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!
#330 – 7 Sites Beating Google's Algorithm
6 months after a series of devastating updates for many legitimate sites, and the best advice Google could come up with is "๐๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด" ?! ๐ย
Honestly, we're getting a little annoyed by Google's attitude towards all of this, and in today's episode, we tried to do what Google could not.
We give you real examples of real sites that are not only surviving, but thriving โจ in the current version of Google, to help you plan what to do next for your business.
These sites have won despite Google's relentless updates and we've tried to identify:
๐ what they do
๐ why they may be winning
๐ and how you can emulate them.
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A special thanks to our sponsors for this episode, Digital PR and link building solution, BuzzStream:
https://www.buzzstream.com/link-building
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Full show notes:
https://www.authorityhacker.com/podcasts/7-sites-beating-googles-algorithm/
SOTR094_Transcript.pdf
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!
The Easy AI Service That Pays $8,000 Per Client
Want more AI tips & tricks for marketers & business owners? https://www.authorityhacker.com/subscribe/
Want to work directly with us?
https://www.systemstack.ai/
—
What if you could launch a service business that charges clients $4,000 to $8,000 per month?ย
Traditional cold email is broken. In this episode, we reveal the complete blueprint for an AI-powered outreach system that gets replies and builds a real business.
We show you exactly how to build and scale this service, including:
๐ The A-Z blueprint for our automated client-getting machine.ย
๐ The "$1 Lead Hack" to get 1,000s of prospects for almost free.ย
๐ Our "secret prompt" for writing hyper-personalized emails with AI.ย
๐ The "no-brainer" offer to land your first high-paying client.ย
Stop sending emails that get ignored. Watch now to build a real AI business from the ground up.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 – The $8k/mo AI Model
00:03:22 – The Deliverability Game
00:06:12 – The $1 Lead Hack
00:08:17 – Building The 'AI Brain'
00:19:51 – Our Secret Prompt
00:26:50 – Man vs. Machine
00:32:16 – The 'No-Brainer' Offer
What SEOs should know about devs
Jun 12, 2025
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 journeysโtouching on everything from public speaking
nerves to building empathy between developers and SEOs. Through
playful banter and thoughtful commentary, they share how
communication, context, and curiosity play vital roles in their
day-to-day roles, both internally at Google and in the broader web
ecosystem.
The conversation also explores the evolution of
Martinโs career, his passion for the web, and how his developer
background helps him bridge gaps in technical understanding. The
duo navigates the complexities of delivering accurate guidance in
public forums, the risk of being taken out of context, and the
importance of clear communication across diverse audiences. It’s a
thoughtful, lighthearted, and occasionally philosophical discussion
that reminds listeners that behind the guidance, there are real
people striving to make the web better for everyone.
Resources:ย
Episode 93 transcriptโhttps://goo.gle/sotr093-transcriptย
Chapters:
0:00 โ Intro & Setup
1:30 โ Life at Google
3:30 โ Speaking to Developers
6:30 โ Early Speaking Days
10:00 โ SEOs vs Devs
14:00 โ Should SEOs Code?
19:00 โ Context is Everything
23:30 โ Clearer SEO Advice
26:30 โ Why No Slides
29:00 โ Wrap Up Chat
Listen to more Search Off the Record โ https://goo.gle/sotr-yt
Subscribe to Google Search Channel โ https://goo.gle/SearchCentral
Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes
you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations
team.
#SOTRpodcast #SEO
Speaker: Martin Splitt, Gary Illyes
Products Mentioned: Searchย
#331 – Site Speed Nerd Roasts Our Site
Did you know that Google is about to introduce a new web vital metric? ๐จ
Neither did we.
But this news did prompt us to take another look at our site speed setup, and we wanted to bring in a pro to help us out.ย So in this week's episode, Gael chats with Brian Jackson – the guy behind the enthusiast site speed plugin, Perfmatters.
He's seen hundreds of site setups, this week he critiques our setup and gives you tips on how to fix your setup as well.
If you've ever wondered:
๐ if the number of plugins you use is cutting your site speed
๐ what the best CDN setup is
๐ what caching plugins you should never use…
…or even if you should delay or defer your JavaScript, then you won't want to miss this one.
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A special thanks to our sponsors for this episode, the all-in-one SEO tool set, Ahrefs.
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Check out the latest video on our new โจnews channel โจ:
๐ย https://youtu.be/77VhY990xY8?si=aVNLu_kvZcDjjhYg
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Full show notes:
https://www.authorityhacker.com/podcasts/site-speed-nerd-roasts-our-setup/