The Impact of User Feedback, Part 2 (and more Popular Picks!)
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
As a follow-up to my recentpost
about how user reports of webspam and
paid links help improve Google's search
results for millions of users, I wanted to highlight one of the most essential parts of Google
Webmaster Central: our
Webmaster Help Group.
With over 37,000 members in our English group and support in
15 other languages,
the group is the place to get your questions answered regarding crawling and indexing or
Webmaster Tools. We're thankful for a fabulous group of
Bionic Posters
who have dedicated their time and energy to making the Webmaster Help Group a great place to be.
When appropriate, Googlers, including myself, jump in to clarify issues or participate in the
dialogue. One thing to note: we try hard to read most posts in the group, and although we may not
respond to each one, your feedback and concerns help drive the features we work on. Here are a
few examples:
Sitemap details
Submitting a Sitemap through Webmaster Tools is one way to let know Google know about what pages
exist on your site.
Users werequick to note
that even though they submitted a Sitemap of all the pages on their site, they only found a
sampling of URLs indexed through a site: search. In response, the Webmaster Tools team created a
Sitemaps details page to better tell you how your Sitemap was processed. You can read a refresher
about the Sitemaps details page in Jonathan's
blog post.
Contextual help
One request we received early on with Webmaster Tools was for better documentation on the data
displayed. We saw
severalquestions
about meta description and title tag issues using our Content Analysis tool, which led us to beef
up our
documentation
on that page and link to that Help Center article directly from that page. Similarly, we
discovered that
usersneeded
clarification on the distinction between "top search queries" and "top clicked queries" and how
the data can be used. We added an expandable section entitled "How do I use this data?" and placed
contextual help information across Webmaster Tools to explain what each feature is and where to
get more information about it.
Last year, we devoted two weeks to soliciting and answering five of your most pressing
webmaster-related questions. These
Popular Picks
covered the following topics:
Seeing as this was a well-received initiative, I'm happy to announce that we're going to do it
again. Head on over to
this thread
to ask your webmaster-related questions. See you there!
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle's Webmaster Help Group is a valuable resource for webmasters to get answers to their questions, participate in discussions, and provide feedback that influences Google's features.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle uses feedback from the Webmaster Help Group to improve its tools and services, such as by providing more detailed Sitemap information and contextual help within Webmaster Tools.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Webmaster Help Group helps Google identify key webmaster concerns, leading to blog posts and resources that address topics like site indexing, spam reporting, duplicate content, site moves, and accessibility.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle is relaunching its "Popular Picks" initiative, inviting webmasters to submit their pressing questions to be answered by Google experts.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["The Webmaster Help Group, with over 37,000 members, is highlighted as a key resource for webmasters. User feedback from this group drives Google's Webmaster Tools development, including the Sitemaps details page and contextual help improvements. The group also informs blog content, addressing issues like duplicate content and site moves. \"Popular Picks,\" a Q&A initiative where webmasters ask questions on topics like indexing and spam reporting, will be relaunched based on user feedback.\n"],null,["Tuesday, August 26, 2008\n\n\nAs a follow-up to my recent[post](/search/blog/2008/06/impact-of-user-feedback-part-1)\nabout how user reports of [webspam](/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/report-spam) and\n[paid links](/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/report-spam) help improve Google's search\nresults for millions of users, I wanted to highlight one of the most essential parts of Google\nWebmaster Central: our\n[Webmaster Help Group](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community).\nWith over 37,000 members in our English group and support in\n[15 other languages](https://support.google.com/webmasters/community),\nthe group is the place to get your questions answered regarding crawling and indexing or\nWebmaster Tools. We're thankful for a fabulous group of\n[Bionic Posters](https://support.google.com/webmasters/communityweb/google-webmaster-help-bionic-posters)\nwho have dedicated their time and energy to making the Webmaster Help Group a great place to be.\nWhen appropriate, Googlers, including myself, jump in to clarify issues or participate in the\ndialogue. One thing to note: we try hard to read most posts in the group, and although we may not\nrespond to each one, your feedback and concerns help drive the features we work on. Here are a\nfew examples:\n\nSitemap details\n\n\nSubmitting a Sitemap through Webmaster Tools is one way to let know Google know about what pages\nexist on your site.\n[Users were](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Tools/browse_thread/thread/f903c65676211b6f/)\n[quick to note](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Tools/browse_thread/thread/40ec35a509b6600e/)\nthat even though they submitted a Sitemap of all the pages on their site, they only found a\nsampling of URLs indexed through a site: search. In response, the Webmaster Tools team created a\nSitemaps details page to better tell you how your Sitemap was processed. You can read a refresher\nabout the Sitemaps details page in Jonathan's\n[blog post](/search/blog/2007/12/new-content-analysis-and-sitemap).\n\nContextual help\n\n\nOne request we received early on with Webmaster Tools was for better documentation on the data\ndisplayed. We saw\n[several](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/bd912368c0167751/)\n[questions](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/6265efa8d3bf54b6/)\nabout meta description and title tag issues using our Content Analysis tool, which led us to beef\nup our\n[documentation](https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=80407)\non that page and link to that Help Center article directly from that page. Similarly, we\ndiscovered that\n[users](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/258fd23599290678/)\n[needed](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/4b94b0aa1367c10b/)\nclarification on the distinction between \"top search queries\" and \"top clicked queries\" and how\nthe data can be used. We added an expandable section entitled \"How do I use this data?\" and placed\ncontextual help information across Webmaster Tools to explain what each feature is and where to\nget more information about it.\n\nBlog posts\n\n\nThe Webmaster Help Group is also a way for us to keep a pulse on what overarching questions are\non the minds of webmasters so we can address some of those concerns through this blog. Whether\nit's how to\n[submit a reconsideration request using Webmaster Tools](/search/blog/2008/07/requesting-reconsideration-using-google),\n[deal with duplicate content](/search/blog/2008/06/duplicate-content-due-to-scrapers),\n[move a site](/search/blog/2008/04/best-practices-when-moving-your-site), or\n[design for accessibility](/search/blog/2008/03/tips-for-making-information-universally),\nwe're always open to hearing more about your concerns in the Group. Which reminds me...\n\nIt's time for more Popular Picks!\n\n\nLast year, we devoted two weeks to soliciting and answering five of your most pressing\nwebmaster-related questions. These\n[Popular Picks](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/72231e3bdd7a31f8/)\ncovered the following topics:\n\n- Susan [outlined a few ways to ensure your site is being indexed by Google](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/cd740055a596d4e3/40ae880ed2fd1bab/#f90fdabdfce73679).\n- John [answered some questions about spam reporting and reconsideration requests](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/79d8b14f4e9aaba2/e54649d3b3a41daf).\n- John also [wrote a blog post that is a great resource for `meta` tags](/search/blog/2007/12/answering-more-popular-picks-meta-tags).\n- Wysz [provided some clarification on hidden text](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/0b2d09046ab4d5ed/d6aa4da7a87e5230).\n- Matt [detailed appropriate uses of the `nofollow` tag](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/cf504ffd28b6bb68/21b12da30e8b0de2).\n\n\nSeeing as this was a well-received initiative, I'm happy to announce that we're going to do it\nagain. Head on over to\n[this thread](https://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help-Indexing/browse_thread/thread/e213eec10610a481#)\nto ask your webmaster-related questions. See you there!\n\nPosted by Reid Yokoyama, Search Quality"]]
