On Leave

I wanted to let folks know that I’m about to take a few months of leave. When I joined Google, my wife and I agreed that I would work for 4-5 years, and then she’d get to see more of me. I talked about this as recently as last month and as early as 2006. And now, almost fifteen years later I’d like to be there for my wife more. I know she’d like me to be around more too, and not just physically present while my mind is still on work.

So we’re going to take some time off for a few months. My leave starts next week. Currently I’m scheduled to be gone through October. Thanks to a deep bench of smart engineers and spam fighters, the webspam team is in more-than-capable hands. Seriously, they’re much better at spam fighting than I am, so don’t worry on that score.

One critical point is that I won’t be checking my work email at all while I’m on leave. My friend and colleague Amit Singhal took about six weeks off not too long ago, and his #1 piece of advice was to unplug from work email. So that’s what I’m going to do. I will set up Gmail filters to forward some of my outside email to a small set of webspam folks, but they won’t be replying to emails.

Q: Is this because of some specific event?
A: Nope. I’ve been talking about doing this with my wife for a while now, and it feels like the right time.

Q: You’re not going to check your work email at all?
A: That’s right.

Q: No, really? No work email?
A: Really. I’m thinking of it like a 30 day challenge, except for longer than 30 days. πŸ™‚

Q: If I can’t email you, how should I communicate with Google about search topics or find out about new things in search?
A: I’m so glad you asked! There’s still tons of ways, from our webmaster forums to Office Hours Hangouts where you can ask questions to experts. On the social side, instead of sending SEO-related comments to me on Twitter, you can ping the Google Webmaster Central account. Likewise, make sure you follow Google Webmasters on Google+. A bunch of different Googlers will continue to speak and answer questions at search conferences too.

For broader search-related news, read our Webmaster blog or Inside Search blog. To understand how Google thinks about search, we’ve made hundreds of webmaster videos and they’re designed to be evergreen.

Our web documentation is superb: Google Webmaster Central is the best place to start. From there, you can find our Webmaster Academy, our help documentation, and our SEO beginner’s guide. We even made a mini-site about how search engines work.

One of the most important ways to hear from Google is to add and verify your site in Google Webmaster Tools. That’s the primary channel to find out about issues with webspam or other errors or notices.

Q: Are you doing anything fun?
A: Yup! I’ve been taking a ballroom dance class with my wife, and we’re going on a cruise in late August. Our 15th (!) wedding anniversary is next year, so we might do some early traveling to celebrate that too. We’ll also be spending more time visiting with our parents. I’m also trying a half-Ironman race.

And just to reiterate, the webspam team is in great hands while I’m out. I’m looking forward to trying this, so thanks for your understanding.

Added: When I went on leave, I wanted to see how webspam would go without me. I’ve been talking to people on both the algorithmic and manual webspam teams during my leave, and they’ve been doing a top-notch job. So I’m planning on extending my leave into 2015.

502 Responses to On Leave (Leave a comment)

  1. This is good! Unplug and Refresh the mind. Enjoy Matt

  2. Good for you. Well deserved

  3. Overdue and well deserved. Enjoy focusing on what’s really important in life.

  4. Awesome you are taking a break… you (and your wife!) deserve it after all these years of spam fighting πŸ™‚ And I look forward to reading a “What I read during my break” blog post when you return!

  5. Alan Bleiweiss

    Matt,

    Enjoy the time away. Cherish every moment. For all the value you’ve brought to the search industry (in spite of a few rants I’ve thrown every several months, I do believe you’ve brought a LOT of value to the industry), life needs to unfold from within based on the entirety of our identify – not just the brain-make-a-difference-need-income.

  6. Nice! And congrats on the well deserved break! Looking forward to hearing all about your long-break-experience once you’re back on the grid πŸ™‚

  7. Pepper Lebeck-Jobe

    In the last “A:” In your Q&A section you say: “Yup! I’ve been talking a ballroom dance class …” I think you mean, “Yup! I’ve been taking …” With one less “l” in taking.

  8. Would you like to attend to our conference? EBE takes place every november since 2006 in Seville, Spain. I can garantee you and your wife will have fun, we’ll get someone to show you the best places in our cites.

    Formers speakers at EBE includes: Matt Mullenweg, Biz Stone, David Karpp, Mitchell Baker, …

  9. Matt… if you’re in the bluegrass any length of time make sure to give me a buzz – Heather and I would be thrilled to take you and your wife for a nice meal in Lexington somewhere. No Shop talk – promise!

  10. Glad to see that you’re taking some time off. Always important to recharge every once in a while – and it seems that time has come for you. Enjoy it!

