SEO news, original research and analysis on Google updates, AI search and link building, with data behind every take.
SEO research 10 min read · Oct 2, 2026
Your keyword tool lists "running shoe" and "running shoes" as two keywords with two volumes. Across 690 live Google searches they returned the same page one about half the time. What decides which half you are in is not grammar, it is how many words are in the keyword.
Read the study →SEO research · Oct 1, 2026
Keyword tools strip the small words out of your keyword lists, and the advice is that Google ignores them too. Across 610 live Google searches that mostly held up. One word broke it, and the published lists contain words that change the search entirely.
AEO research · Sep 14, 2026
The year itself does not earn the citation. Pages carrying one are cited more often, but compare pages of the same age, on the same search, at a similar ranking position, and the advantage disappears.
SEO research · Sep 7, 2026
Putting the current year in a title tag is among the most repeated pieces of advice in search. Across 1,000 Google results pages and 18,321 ranking URLs it holds up, barely. And roughly a third of what it delivers turns out not to be the year at all.
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