Tons of PubCon interviews on video and audio

If you want to get a Matt/Google/SEO video fix, you’re in luck. Interviews from PubCon are streaming in. Here are a few I’ve seen:

Audio Interviews

Stephan Spencer and I sat down and talked for about 30 minutes. You can read the interview transcript. That link also includes the MP3 if you’d prefer to listen.

I think Jay Berkowitz and I chatted just before the “Meet the Googlers Q&A” session. Download the mp3 of Jay’s podcast.

Video Interviews

I enjoyed chatting with Reachd TV to do an interview. This ten-minute interview is a great video introduction to SEO for small business owners or other people new to SEO. We also discuss how WordPress 2.3 is even more search-engine friendly than previous versions. Hat tip to Mark Jacquith for pointing out this one.

At the tail end of PubCon, I sat down to chat with Mike McDonald and Vanessa Fox. Mike also covered a few high points of the conversation.

Michael Dorausch posted a video excerpt of the search engine panel where I talked about a three-step method to build traffic to a site (Guy Kawasaki was a fun moderator). Michael also posted a partial transcript of the relevant bits.

Suresh Babu caught me in the hallway and asked me about TrustRank, how to tell if your visitors are arriving from Google Local, and what SEOs should focus on in 2008 (I think local and mobile are good ideas). He also asked me about what January 1, 1969 means to Google. Props to Robin Liss for taking the video on an unfamiliar camera at the drop of a hat.

Just for Fun

Just before playing Werewolf, someone walked up to me and pretended like he wanted to bribe me: $500,000 for a 1st place ranking. I turned him down, because no one can guarantee a #1 ranking — not even me. When he put the case down to shake my hand, we filmed a joke/blooper where I pretended to take the case and run. πŸ™‚ Watch the video to savor the hijinks.

There you go. If you start right now, you can listen/watch well over an hour of straight search engine optimization Q&A on audio and video. Enjoy!

38 Responses to Tons of PubCon interviews on video and audio (Leave a comment)

  1. Is that typo in the WPW hyperlink yours or WPW’s, Matt? (I suspect the latter, because I can’t see you referring to your company as Goolge.)

  2. Hey Matt, it was good seeing you once again. Have a good holiday brake!

  3. “no one can guarantee a #1 ranking”

    So all those emails I’ve been getting in my bulk mail folder are bunk? Oh the horror. πŸ™‚

    Thanks for the mention and yes I drink way too much coffee and should get a tripod.

  4. It is important that a post be done immediately to clear up the ambiguity of so-called TrustRank, as well as other controversies like PageRank, manual modification of SERPs, BL anchor text on ranking Algos etc.

    Videos are most effective when they ACCOMPANY a separate detailed post.

    Many interviewers do not want to argue or risk offending you by disagreeing or asking you hard questions or demanding clear answers – but with all due respect, that answer given explaining TrustRank was one of the dumbest crap ever to come out of anyone’s mouth.

    Please do a detailed, technical blog post and demand that other Google Engineers ALSO participate to get to the bottom of this and other important issues bothering ADVANCED SEOs.

    This is no time to be polite or gleeful. That can be reserved for another day.

  5. Matt,

    Very generous of you to give the time for all those interviews. My favorite one is Mike McDonald’s chat with you and Vanessa Fox. Maybe you should have done more efforts at that time to keep Vanessa at Google πŸ˜‰

  6. Just at that moment before werewolf I saw you running down the hall, and wondered what the %*&$ was going on. Now I know. That was a way super funny video.

    dk

  7. I get on multiple panels and I be nice towing the G line on links and not even a shout out or honorable mention πŸ˜‰

  8. Thanks Matt for doing the interview. We really appreciated your time and have had outstanding feedback from the information that you provided.

    You can see the rest of the interviews we did here – http://www.reachd.com/ReachdTV.ubr

    Thanks again
    Steve

  9. graywolf

    “I get on multiple panels and I be nice towing the G line on links and not even a shout out or honorable mention”

    I see a biz opportunity. Maybe you should start a new site: GrayWolf’s Pay Per Interview Portal πŸ™‚

    That way anyone can have his/her own 5 minutes of video-fame for ONLY $50 πŸ™‚

  10. MWA, I think the typo was on their side.

    S.E.W., I explained “TrustRank” as a term in under a minute of video: Yahoo wrote a paper with that term. At nearly the same time, we filed for a trademark for an anti-phishing filter. What’s left to explain? Any time you hear two people talk about “TrustRank” there’s no universally agreed-upon definition, and people should know that. What else should I say?

    graywolf, you also wore a Google polo shirt to the “Ask a Googler Q&A” and pretended to be a Googler and told people that it was okay to buy links. πŸ˜‰

    Steve, thanks — it was really nice talking to you.

  11. Matt,

    “graywolf, you also wore a Google polo shirt to the β€œAsk a Googler Q&A” and pretended to be a Googler and told people that it was okay to buy links. ;)”

    Thats a breaking news. Anybody wish to Sphinn this one:

    GrayWolf caught red handed spamming β€œAsk a Googler Q&A” πŸ™‚

  12. Hi Matt
    Thank you for posting the links to all the videos and podcast. and thank you Robin Liss, as Matt mentioned with that $ 200.00 camera, you did a great job.