  11. Matt! its good! enjoy ballroom dance. good luck

  12. Patric Jansson

    Come to Stockholm! I Will by you a beer.
    /@patricjansson

  13. What should I say, You are for me one of the most influential people when it comes to SEO knowledge, so I am a little sad… But, all the best on new horisonts!

  14. Over 34 Years in business and being family owned and operated does make it hard to take a break but it is necessary sometimes to regain sanity. Good Luck and enjoy the time you take with family. It is worth more than many think.

  15. Enjoy the time off Matt, you deserve it πŸ™‚

  16. Michael Hinterauer

    Well done …after this, you will never be the same … πŸ™‚

  17. Dance the time away and take lots of pictures! Congrats to you and your wife!

  18. Brian Harnish

    Matt,

    I hope you have an awesome and well-deserved break. Sometimes it’s necessary to do so to re-charge and focus on some of the more important things in life. I think you’ve brought a lot of value to the industry. You’ve contributed a lot to ensure that all of us have timely information, updates, and awesomeness from the Google web spam team. I’m looking forward to hearing all about your vacation when you return. πŸ™‚

  19. I wonder if you get penalized for your name in the search… have fun!

  20. Good for you Matt. If you’re looking for someone to grab coffee with as you decompress, you know I’m in the neighborhood and always happy to get together.

  21. Have a great time Matt!

  22. Thanks for all your help matt. Your blogs are great

  23. that’s great thing Matt.. Have a nice time with your wife.. Have Fun πŸ™‚

  24. Well deserved! As a Sailor who had many instances away from his family, I know exactly where you are coming from. Enjoy the time Matt, and we’ll see you when you get back!

  25. Good luck Matt! Enjoy it πŸ˜‰

  26. Since working on the web I always wondered when this time would come. I don’t know you personally, but recognise that your dedication to the corporation has been solid & absolutely relentless. You’ve made the best choice in the world. Family comes first. Back to basics and you realise what it’s all about! Have a well deserved break.

  27. Cool! Is it parental leave, or just ordinary work leave? Don’t think 4-5 months is ordinary parental leave in the US?

  28. Enjoy the downtime – ignore the internet, come back (hopefully!) refreshed, and ready to fight another war….

    Looking back, its these times that were worthwhile, not another 12 hour day trying to catch SEOs πŸ˜‰

  29. The problem with going on leave for months is that you may not want to return.

  30. wow Google really let you take a few months break? That’s nice! I’m jelaus πŸ™‚ Have a good one.

    • Christian Cadeo

      Yes Google offers you the ability to have a quarter long sabbatical after I believe 4 years at the company. It’s truly an amazing benefit.

  31. So we can expect the Tango-Update in November ….

  32. Life is only one, well done πŸ™‚

  33. You have accomplished great things, and given the nature of your work, endured a tremendous amount of unfair criticism. And through it all you’ve remained friendly, dignified, and personable. Thank you, cheers and see you soon.

  34. A half Ironman, much respect! Have fun with it and all the best, looks like it is early on in your time off, a great way to start a vacation!! πŸ™‚

  35. I hope you will enjoy your time, sometimes it is best practice to take the deserved time. And maybe your last action will a new iteration of the the penguin update?? πŸ™‚

  36. Bravo Matt. Vieni in vacanza nel nostro paese quest’estate, cosΓ¬ ci prendiamo un caffΓ¨ e ti dico un paio di cose proprio brutte brutte che hai fatto…

  37. Enjoy your test retirement. πŸ˜‰ There comes a point in time when you need to stop always finding another mountain to climb and focus on what initially drove you to start climbing in the first place – family, friends and a life. I don’t think I’d ever “retire” in the standard sense. I doubt you could either. But there comes a time when you’ve outgrown the “young you’s” goals and need to set new ones. I’m coming closer to that time myself. I hope your leave gives you some time to refocus.

    It’s been a pleasure being frenemies with you over the last decade+. Haha. πŸ˜‰ Hit me up when you’re done TLD – I wanna know what you thought. πŸ™‚

  38. Have a great time! Come back with new Google Webmasters videos πŸ˜‰

  39. Very good Matt. Matt! Have a nice leaving, good luck

  40. Take care Matt. It will be a very different world without you here to complain to when we mess up πŸ™‚ . If I see you on “So You Think You Can Dance” I will switch to Bing.

    JR

    • LOL JR!

      All the best to you, Matt! Enjoy your leave πŸ™‚ I’m glad you can take time to decompress and rest. Hopefully this will set a standard for others!

