Example email to a hacked site
by Matt Cutts
27 Apr 2012 at 3:18pm
Beyond clear-cut blackhat webspam, the second-biggest category of spam that Google deals with is hacked sites. The most common reaction we hear from webmasters is “The problem is with the Google search. There is nothing wrong with our website.” That’s a real quote from an email one site owner recently sent us. Sadly, it turns [...]

New 30 day challenge: No news
by Matt Cutts
15 Mar 2012 at 4:16pm
I haven’t given an update on my 30 day challenges in, like, forever. So here goes: – In 2011, I paused my 30 day challenges to do a “six month challenge”: training to run a marathon. I ended up running the San Francisco marathon (while tweeting!) and a couple half-marathons. Pro tip: ramp up slowly [...]

Eventful Events
by Matt Cutts
5 Mar 2012 at 5:41pm
Updated: Okay, there’s a new plan. My wife is having surgery to put a screw in her foot, and the operation is two days before my panel. I really can’t leave her to come to SXSW. We’re going to try for me to Skype in to the panel instead. Cross your fingers. Every so often [...]

It?s time to stop PROTECT IP
by Matt Cutts
18 Jan 2012 at 12:47pm
A couple months ago, I wrote this about SOPA: SOPA galvanized the tech community, from start-ups to venture capitalists to the largest web companies. SOPA was an unexpected shock and a wake-up call. Well, guess what? Now the internet is awake. And I don?t think it?s going back to sleep any time soon. We might [...]

Sharing a search story
by Matt Cutts
11 Jan 2012 at 8:20am
I?ve been reading a lot of the coverage of the Search plus Your World launch and I wanted to share my story and then clarify something. I love to stay up until early in the morning playing Werewolf. In early December I went to a journalism conference called ?News Foo Camp? in Phoenix and played [...]

Larry Lessig on the corrupting influence of money
by Matt Cutts
13 Dec 2011 at 9:37pm
Larry Lessig has a new book called Republic, Lost which discusses the corrupting influence of money on politics. I would highly recommend the book, because it gets to the heart of why things so many things in Washington, D.C. seem broken today and how to fix them. If you don’t have the time to read [...]

Beware of fake Matts leaving comments
by Matt Cutts
12 Dec 2011 at 1:20am
A lot of the time, I dispel misconceptions by leaving comments on blogs. That works great, except for the rare occasion when someone pretends to be me and leaves a rude, fake, or otherwise untrue blog comment. Over the previous decade, I’ve only seen 4-5 times where someone impersonated me. But in the last month, [...]

Progress against SOPA
by Matt Cutts
21 Nov 2011 at 4:01pm
When I did my blog post about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) last week, things looked quite grim. The fight isn’t over, but there’s been a lot of great developments in the last few days. If you’re not familiar with SOPA (and the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate), here’s a video that covers [...]

I need your help?please. Call your congressperson?
by Matt Cutts
16 Nov 2011 at 4:10pm
(This is post is my personal opinion.) Normally I don’t like to ask people for help, but I could really use your assistance. If you’ve ever watched one of my webmaster videos, or if I’ve responded to you on Twitter, email, or somewhere else online, please take 5-10 minutes to help me out today. Here’s [...]

Grow a moustache and fight cancer!
by Matt Cutts
1 Nov 2011 at 6:16pm
For my next 30 day challenge, I’ll be growing a mustache to raise awareness and money for men’s health issues, and specifically prostate cancer research. Men of search and SEO, please join our team. You can raise awareness, or raise cash. And it’s super simple: just don’t shave your moustache for 30 days. The name [...]