    S.E.W, during that time, Matt and I did not plan to do any interview. Trust Rank came just like that and with that simple camera, I thought can shoot something (I am not a professional Interviewer as well). If we would have planned on doing an Interview, I would have asked some other questions and I am sure Matt will explain or write it in his book he always carry and try to get an answer later after the conferences. That being said, you have a good point asking Matt to do a detailed, technical blog post and demand that other Google Engineers to participate to get to the bottom of this and other important issues.

    I am sure, that would be great to see some advanced SEO.

    Matt, next time I will bring a better Camera too πŸ™‚

    Thank you
    Suresh

  13. @matt but at least I told you I was going to do it before hand πŸ™‚

    I actually sent a handful of people over throughout the evening to tell you I was doing it too

    What was totally classic is when some lady actually thought I really was from Google and started asking me questions, but I did the right told her I wasn’t and helped her out anyway

  14. Fair enough, graywolf. I did appreciate that you asked a meaty question during the keynote instead of going for some sensational question. And it was good to continue that conversation over at http://www.wolf-howl.com/google/hey-matt-cutts-how-about-a-domain-redirection-and-consolidation-post/#comment-60743 (how’s that for a link?).

  15. I knew about the webpro vids, but hadnt seen the others, thanks! esp that last one! πŸ˜€

    “This is no time to be polite or gleeful. That can be reserved for another day.”

    oh gawd… Is there a rolleyes smilie on here? πŸ™‚

  16. Matt,
    The interview you did with Stephan Spencer was great! Now a question that has not been mentioned much during all those interviews: Google has been tough on scams that trick search engines, what about scam websites that target consumers? For example, some websites that are clearly marked Red by McAfee SiteAdvistor, which are also proved by users, have been ranking very well on Google. Does Google use similar tools (home grown or third party) to identify scammers who happen to use only good SEO techniques? Thanks.

  17. Dude a nofollow link is like going on a date and getting the “lets be friends” line on the doorstep πŸ˜‰

    Guess I won’t take it personally considering you won’t even link to Brian http://www.brianwhite.org/

  18. Great Matt to see the consolidated list of your interviews, video podcasts. After watching your interviews, I am thinking what should be the best way to get out of Google penalization as there is no point in selling the textlinks. It shall probably help many of them who are just penalized by Google due to text-link-ads links.

  19. Hart, our malware scanning works a little bit like that. But I don’t know exactly what methods SiteAdvisor uses. The last time I looked, a few of their things like “your email address may leak to other parties” seemed pretty far afield from pure search relevance.

  20. Matt,

    Thanks for this recap. Very useful! We send some love back to you on our own blog this week: http://blog.linksmanager.com/?p=53

  21. graywolf said: “@matt but at least I told you I was going to do it before hand”

    wish I could find the post in this blog from long ago where graywolf tells Matt that he is going to start is anti-google campaign? he actually had a phrase that described it, hrm what was it? can anyone find the post/comment?

    for the first time I am not going to listen to any of those videos, just too darn busy to be concerned with seo spam type stuff. I did listen to the matt and vanessa one, I look at vanessa with a question mark, not sure what her story is anymore? I heard that dick masterson had her over his head at a bar and got a group of seo rockstars kicked out?

    oh well, no time for this geeky soap opera stuff anymore…will try to keep an eye on the important junk from a distance…

  22. As Aaron pointed out my my blog, Stephan Spencer’s site has a nasty javascript on it which sends visitors to a pharma site http://www.canadacertified.com.

    I sent him a note, hopefully that isn’t by design.

  23. BTW:
    Does Anyone Ever Get the Impression that ‘SEW’ is a little harsh and virulent sometimes ???????

    HUH??!!

    ROFL:
    Just in case any of you newbies are getting the wrong impression – here are several examples of what ‘SEW’ has had to put up with over the past two years πŸ˜› : :-p

    Many of the very early posts and confrontations were deleted in a fit of anger a year ago……

    But for historical sake – here they are….NOW do you understand

    http://web.archive.org/web/*sa_/http://www.mattcutts.com/blog

    These are two classic confrontations out of dozens:

    web.archive.org/web/20060528183446/www.mattcutts.com/blog/indexing-timeline/

    web.archive.org/web/20060417103030/http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/traffic-power-case-dismissed/

    Ironically, this did not have any effect because the will and the tenacity for change could not be alleviated. Eventually, these posts influenced many decison makers at Google and got a number of changes πŸ˜€

    How’s THAT for revenge :-p

  24. JLH, I think he got hacked. πŸ™

  25. Matt,

    I intend to write a “Best SEO Practices – 2008” for our web developers. And I came across Google’s famous page:

    What’s an SEO? Does Google recommend working with companies that offer to make my site Google-friendly?

    Would you be kind to consider publishing a “Best SEO Practices” suggestions which could be used in educating web developers to follow ethical SEO methods.