  41. Have fun Matt! #jealous

  42. Enjoy the break, and beware of spam dancers. They’re kinda like square dancers, only they wear black hats, board ships in secret and attempt to Google your Cabin while you’re on the dance floor.

  43. if you come to Italy, know that you can count on the hospitality of the entire seo community of aur beautiful country πŸ™‚

  44. That’s a good point. Happiness is when you have more time for your significant ones and family. Rock on!

  45. Good for you. I’d have become a serial killer if I had your job. In fact, I’m not all that far from it now…

  46. so happy for you! Have an amazing time πŸ™‚

  47. Quick….SPAM ALL THE THINGS!!!

    =]

    j/k Matt. Enjoy your time off.

  48. Enjoy and we’ll see when you get back!

  49. Richard Iddings

    No seriously, how often will you be checking your email?? j/k, have a great time.

  50. wow! Your wif e will be proud of you. There is a life behind the internet – and it’s important to take care about it. Great respect – have a nice time.

  51. YAY for you and your wife and family! Have fun! I’m so happy for you! You’re setting a great example for work life balance. #healthy

  52. Matt, enjoy your time away from the daily googly grind! :). …taking this time to refuel and create precious memories is such a gift. Happy 15th anniversary in advance.

    Bless,
    Coretta

  53. Soooo, you are saying it’s OK to do participate in Black Hat SEO until late September? Thanks for the heads up !)

  54. Nobody deserves it more than you Matt, and it’s many years overdue so your wife definitely deserves it. What cruise are you going on, btw?

    Stay strong Matt, don’t give in to those emails!

    Enjoy your break mate! πŸ™‚

  55. have fun !!!!!!!!!!!

  56. Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone…
    It won’t be the same without you. Enjoy, Matt. We’ll see you back some time around Hallowe’en, then. Now there’s a scary thought…

  57. Matt its great to have some fun with family. That’s called work life balance !!
    God bless you and your family

  58. Taking a long break did not do Winston Churchill any harm so enjoy your time away, Matt Cutts.
    In my dreams I imagine you returning with a plan to defuse the NSEO time bomb. πŸ™‚

  59. It’s great that you’re able to do that, I hope you both have a really great time. More employers should take note πŸ™‚

  60. You should have Barry Schwartz be your interim.

  61. Enjoy your time with your wife! Appreciate what you do and see you when you get back.

  62. Come visit Italy, we have cookies and the best wine.

  63. Matt,

    This is unfair! Here I’m not going on any vacation in anticipation of another Penguin update. My boss just wouldn’t grant me any leave. And look at you – going on leave for several months. And you are not even giving a tiniest hint when you are going to unleash it on us. Not while you are away.

    But, hey! have loads of fun. On return please don’t forget to share your experience of adhering to the ‘No work mail’ rule.

    See you soon!
    Vikas

  64. So the small businesses destroyed and choking under penguin will just have to wait a few more months? Everyone deserves a vacation!!! And you do too. But hopefully you don’t need to be there to pull the trigger on that…. !!!!

  65. Have a good time Matt. Much deserved I am sure.

  66. We’re also going on a cruise in Aug! Care to share the destinations you will be stopping by?

  67. 3-4 month vacation! Seems like a dream…. Congrats to you. I often am pre – occupied thinking about one site. Thinking about every site must be taxing even for the wizard of search.

    Good luck on the iron man!

  68. Have a wonderful time with your wife, I think that’s great for you. #familyman

  69. Hey Matt-

    That’s great to hear. I made a conscious choice to decouple a bit from work on Jan 1 of this year (not completely — just an 80:20 thing) and it turns out the world kept spinning without me.

    Enjoy your non-work life. You won’t regret this move at all. And lord knows you’ve earned it.

    Best,
    DH

  70. Hey, Matt!

    I’d love to see you doing some samples of ballroom dance in your Webmaster videos! hehehe..JOKE! Anyways, enjoy your vacation and have a good time. πŸ™‚

    Regards,

  71. Good for you. I think the last vacation was so long ago … I turned my pager off to disconnect.

  72. Wow! That is news of the year.
    Good luck in the future!

  73. Enjoy your vacation matt. Its good for you and your family.

    Have a happy holiday

  74. Have a nice time. hope you’ve got some cool paces lined up on your cruise and dance with your wife in the lounge in between destinations.
    I did a cruise around the Mediterranean a few years back with my kids but the wife couldn’t come as our youngest was 3 months old at the time.
    I’ve been reliably informed I owe her one.

  75. Happy 15th wedding anniversary. . God bless you and your family and business

  76. Does this means that you will step for good from the webspam team or you will come back after a few months ?
    Have fun in your holiday, you sure deserve it!

