September 19 2018

Matt Dolge   @mattdolge

In the early days of search engine optimization there was little academic literature on the subject and much of the information that did exist was not substantiated. Matt Cutts shined a light on the world of SEO and focused on how to improve the user experience. Matt Cutts’ name became the herald for our industry. His honesty, openness, and transparency influenced a new generation of search marketers to share, collaborate, and improve the web for all. His expertise and influence helped me learn and with this I am extremely grateful for all that he has given to the search community.

September 18 2018

When Matt was head of the spam team at Google, I turned in a lot of possible search engine spam. I'd even show how the spam was done...even though I'm sure Matt & his team could figure it out.

Well, Matt made me a Google Spam Deputy because I was diligent. He even showed a slide with my name on it at 1 or 2 conferences.

Some SEO pros might not like that I continue to be a Spam Deputy. No one likes bad or inaccurate search results...especially when shopping for your Mom's & Dad's birthdays...or for adorable nieces & nephews. Search engine spam can be awful during fragile times, such as the loss of a loved one.

Then I learned that Matt & I attended graduate-level LIS (Library & Information Sciences) programs at about the same time. Of course, we're both information scientists. So was a dear colleague, Eric Ward. Great minds....

Matt's a kind, smart man. I think we are all fortunate to have him as a colleague & friend.

September 17 2018

A few years back (June 2014) I was chairman of a 17-year old national nonprofit. Google had just released an algorithm (penguin I think) that identified our website as a spammer and effectively shut us off (obviously not literally, but it sure felt that way). We weighed our options (which included having our board go picket Google HQ - admittedly, not all great ideas, but we were desperate).

Our web person said "hey, Matt Cutts is speaking at the SMX Advanced conference in Seattle, if anybody could help us, he could". Two days later we're in Seattle hunting for this elusive 'Google Rockstar' guy. Everyone telling me "there's no way you'll ever get to him", "he'll never talk to you", etc. Long story short, he was kind enough to let me introduce myself and when I told him of our plight, he didn't hesitate and said he would have someone look into it - next morning I had a tweet from Matt not only identifying the issues, but providing the solution! A week later we were back up and running!

That was one of the best examples of grace and generosity I have ever experienced, Thank you again Matt, you're a class act!

September 16 2018

Do you remember when the Adwords team rolled out the infamous "Forget SEO, for ranking in Google today, try AdWords" back in 2011?

I remember it very well, because - after discovering that ad thanks to a tweet by Ani Lopez - I wrote a raging post on my own website.

Albeit I was seriously concerned that Google was allowing an ad so openly against an entire industry of professionals, at the same time, however, I was convinced that my post would have remained just as the classic rant isolated and eventually shared by some other outraged SEO.

As I wrote my post late in the night, I went to sleep.

The morning after my surprise was huge when, while checking my Twitter, I saw all the tweets sharing and commenting on my post. And my surprise was big when - amongst them - I saw a tweet by Matt asking me to approve a comment he left to my post.

What did happen? We may call it: "Time zone jokes"... it was morning in the West Coast when I hit publish, and it happened that my post went viral, so much that Matt felt the need to he felt the need to intervene and to ask those of Adword to change the tone of that announcement.

A small gesture, we can think ... and, basically, the whole theme could be considered as the classic "SEO Drama", which many other episodes have had over the years.

Still, that gesture by Matt Cutts seemed to me the clearest evidence of his real interest in us SEO.

Ah! And after that, AdWords never released a similar advertisement again.

September 15 2018

Matt Cutts is a peach! He really cares about the little guys!

I've been a retailer / developer / evangelist for the Yahoo! Store platform since 1997 (before it was Yahoo! Store).

Back in 2011, I was off the grid for a week chasing lizards in the jungles of Dominica. No mobile nor WIFI for a week was heavenly, but when we got back to the airport my phone started blowing up with texts and emails about this new Google update. PANDA!

A few retailers on the platform were getting hammered for thin content, and duplicate product content in their shopping feeds, but to add a SERIOUS wrinkle to the problem, there was a SERIOUS problem with (what I think were) platform-wide 301s.

25,000 domains were somehow getting confused with store.yahoo.net

The problem showed in Webmaster Tools where EVERY STORE showed overlapping backlinks, and some stores with identical page names would have snippets from other stores showing in the SERPS.

Retailers were FREAKING OUT!

The Yahoo! Store PM reached out to me hoping I could call someone at The Google. Fortunately, I kinda knew Matt from a few search shows, so I reached out.

Not only did he QUICKLY help diagnose the problem, he hooked my contact at Yahoo! with the Googler in charge of Webmaster tools and they hashed out a solution.

Retailers who were freaking out thinking the Yahoo! store.yahoo.net 301 hiccup was causing the results from Panda could sleep easier knowing anything PANDA related was with their content, not the platform.