    Thanks.

    Thanks

  26. Thanks for the link love Matt. Your interview our Ten Golden Rules Podcast has been getting great response from our listeners! Todd Malicoat and Chris Tolles interviews are great too!

  27. I’m a big fan of you Matt, I think you have a great style and voice. Keep up the good work!

  28. Matt, you’re the celebrity my wife and parents will never know or understand.

  29. Great Matt to see the consolidated list of your interviews, video podcasts. After watching your interviews, I am thinking what should be the best way to get out of Google penalization as there is no point in selling the textlinks. It shall probably help many of them who are just penalized by Google due to text-link-ads links

  30. I like the videos that you put together her Matt. Thanks for the post

  31. Hi Matt,

    Quick note to say thanks for reading my recent tale of domain name theft. I appreciate you taking the time.

    Today, GoDaddy transferred davidairey.com into an account I set up with them, so that’s great news.

    What I’m now concerned about is losing the search rankings I had for the .com whilst using the .co.uk, but I’m hoping some of my readers will help me out with that.

    I hope you have a great new year.

  32. Yep, I got hacked. What a mess.

    But I made lemonade out of lemons by replacing the hacker’s affiliate ID with my own (just kidding! πŸ˜‰

    I’m giving b2evolution a spin as my new blog platform; it’s a lot more secure than WordPress and should hopefully hold up against future attacks. (Don’t worry, I’m still a big fan of WordPress; but I’m now also a big fan of b2evo.)

  33. Sounds Great. Two of my friends were at Pubcon this year and said they talked to you even. I will have to see about going next year.

    Happy Holidays.

  34. Those were some great comments about starting up a website. Thank you for posting the link to that video. I didn’t realize the WordPress was so powerful, or that a blog was one of the best ways to start up a new website. I am starting a blog to help get the word out about my new project. I will be reading your blog more often now. Thanks for the tips.

  35. Hi Sorry if this is slightly off topic on this post. However I saw on one of your Pubcon interviews that you had introduced the ability to geo-target sub-domains in the Google Webmaster tool.

    I thought this was great so I geo-targeted a sub domain of a large site that is Canada specific but hosted in the US. However even though it’s been crawled since I did that when i query the site with ‘pages from Canada’ radio button on it still doesn’t show.

    Have I missed something out. does the geo-targeting not work the way I thought it did.

    any help gratefully received

    Cheers,

    Simon

  36. Matt, Gotta admit that Werewolf was loads of fun. Enjoyed Pubcon and thanks for the great talks you gave everyone. Always an inspiration and a great public speaker. If you know where I can get some werewolf cards (lost mine on the plane) would love a set.

  37. Sorry Matt,

    But IMO you should have been reprimanded by your seniors… Why? Glad you asked.. Apparently I’m the only one (here) who thinks outside the box. Although your response to the bribe was very much what you/g would want folks to believe, it’s far from reality… not to mention lacking all the qualities, you told them you had when you applied for the job. You see, a real “go getter” would have told the gentle man with the brief case. That he would “be Glad to set him up with a Adwords Account Professional. Who would in-turn be glad to take his cash and would also be more then happy to put his site at the #1 spot on the right side of the screen of the search results”… You get the picture…

    Furthermore, companies have Bribed/bought/obtained the #1 ranking with boat loads of cash for years. Companies like Target and ebay have secured #1 position no matter what you search for. For God sakes Matt it’s what google was built on. The Almighty advertising dollar. So, although the the video was great for SEO PR it was the furtherest thing from the truth that I have seen from G yet… I wont even go into what $500,000 would do in the right SEO hands… So, ahh…. Yes you can buy #1 ranking and it has been done for years… Prove me wrong…….

    Disclaimer: No human, animal or search engine was injured in the making of this comment. So please dont track me down and kill my PR, remove me from the listings and have me living in a card board box. It’s a shame that many SEO’s feel this way about speaking out when it comes to G but we really do feel this way…

    Thanks!

    Joe (hid for fear of Matt/G)

  38. Hi Matts,

    I have a fairly tricky question. Firstly, the video makes a lot of sense to me, where you stress on the point that ‘Content’ is what everyone should concentrate on rather than worrying about the SEO factors to a major extent. That coupled with SEO does great for websites.

    Let’s suppose I have a website, which has around 5000 pages indexed currently ( these pages are island pages, not included as part of main websites navigation ), which drives around 500 visitors. I have more content in my database, which is segregated using different sources. Lets say this information is minute details about electronic products, which is not available to public in electronic medium format and I have sole rights to publish them at my will. Assuming I have information of a million products, I pull the data from the database, and create about a million pages ( one page per product ).

    My queries are :
    1> Will Google index all the million pages? If so how long would the process take? Here the assumption is that all the data is unique and sitemap is submitted to Google once the pages are generated and uploaded to the server.

    2> Assuming Google takes ‘X’ amount of time to index all the pages, will the indexed million pages increase the popularity of the site ?

    3> Also, I’m curious to know if increase in indexed pages results in, increase in organic traffic.

    Thanks in advance for your answers,
    /Gautam

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