  77. Enjoy your time off with your wife and reload your mind!

    Who are going to make video on GGWT Youtube channel? Who?! πŸ˜‰

  78. Thanks for all the info and resource links, Matt.

    And enjoy your well-deserved break!

  79. Dear Matt,

    Enjoy your time-off with your wife and reload your mind!

    Who are going to provide SEO advices on GGWT Youtube Channel wearing colorful t-shirts? Who?! :-p

  80. Enjoy your vacation, Matt. Have a great adventure ahead!

  81. Enjoy your time away and the opportunity to spend more time with your wife!

  82. Matt,

    I take it that you’ll be visiting Morehead, Kentucky? I would love to get a pic with you. πŸ™‚ I won’t bother you though. Have a great time with your wife. I know I would. I need to do the same thing, but just can’t afford it.

    Greg Smith

  83. What about your blog ? are you also not updating it for 3-4 months ?

  84. Spend some time in Venice–preferably after the main tourist season. (And not just a day or two: a week at a minimum.)

  85. Enjoy your leave, Matt. We will miss you, but you have a great team to carry on in your stead. If you find yourself in your ole Carolina stompin’ grounds, be sure to look me up. Hubbie and I will buy you and the wife a sweet tea!

  86. Family is more important than work πŸ˜‰ enjoy your vacation Sir Matt! Regards to your family for me ^_^

  87. I am just curious, don’t you have kids, Matt ?

  88. Matt, I think it is awesome that you are putting your relationship first. I hope you both have a great time and congrats on the anniversary. πŸ™‚

  89. Congratulations. Sounds fantastic! Much envy, but very happy for you. Have a great and safe time in all you do & wherever you go, and enjoy the special time with your wife & family. Look forward to your return and to hear all about your 3 months off.

  90. Much needed and well deserved. Enjoy you time off Matt, my wife and I just celebrated our 15th anniversary at the Grand Wailea in Maui, Hawaii. I highly recommend it.

  91. Hi Matt, unplug and enjoy your holidays. Thank you for your hard works.
    I wish I could have a long vacation like you.

  92. Web spam stopper is taking time to be a family man.

    Carry On… Enjoy

  93. Well deserved Matt! Oddly enough , I told a few people at SMX Advanced that I got a vibe that you’d be retiring or taking a sabbatical leave soon (first time I sensed it since I met you 10+ years ago). Enjoy your time off!

  94. Well this is the great idea to unplug from work email during the leave

  95. Finally Matt on leave, from the beginning I thought Matt Cutts is a Machine he never takes a leave, never offline, always there to help webmasters… I hope you enjoy your leaves Matt & wish you a very happy marriage anniversary in advance !!!

    Enjoy!!

  96. Matty, come to Barcelona.
    You’re invited and I promise you don’t speak about SEO. Only sun, food and relax.
    En la vida no todo es trabajo, cuando haces lo que te gusta, cuesta mucho parar, mirar a tu lado y ver que estas sacrificando cosas.
    Admiro y apruebo el break.

  97. Simply – ENJOY your time away. Relax and enjoy. Travel and travel some more but at a nice leisure pace!

  98. Have fun Matt! I’m super jelly! One day I hope to do this 30 day challenge as well. I’m sure you’ll have some great adventures and build some wonderful memories.

    I appreciate all that you’ve done professionally, as well as, the things you’ve done to inspire others. It’s great that you’re taking personal time. Enjoy your friends and family! Enjoy life!

  99. Have a fun……Enjoy!!!!

  100. Firstly wishes for your best traveling trip. Well I think you might come with huge happiness and a surprise update…

  101. unplugging completely is my plan in three years when we retire. Time to get a life I say!

    enjoy your break

  102. Good Decision Matts after all family is also very important like our work so go ahead had good time with your family.

  103. You deserve this break to start a fresh on spam fighting Matt. Go off the cloud of Search land and enjoy!!

  104. That is awesome Matt..! One of the best decisions ever made.. But I was wondering as to who will be capable enough to take your place.. We have been working in the field listening and learning to the advice you have been giving, since like a decade now.. and all of a sudden — no MATT.. seems to me like Google without search.. not exaggerating but mean it.. All the very best for new challenges..! Cheers..!

  105. Christoph C. Cemper

    WOW!
    Congratulations to both you and your wife,
    safe travels and an awesome, relaxing time!

  106. Hello Matts, Wish you all the best πŸ™‚ You have given me some greed to take leave. I am greedy πŸ™‚ I am planning to go out………..:) May GOD bless your family!!

