Google Algorithm change? - Brand name now overwriting title tag?
-
Anyone else noticing this happening? In Google search results, many of my sites are now showing up in the following fashion...
"Site name: page title"
I read a few articles in the past few days that state that Google may be playing with the algo but have not read anything from Google directly.
I should add that I first noticed this on Feb. 21 and have seen it rolling out more and more since. I have only noticed it on a few competitor websites thus far.
Edit:Some links talking about the subject
http://www.seroundtable.com/google-brand-title-appending-16432.html
http://semandseo.blogspot.ca/2013/03/google-brand-title-in-search.html
http://www.designbigger.com/blog/seo/google-rewrites-page-titles-to-push-brand-over-keywords/
-
I am seeing this too, Google flips the order of our brand name and our USP in our homepage title.
"USP - Brand Name"
now becomes
"Brand Name: USP"
-
Why not just put up the link you are talking about so we can see for ourselves?
-
Thanks for the response Francsisco.
I do not think this it the case but will test regardless. I am noticing some competitors who are not stuffing and they are also being hit by this. At the same time, I am seeing a few competitors who are much more likely to be stuffing and they are not being affected.
http://www.seroundtable.com/google-brand-title-appending-16432.html
Rand, where art thou? Help!
-
That used to happen to me. I changed my title tags to see if Google would display them differently on the next crawl. It didn't work. THen I rewrote them again using completely different keywords and then Google displayed it the way I had written it.
My suspicion as to why this happened to me was I used the words car & auto in the title. I also used rates & cost. Maybe Google thought I was over optimizing my titles. Try it out and see if something changes on your title tags.
-
Dana
I read over at searchengineland that Google is testing something. I will try to find the article shortly. Also, it has been noticed by many that this is only affecting websites homepages.
Mat
Google is overriding the title to display as I mentioned above, regardless of how you have it formatted.
And yes, Mathew is the most awesome way to spell our name
-
Hi Mat,
As a matter of habit, we tend to construct our title tags with the configuration you mentioned: Title | Company Name
I just checked our listings as well as many competitors and they are all showing the title tags as normal, and as we've configured them. I'm not seeing anything different right now.
It could be that Google is testing this and may be serving different results from different data centers or to users in certain locations.
Thanks for the heads up though. I'll keep and eye out for anything different and post back here if I see something different.
Dana
-
Not currently seeing it from here. I'll check it from some proxies tomorrow.
-
I am seeing the same thing happening. Check out the seomoz title in the search results. The company name and title tag are getting flipped.
-
Nice to see another Mathew spelling their name the correct way
Are you talking about people structuring their title tags in that way, or Google over-riding the title tag & showing the title in that format in the snippet?
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Using Google to find a discontinued product.
Hi Guys. I mostly use this forum for business questions, but now it's a personal one! I'm trying to find a supplier that might still have discontinued product. It's the Behritone C5A speaker monitor. All my searches bring up a plethora of pages that appear to sell the product... but they have no stock. (Wouldn't removing these pages make for a better internet?) No 2nd hand ones on eBay 😞 Do you have any suggestion about how I can get more relevant results... i.e find supplier that might still have stock? Any tips or trick I may be able to use to help me with this? Many thanks in advance to an awesome community 🙂 Isaac.
Algorithm Updates | | isaac6631 -
How to check which site performing well in google organic?
Hi All, Is it possible to check sites via any tool which sites performing good in google organic? Any site ... Is it possible via Alexa? My Concern is majorly for UK Ecommerce site... Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | pragnesh96390 -
What is this new feature on Google?
Hey everyone, I typed "Vancouver Colleges" into Google and this new feature came up which I have never seen. It displays popular schools. Could someone tell me what this is called? And how do I get our college on here? Thank you! 4hnT7bV.png
Algorithm Updates | | jhinchcliffe0 -
Google places - are you still registering your companies?
Is Google plus taking over from Google Places? I have our company and website registered on Google places and Google Plus. Now we have a new website ( same company different product) Should I register a new listing on Google places? And what about Google Plus?
Algorithm Updates | | Realtor1010 -
What Is The Deal Between Indeed and Google?
Anyone notice the love affair of Indeed and Google lately? Indeed is cannibalizing the top 30 SERPs for job related keywords. Seeing keywords where Indeed has 10-15 of the organic listings in the top 30. Compete.com is showing a +8% increase in search volume between in April and May. But it seems as if they really started to cannibalize the SERPS since the Penguin update at end of May. Any one else noticing this?
Algorithm Updates | | joncrowe0 -
Does this mean that exact keyword phrase anchor text is not the dominating ranking factor anymore for serps?http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/11/ten-recent-algorithm-changes.html
Does this mean that exact keyword phrase anchor text is not the dominating ranking factor anymore for serps? http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/11/ten-recent-algorithm-changes.html If so what is the new most important factor?
Algorithm Updates | | AndrewSEO0 -
Domain Authority and Google keywords
Hi there, We have a domain authority of 33, one of our competitors has an authority of 10, yet they appear to list higher on many keyword searches in google. Is there a reason for this? Our site is 5 months old, and their site is over 3 yrs old. Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Algorithm Updates | | PHDAustralia680 -
Changes in Sitemap Indexation in GWT?
I've noticed some significant changes in the number and percentage of indexed URLs for the sitemaps we've been submitting to Google. I've been tracking these numbers directly from Google Webmaster Tools>Site Configuration>Sitemaps. We've made some changes that could be causing the changes we're seeing, but I want to confirm that this wasn't just a change in the way Google reports the indexation. Has anyone else noticed major changes, greater than a 30% change, in the indexation of your sitemaps in the past week? Thanks, Joe
Algorithm Updates | | JoeAmadon0