--- title: Google Says These Are Not Good Signals description: Google devalues SEO-controlled markup, advising digital marketers to focus on improving content quality over authorship. image: https://www.hireawriter.us/hubfs/HAW%20blog%20(69).png --- [Skip to the main content.](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-says-these-are-not-good-signals#main-content) [![Untitled design (90)](https://www.hireawriter.us/hs-fs/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(90).png?width=500&height=500&name=Untitled%20design%20(90).png "Untitled design (90)")](http://hireawriter.us) [![Untitled design (90)](https://www.hireawriter.us/hs-fs/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(90).png?width=500&height=500&name=Untitled%20design%20(90).png "Untitled design (90)")](http://hireawriter.us) - [FOR BUSINESSES](https://www.hireawriter.us/for-businesses) - [SEO COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo-copywriting) - [SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT](https://www.hireawriter.us/social-media-services) - [WEBSITE COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/website-copywriting) - [LEAD GEN COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/lead-generation-copywriting) - [MARKETING STRATEGY](https://www.hireawriter.us/marketing-strategy) - [FOR AGENCIES](https://www.hireawriter.us/agency-partnership) - [WHITE LABELED COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/white-labeled-copywriting) - [FRACTIONAL SEO LEADERSHIP](https://www.hireawriter.us/fractional-seo-leadership) - [TECHNICAL SEO](https://www.hireawriter.us/technical-seo) - [TRAINING](https://www.hireawriter.us/training) - [ABOUT HAW](https://www.hireawriter.us/about) - [JOBS](https://www.hireawriter.us/hire-a-writer-jobs) - [LEARN](https://www.hireawriter.us/learn) - [LEARN SEO](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo) - [LEARN BUSINESS CONTENT](https://www.hireawriter.us/business) - [LEARN SOCIAL MEDIA](https://www.hireawriter.us/social) - [LEARN STORYTELLING](https://www.hireawriter.us/storytelling) - [LEARN CREATIVE WRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/creative) - [LEARN TECHNICAL WRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/technical-content) - [LEARN FREELANCE WRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/freelance) - [CONTACT](https://www.hireawriter.us/contact) Search Toggle Menu Search Toggle Menu - [FOR BUSINESSES](https://www.hireawriter.us/for-businesses) - [SEO COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo-copywriting) - [SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT](https://www.hireawriter.us/social-media-services) - [WEBSITE COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/website-copywriting) - [LEAD GEN COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/lead-generation-copywriting) - [MARKETING STRATEGY](https://www.hireawriter.us/marketing-strategy) - [FOR AGENCIES](https://www.hireawriter.us/agency-partnership) - [WHITE LABELED COPYWRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/white-labeled-copywriting) - [FRACTIONAL SEO LEADERSHIP](https://www.hireawriter.us/fractional-seo-leadership) - [TECHNICAL SEO](https://www.hireawriter.us/technical-seo) - [TRAINING](https://www.hireawriter.us/training) - [ABOUT HAW](https://www.hireawriter.us/about) - [JOBS](https://www.hireawriter.us/hire-a-writer-jobs) - [LEARN](https://www.hireawriter.us/learn) - [LEARN SEO](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo) - [LEARN BUSINESS CONTENT](https://www.hireawriter.us/business) - [LEARN SOCIAL MEDIA](https://www.hireawriter.us/social) - [LEARN STORYTELLING](https://www.hireawriter.us/storytelling) - [LEARN CREATIVE WRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/creative) - [LEARN TECHNICAL WRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/technical-content) - [LEARN FREELANCE WRITING](https://www.hireawriter.us/freelance) - [CONTACT](https://www.hireawriter.us/contact) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Hireawriteronline) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/joywriteryouell/) [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/company/hireawriter/) [X](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-says-these-are-not-good-signals#0) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8sZOTANgCCjtn29m4J0Z6A) [Medium](https://medium.com/hireawriter) [Tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/@joyyouell) [Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/joyfromhireawriter/) 1 min read # Google Says These Are Not Good Signals [![Picture of Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/hubfs/HAW%20Logo%20T%20%26%20White%20square-3.png) Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/author/writing-team) : Jul 10, 2024, 12:11:58 PM [SEO](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/seo) [Google](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/google) [News](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/news) ![Google Says These Are Not Good Signals](https://www.hireawriter.us/hubfs/HAW%20blog%20(69).png) In a recent interview, Google's [Gary Illyes](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-explains-reasons-for-crawled-but-not-indexed-errors) provided insights into why the company trusts less in signals directly controlled by site owners and SEOs. This offers important guidance for digital marketers