Why does Google ignore my COVID-19 or Coronavirus news posts?
Hi, recently I have noticed when I post from news site that google is basically not list/ignoring any articles/titles that include the word COVID-19 or coronavirus. Why is this happening and how do I get around? cheers everyone if any genius can help that would be brilliant, have a great day all!
Hi @ronhowells, welcome to SEO Forum.
This is valid question that I can't answer exactly, as I am not part of Google's Search Quality Raters team, but I am sure you know what's been going on for the last 2+ months...
Basically, most of covid related content is based on misinformation of some kind. In fact, there is no relevant number what-so-ever; no one really knows how many are sick, how many died, etc. Those numbers are based on testing. Is it possible to keep everyone tested in real-time? Heck no. So media is pushing a lot of content based on either false positive or false negative data, using and leveraging stats in ways they need. So their content is more shocking, controversial, even using it for political goals etc. Which is inappropriate for G Search - they need to stay neutral and factual.
So... I wouldn't be surprised, if they simply ignored articles on covid unless it's from (very) reliable source, based on their experience.
Anyway, if you are curious how Quality Raters evaluate quality of search results, check this document: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf It's long read, but definitely helps when creating search friendly content.
PS: The covid bubble seems to be bursting, so even disease opportunists should move on and start creating helpful content if they haven't already.