and if its correctness can be verified. |
| The relative importance of Authorship |
| During the keynote address and question-and-answer session he gave at PubCon 2023, Google’s Gary Illyes again confirmed several pieces of information already known to professionals. The first concerns the Authorship which would be ” less important than most people think “. In other words, Google would not necessarily attach much importance to the author of a content. |
| Source: Search Engine Roundtable |
| Reliability rate: |
| Here is information that must be weighed. Indeed, good content written by a recognized author tends to be better valued than good content written by an author with a lesser reputation. |
| External links continue to lose importance |
| During his talk at PubCon, Gary Illuyes also said that links aren’t as important as SEOs believe. At the very least, they have lost weight for several years and will continue to lose weight in the years to come, specifying in passing that it is quite possible to rank with few links. |
| Source: Search Engine Roundtable |
| Reliability rate: |
| If it is essential not to put all your energy on this aspect alone, it remains a criterion not to be neglected, in the same way as the quality of the content, the user experience or the various technical elements. |
| Beware of the abuse of link disavowals |
| Finally, still in the context of his Q&A session, Gary Illyes expressed some annoyance at the misuse of the link disavow tool, originally intended to protect sites from toxic links. And to add that the number of sites that shot themselves in the foot is, according to him, greater than the number of sites that were able to take advantage of it. |
| Source: Search Engine Roundtable |
| Reliability rate: |
| The systematic use of disavowing links has become a well-established practice among some, to the point of losing interest in the tool offered by Google. Probably too much in the eyes of Gary Illyes who has already admitted in the past that if it were up to him, he would delete this tool. |
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