on where to focus their optimization efforts. ## Authorship Signals Not a Priority When asked about the potential return of authorship signals, Illyes quickly dismissed the idea, stating: "Uhm... I don't know of such plans, and honestly, I'm not very excited about anything along those lines, especially not one that is similar to what we had back in 2011 to 2013 because pretty much any markup that SEOs and site owners have access to will be in some form spam." Illyes elaborated that SEO-controlled markup is generally "not good signals" for Google, citing rel-canonical and meta descriptions as examples of suggestions rather than directives. ## Algorithmically Determined Authorship Lacks Value Even the prospect of algorithmically determined authorship signals did not excite Illyes: "If it's algorithmically determined, then perhaps it would be more accurate or could be higher accuracy, but honestly I don't necessarily see the value in it." This suggests that Google does not place significant weight on authorship indicators, whether manually input or algorithmically derived. ## Canonicals as a "Strong Suggestion" In response to the interviewer's observation about poorly implemented canonicals, Illyes acknowledged the issue but emphasized that rel-canonical remains "a strong suggestion, but still it's a suggestion." This implies a relative scale of trust, where suggestions like [canonicals](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/seo-challenges-addressing-duplicate-content-canonicals-and-pagination) are considered more trustworthy than other types of SEO-controlled markup. ## Implications for Digital Marketers Illyes' comments underscore an important principle: Google is wary of signals directly manipulated by site owners and SEOs. Rather than focusing on authorship or other metadata, marketers should prioritize optimizations that improve the overall [quality and usefulness](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/e-e-a-t-the-evolution-of-seo)of their content for users. By heeding Google's guidance and aligning their efforts with the company's priorities, digital marketers can enhance their chances of earning stronger rankings and visibility.   - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![Google August 2024 Core Update](https://www.hireawriter.us/hubfs/HAW%20blog%20(85).png)](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-august-2024-core-update) 1 min read #### [Google August 2024 Core Update](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-august-2024-core-update) ![Picture of Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/hs-fs/hubfs/HAW%20Logo%20T%20%26%20White%20square-3.png?width=30&name=HAW%20Logo%20T%20%26%20White%20square-3.png) [Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/author/writing-team) : Sep 6, 2024, 4:06:29 PM The Google August 2024 Core Update has officially completed its rollout, marking an impactful shift in the search engine landscape. The update, which... [SEO](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/seo) [Google](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/google) [Algorithm](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/algorithm) [News](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/news) [Read More](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-august-2024-core-update) [![Google Marketing Live 2025 - AI Takes the Wheel](https://www.hireawriter.us/hubfs/HAW%20blog%20-%202025-05-26T163518.942.png)](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-marketing-live-2025-ai-takes-the-wheel) 1 min read #### [Google Marketing Live 2025 - AI Takes the Wheel](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-marketing-live-2025-ai-takes-the-wheel) ![Picture of Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/hs-fs/hubfs/HAW%20Logo%20T%20%26%20White%20square-3.png?width=30&name=HAW%20Logo%20T%20%26%20White%20square-3.png) [Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/author/writing-team) : May 26, 2025, 4:38:06 PM Remember when Google Marketing Live used to announce actual marketing features instead of just different flavors of AI? Those days are officially... [SEO](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/seo) [Google](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/google) [News](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/news) [Events](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/tag/events) [Read More](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-marketing-live-2025-ai-takes-the-wheel) [![Google Warming: A Summary and Analysis of Search Evolution](https://www.hireawriter.us/hubfs/HAW%20blog%20(61)-3.png)](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-warming-a-summary-and-analysis-of-search-evolution) 1 min read #### [Google Warming: A Summary and Analysis of Search Evolution](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/google-warming-a-summary-and-analysis-of-search-evolution) ![Picture of Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/hs-fs/hubfs/HAW%20Logo%20T%20%26%20White%20square-3.png?width=30&name=HAW%20Logo%20T%20%26%20White%20square-3.png) [Writing Team](https://www.hireawriter.us/seo/author/writing-team) : Mar 2, 2025, 12:49:21 PM Google's search algorithm is constantly evolving, shaping how users find information and how marketers adapt to changes. Moz's original article, 11... 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