  107. I think, this is probably the best you can gift your family. Well, recently I promised same thing to my wife. I am sure, this break will be 1 of the most memorable moments of your life. Have a great time. Enjoy πŸ™‚

  108. At least Blackhatters(seo) will happy for a while . πŸ™‚ Enjoy the day without internet

  109. Life at Google πŸ™‚

  110. Hey Matt, don’t worry and enjoy the time with your wife and family, thanks for the great job, and good luck!

  111. well, that is a nice decesion. Have fun matt πŸ™‚

  112. And what about your twitter? Are you going to check it?

  113. So many unnatural links in this post… πŸ˜‰

    Have fun and say hello to your wife πŸ˜‰

  114. Hey Matt, I took a month off for the first time in my 10 year career for our honeymoon and so the wife could visit her parents. It was well worth it and the company didnt fail but I have to say that I’m not quite so high profile like you lol πŸ˜‰ but everyone needs a break dude! Enjoy.

  115. Awesome, unplug and enjoy life!

    Have the best time ever and see you on the flipside πŸ™‚

  116. Being quite new to the on line world will miss those great webinar video’s of yours, however it is important to have quality time with your family, have a wonderful time off and enjoy all the things you have planned best wishes

  117. Q: buy some links and spam a bit around is ok, as long as you are away?
    A:

    enjoy the time

    • :-)) nice one!
      But Matt said that there is a great team that continue fighting with the webspam.
      I did not thought that i would say this, but i will miss all those controversial movies…from now on, the SEO world will not be the same…

      • Yeah we all will miss the movies – the last have been great…
        The biggest SEO mistake, don’t have a website… great.
        Or the “How much wood could a Matt Cutts cut….”

  118. i hope you will write more articles on this blog in this period. πŸ™‚

  119. Well deserved break! I hope you will enjoy your unplugged time and make your wife happy – I know what’s the feeling when I don’t have enough free time to spend with the person you love. Actually I envy you…

    p.s: Who will do the videos while you’re gone?

  120. Enjoy your time.. We will miss you lot.

  121. Hello Matt All the best your vocation, enjoy the time with your wife and your family.. May be I will lose good SEO teacher for myself, I have been watching your video, it helped me to learn Many things about SEO news trends.. We hope that you are coming back to Google with new energy better than now

  122. Enjoy mate | Party hard !

  123. Dont stop on emails Matt, switch off the phone πŸ˜‰

  124. I guess this was sort of expected after your comment you made on the SMX Advanced conference last month with Danny Sullivan when you said that you were only going to do this role for a few years. Enjoy your well earned break.

  125. Better late than never! Enjoy the break Matt Cutts, you’re one of the hardest working in the business, the dedicated you bring to the world of SEO and best practices in the industry is outstanding. I know we’re in good hands with the rest of your team so unplug and relax!

  126. Have a great time…

  127. Good to know that you are taking some time off with Family. It shows that We have got Humans not bots working at Google πŸ™‚ …jokes apart, you really deserve this time. Make the most of it. Any plans to visit India?

  128. Buon viaggio Matt!

  129. Hi Matt
    You asked for non-work book recommendations recently – I’d suggest “The Four Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris (or maybe you’ve already read it?!).
    Enjoy the break.

  130. Nice post – have bookmarked and will come back often.

  131. Have a nice hollidays Matt ! We’ll miss you πŸ™‚

  132. Glad to hear you are finally questioning your priorities and taking corrective action. Better late than never! For the younger folks reading this: Work-life-balance means now, not 15 years from now. The younger you are when you realize that, the better. This is what Alan Watts has to say about it: “Music & Life”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERbvKrH-GC4

  133. just enjoy Matt ! You’re right working is not all !

  134. I will miss your expertise. Enjoy the time! Come to Hungary! You be our guest for a goulash (gulyas soup) πŸ™‚

  135. Enjoy your vacation Matt! You deserve some holidays. You people were making great algorithms at Google and it would be good to see you come back refreshed πŸ˜‰

    Have fun time together!

  136. Hope you enjoy your time away and recharge

  137. Matt, Enjoy great time of your life with your family. I hope, you will go on leave next time after 5 years (not 15 years).

    Life is limited, Time is limited, Relationship is limited but work in unlimited. So, enjoy life.

  138. it’s great, enjoy vacation,….

  139. Stefano Pochet

    Congratulations for the beautiful choice Matt

  140. What a great idea, everybody should do the same once in is life !

    Here is a little gift for your travel (no wifi or power needed) : https://twitter.com/yakamama/status/484972982306344960
    πŸ™‚ By Matt (from France)

  141. Seems pretty awesome decision. Have great time with your wife. Pretty sure SEOs gonna miss the scary updates meanwhile.