Every other time I reached out on behalf of my retailer peeps, Matt was awesome about responding and helping us find a solution.

Many, many thanks to Mr. Matt Cutts!

September 14 2018

I don't think there's a single person in the SEO industry that doesn't owe a debt of gratitude to Matt in one way or another.

His polished presentations, humor and controlled candor were latched on to and dissected by virtually everyone. Sure, he couldn't always tell us what we wanted to know but what he did say could be trusted, even when what you had to hear were the words he was holding back.

For those who may have joined the ranks after Matt departed, I wrote a three-part retrospective for Search Engine Watch back in 2014 (https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/opinion/2339368/googles-matt-cutts-on-seo-a-retrospective-2000-2005) that highlights some of the most important contributions Matt made to Google and the industry.

Spoiler alert - they are vast.

While John, Gary and Danny are doing fine jobs (seems it takes three people to replace Matt ;) ) I can't think of anyone who doesn't wish to sit down at their computer in the morning to discover a new Cutts video with some great advice for webmasters like:

September 13 2018

I have known Matt from the start of his attending search conferences in the early 2000s. He was always helpful and quick witted in the numerous conversations we have had. I loved watching the gaggle of Cuttlets follow him around every show - and his patience and generosity amazed.

My best memory was when I had written an article for Search Engine Watch - Matt Cutts: Can You Help A Brother Get A lap Dance. It was a post asking about how to legitimately do SEO for the adult industry. I outlined my thoughts on how to be successful and after it posted Matt wrote a reply which was as long if not longer than my article. It went live during a SES San Jose conference and he came up and asked me why I had not approved his comment.
I raced to a laptop to read and approve it... after a few months and the article started to rank his name with adult terms SEW removed the comment - which I fully understood and approved.
I don't think Matt cared, but it was a time when we were much more supportive of each other.

September 12 2018

Wow, so where to go… I guess it’s back at the beginning.

Around 2004 a local church near me had some issues with it’s site getting taken over by a gay porn site. Their listing in Google was less than flattering, to say the least. I found the story was in the local news here. I was still fairly new at SEO, wasn’t really part of the community, but I’d heard about this “Matt Cutts” guy in my travels.

I decided to try and track him down to see if there was anything Google could do to help. Being the search geek that I am I managed to find an old Stanford email address and gave it a go.

Within a few hours Matt replied to me, so I scanned the newspaper article and sent it over with the details. That was on a Friday night. He then proceeded to work with me and the site owners over he course of the next few days. In fact, he was still sending me emails at 11pm on Sunday night (8pm his time). And we finally sorted it out.

I never, ever…. Forgot that. I was a nobody. The Church just a tiny site in the middle of nowhere here in Canada. But still, he took the time, his own time, to care.

We remained in touch over the years and exchanged emails regularly, talking about life, family, information retrieval and of course… cats. I really didn’t talk a lot of SEO with Matt… I didn’t want to put him on the spot. And it was a secret relationship because back in the day, Google was the enemy and a lot of SEOs would have roasted me LOL.

We’ve talked about meditation, family life, web-spam and so much more. But I’ll never forget how we met (getting kinda teary eyed here..)
Thanks Matt, you’re always my fav geek!! Keep on being yourself!

Dave aka TheGypsy

September 11 2018

In 2010 I co-founded a cyber security company called CodeGuard. As soon as we launched a product, Matt recommended us on Twitter, providing crucial early validation and users. This year the company was acquired by Comodo CA. Thank you, Matt!

September 10 2018

I've never met Matt, personally, but he has helped change my life.

I don't often tell this whole story but, if it helps encourage Matt a little, I'll be willing to be a little vulnerable.

I was a pastor for about 10 years. What most people don't realize is how stressful of an occupation this is. Lawyers feel the weight of their clients lives on their shoulders. Doctors are trying to prevent someone from dying. Pastors can't help but worry about eternity. Stresses like this affect families. My marriage was a shambles. I had to take action. I decided I needed to quit my job as a pastor and find a "real" job. My hope: maybe my marriage would have a chance to survive, if I could remove it from the stress of the ministry.

Around the same time my life and marriage was falling apart, a small marketing agency ran into Matt at SMX. They asked him, "what should we look for when trying to hire someone to do SEO for us?" His answer: someone who knows a little marketing and a little development.

Eventually I applied to that marketing company. They found that I did know a little about marketing and development. It was a perfect match. This was my first job in SEO.

While this didn't end up saving my marriage, it did start me on a career I really enjoy. I've grown, over the last few years, to eventually lead my own team of marketing-developers. Eventually I even went-out on my own and started my own little consultancy. I love what I do. I love helping others- without the weight of eternity haunting me.

I'm happy now, thanks to Matt's kind suggestion to a couple strangers at a party.

Thank you, Matt.