In a post on the Google Webmaster Central blog today (Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking), Google has clarified its policy on meta tags and page rank. Those of us trying to protect our clients from SEO/SEM snake-oil salesmen are happy to finally have an official statement from Google. In short, here it is:
Google does not use meta keywords in its web search ranking and "has ignored the keywords meta tag for years."
Google sometimes uses the description meta tag as the abstract for search results, but not for web search ranking.
There are many other variants of the meta tag, including some unique to Google. See the Google Webmaster help page discussing meta tags for a list of values Google supports (pay attention to the robots meta tag). Watch the video below for an explanation from a Google representative and his Threadless t-shirt.
A founder of evolt.org, Adrian Roselli (aardvark) is the Senior Usability Engineer at Algonquin Studios, located in Buffalo, New York.
Adrian has years of experience in graphic design, web design and multimedia design, as well as extensive experience in internet commerce and interface design and usability. He has been developing for the World Wide Web since its inception, and working the design field since 1993. Adrian is a founding member, board member, and writer to evolt.org. In addition, Adrian sits on the Digital Media Advisory Committee for a local SUNY college and a local private college, as well as the board for a local charter school.
Evolt.org is an all-volunteer resource for web developers made up of a discussion list, a browser archive, and member-submitted articles. This article is the property of its author, please do not redistribute or use elsewhere without checking with the author.