  142. i am happy for you, and i wish you have happy time with your family.
    enjoy your free time.

  143. Can i take your place?! πŸ™‚

  144. Matt,
    This is good decision!
    Hope you enjoy your time.

  145. Enjoy the break Matt, and here’s hoping the first post on your return isn’t;
    “OK my wife has seen far too much of me and is leaving” πŸ™‚
    (Only joking)

    Have fun.

  146. Hey Matt, lucky you ^_^ enjoy yourself my friend, you do a lot of great work, thank you for everything you do for all of us, you have no idea how many lives you have impacted.

  147. Enjoy your vacation Matt! Thanks for everything.

  148. Very Inspiring ! Need to do the same myself ! Enjoy your break

  149. Enjoy! Meanwhile: This is the new Matt Cutts vacation robots.txt format:Β http://www.forecheck.com/robots.txt

  150. Amazing Matt! Enjoy your time off and share your experience when it’s over! It must be a great feeling to have such a good team you can trust them to run the show until October in your absence. Speaks volumes about the balance of talent in an organization.

    Congratulations and have fun!

  151. Enjoy the break!

  152. Awesome. this is great! reminds me of my days at JPMorgan when we had to take a mandatory 2 weeks leave with our access cards and email access disabled! Trust you have lots of fun.

  153. Thanks for all the information you shared with us, Have a good time!!!

  154. Matt:

    Enjoy your time off with your wife.

    Ruth Ann and I took an Alaska Cruise some time back from Vancouver, British Columbia to Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska. It’s the only way to see that great state.

  155. Good News for SEO Executive πŸ™‚

  156. Have a nice time, keep on going with your ball room classes.

    If your holidays also include Amsterdam, don’t hesitate and give me an e-mail, I will give you a nice tour.

    Have fun anyway

  157. Have a Great off Matt.

  158. A good decision. Enjoy with the outside world.

  159. Have a Great Holiday !!!

    Enjoy and come back with a fresh and new ideas to beat spam….

    hahah jus kidding

    Enjoy your Holidays πŸ™‚ Cheers

  160. As a just reward for her patience I trust your wife gets to say what “a few” means.

    For example, if 5 years until time off = 15 years, then “a few” – which ordinarily means 2,3,4,5 – could reasonably be interpreted to mean 9, 10, 11, 12 months off.

    Just sayin’.

  161. Good on ya, Matt! After 15 years, I’d say you and the missus have earned some you-time! If you opt for the Alaskan cruise, you won’t be disappointed – the Inside Passage has some amazing things to enjoy and you’ll be coming home with GBs of photos! Glacier Bay is something that you won’t forget. (Splurge and get a cabin with an outside balcony)

    Unplug, recharge and enjoy!

  162. Enjoy the break Matt, you deserve it!

  163. That’s the most covered break I ever saw but your digital presence is so strong and people love to hear from you as you’re inside the machine. Have fun and be back asap.

  164. Congrats on the well deserved break from work, it must have been a hell of a few years at Google spam team! Hope you travel as much as possible and take the time to enjoy life with wife and family. Would be happy to show you around Montreal if you come up north.

    Cheers to month-long vacations!

  165. Life with out you watching everything i do at work will be boring Matt. Anyway wish you and your wife all the best and hoping you return as a much better spam fighter …

  166. This is great Idea. Cheers buddy and have a nice time with your wife.

  167. Thanks for all informations and Good Luck for half Ironman race. Enjoy with your wife.

  168. Hey Matt,
    Thanks for great job you done for webmaster world, we going to miss you. Now the net became much better and cleaner from spam. Well, I am not happy that you leaving us in that important moment and because of that spammers can take advantage now and create more spam. So maybe you can consider to stay longer πŸ™‚
    Wish you a good luck in your career.

  169. Thanks for great work. Best wishes for your future endeavour…

  170. Excellent. No email??? Makes me nervous thinking about it!!

  171. Good luck for your journey Maat.

    Have a blast!

  172. I think we’re all jealous, have fun! You’re going to have one heck of a tan. Please don’t bring any new exotic animals back home. Your friends back home can go on a much needed vacation too though- to the polar regions!

    Enjoy!

  173. Hi πŸ™‚ Do you want to come to Croatia ? πŸ™‚ It is
    beautiful country πŸ™‚

  174. Ballroom Dance? would love to see you doing so. Perhaps, best of luck for your vacation may you enjoy a lot along with your wife.

  175. Enjoy your break! We will miss you.

  176. More than a well deserved break, I would be hitting up the big G for 12 month sabbatical, it is the very least the big G could do for such a front of house person, the last few years must have been exhausting on you and your family.

    Life work balance and all that, hope you have a fantastic break Matt and hope you wife bends your ear a bit harder for a more extended break.

  177. Enjoy Matt!
    If you travel in Valencia, Spain I’ll invite you a delicious menu, Paella and Sangria πŸ˜‰

    Ciao!

  178. Enjoy your vacation Matt.

  179. Have fun matty, It’s a good decision to take a break from hectic schedule and enjoy life. Afterall we are humans not programmed devices.

  180. Could we see you in another episode of This Week in Google this summer? πŸ˜‰

    #GooglePray

  181. Have an awesome time travelling and being there for your wife (ball room dancing? impressive!). Hope she has an awesome time too.
    Best wishes,

  182. I am on a break myself (although not that long) and not checking email and you are going to love it – until you get back πŸ˜‰

  183. Daniel Threlfall

    Refreshing to hear about clear priorities and definitive action. Enjoy.

  184. Enjoy the time with your wife

  185. Good Time Matt

  186. Take care Matt.

  187. Great Matt! It is true that you should give some time to your personal life as well, as your partners definitely need YOU both mentally and physically. Usually they get sick of living with robots like us :D, when at work! As we spend most of the time at home like it is a hotel (coming late at night and leaving early in the morning).

    As @dannysullivan said “It’s not clear yet who will be taking over his duties while he’s gone”, I am pretty sure that you have a great team now.

    So enjoy your time and we hope to see you back with some great ideas and innovation.

  188. Luca Bernardini

    I hope you’ll had a great time…

    If you go to Italy give me a shout. A beer is waiting for you πŸ™‚

  189. Wow, I hope you have a fantastic time!

    I guess now I have to watch webmaster video reruns by T-shirt color on YouTube:)

  190. Three months is a pretty big vacation; must be nice.

    Hope you have fun, but ballroom dancing sounds to much like work to me.

  191. Thanks for this post Matt with all the great links to all the Google resources for SEOs. Hope you have a lovely work-free time off with your wife. If you haven’t got you itinerary fully baked, may I suggest you head down under to Australia and/or New Zealand (if you haven’t been before), lots of great places to see and explore. Enjoy your cruise and your half-ironman.

  192. Sajuddin Khan

    Great

  193. Matt, Good luck and bon voyage!

  194. Enjoy your Vacation Matt Cutts. we will miss Today’s Question from….

  195. Have A Great Time Sir

  196. Congrats & have a great break Matt πŸ™‚

  197. life is one and only πŸ™‚ just do what you want πŸ˜‰

  198. I think, it may be surprise for webmasters or good news.

  199. Learning from you, many things such as 30 days challenge, and now a long vacationer..
    Good, Matt.. Be an explorer. The universe is filled with wonder and magical things.

  200. So I take it you won’t be at Pubcon again then πŸ™‚

    Well deserved vacation. Have a great time.

    • That’s right. I’ve been to so many Pubcons that it’s strange to miss one, but spending time with my wife and family is a pretty good reason to miss it.

      • From the last two years we where waiting to get our website to get release from penguin penalty.. Hay boss, we thought the next penguin will come next month and next month and so on.. Then if you r going for a 3 month vacation, we r happy that we can give 3 month vacation for our hope too and after 3 months we can start again hope hehe.. please take that penguin also with you.. :):):):):)

  201. Enjoy yourself

  202. congratulation for making the leap to see the world and more of your family, enjoy πŸ™‚
    Does this mean you’ll rel=”canonical” your blog to href=”http://http://singhal.info/”

    Have a great time and I look forward to seeing your photos on G+

  203. Enjoy Matt!!
    But take it easy with the Ironman race though πŸ™‚

  204. Take care of yourself and your family πŸ˜‰

  205. Hi Matt,

    Happy to hear (Sorry πŸ˜› ) you’re going to take a leave. Come to Kerala, India. Most Beautiful place in the world aka God’s own Country πŸ™‚

    PS: Please update the pagerank before going for vacation πŸ˜›

    Regards,
    Abid Omar @ABCDBlogging.com

  206. Good for you, Matt! We’ll look forward to seeing the polished ballroom dancing skills.

  207. Hi matt cutts, can you tell approximately how many words you read every day ? Very curious for the ans may be 5k,6k……

  208. Gregg Tilston

    On your travels stay away from any farms and, despite the generous offers, don’t be anyone’s guest. Both will get you in too much trouble and you’ll have a hard time finding your way out πŸ™‚

  209. Aha! I knew it, I even suggested a sailing trip around the world for you just not Alaska. But I’ve heard it’s breathtaking as far as cruises go. Besides, it was time you step away from all this madness and take yourself and wife on a much needed (extended)vacation. What about the cats…who’s babysitting Ozzie & Pepper?

  210. Matt – Have an awesome vacation – kudos to you for knowing when to shut down. Thanks for all of your brilliant content – your dedication and passion always shine through. Hope you have an amazing time πŸ™‚

    Cheers!

  211. Have a great time and I am hoping that you do come back soon.

    Your Webmaster resource videos on YouTube have been a great help for me over the past year and so thanks for your guidance.

    All the best, Ryan.

  212. You’re welcome Matt to my beautiful country somewhere un North Africa: Tunisia, hometown to Carthage

  213. Yeah Matt! There you go…
    Do yourself a favor, take that break. Having been buried with work and fighting spam isn’t worth in exchange on rather spending time with the love one(s). Remember that we all work hard for them and not for some glory and/or pride stake.

    We all share the same fate when we all first started these. Dreaming of passive but ending up with all that time of the day at work rather than with spending time love ones and making memories.

  214. Scott Wharton

    Kudos for unplugging. Are you giving up all email or just work-related ones?

  215. Have a nice trip, take care Matt.

  216. Linda Caplinger

    Enjoy the time off Matt! πŸ™‚

  217. Enjoy yourself Matt! I hope the people who recognize you along your way don’t force you to talk shop πŸ˜‰

  218. You can come to Israel incognito, i will show you around πŸ™‚

  219. Hi Matt! Well deserved holidays for you and your wife. When I first read this post I though “Ouch! Sheriff’s out of town!”, but I am sure your time will make a great job anyway. Definitely is a great idea to stay away from work email, you’ll come back as a fresh man!

    Have fun, cheers from Spain!

    PS: for the next post I wanna see picture of you dancing!

  220. huh…. vacation for such a long duration… jealous of you .. πŸ™‚
    happy vacation …. have tons of fun.. enjoy..

  221. Enjoy your summer!

  222. Job is important, but family is more !

    Take care

  223. Good for you and you’re the best matt!

  224. Thats sound good. Have great Vacation. πŸ™‚

  225. Enjoy your extended vacation Matt.

    If you want something nicer IMO than ballroom dancing try blues dancing. I think it’s more fun and more useful in all social events where there’s dancing. Modern enough for the younger generation, classy enough for the riper one πŸ˜‰

  226. have a good holiday Matt!

  227. Good for you Matt, you deserve it!
    To be honest with you, I only truly liked and enjoyed watching your webmaster videos (and some of Maile Ohye’s videos). Perhaps I’ve been accustomed to your ways of explanation after watching you for several years now (regardless whether you have hair, and regardless whether you are visible). Unlike other videos, with your videos you really know how to explain stuff without giving too much information away and most of the time it demands and calls for further analysis and investigation on our part. I don’t doubt on the spam teams capability in doing their job without your presence, but I’m guessing that with your emails, blog posts and tweets, your videos, will also come to a halt. I really hope Google does not intend to dilute the channel with more and more hangout videos and Japanese videos in the future, because the channel just wont be the same anymore, wont be as informative and as enjoyable.
    Nevertheless, enjoy your leave of absence Matt, and if you’re traveling far, Godspeed!

  228. If you pass through Romania please visit Romanian village. You will learn the sound of grass growing. You will never want to leave! Here was born eternity .
    Happy holidays, Matt! We’ll miss you.
    We’ll see if the next update will be piranhas or flamingo … πŸ™‚

  229. Congratulations! I hope you have lots of fun adventures!

    • Thank you, sir! Dad’s been visiting this past week. While on a drive, we stopped in Half Moon Bay and I got a postcard that you might enjoy. Talk to you soon, I hope.

  230. Good for you! Personal time is very important. I think it’s awesome your doing a half Ironman, I have been training for my first olympic distance in a few months and I signing up soon for Oceanside Half Ironman, in which I will be ready for. Best of luck to you!

  231. Hey Matt,

    Enjoy the Life, expected to see some of your vacation pic on your twitter account soon as a “Matt Life Algorithm Update”

    Ruth

  232. Sorry we did not get to chat more at IO but, I am glad to hear you are taking some time off! I don’t know how you have kept up the pace this long. Good luck with dance as well as your 1/2 iron-man and have fun on your cruise.

  233. Nice Idea. Have a great time with your family….. Enjoy…….

  234. Matt,

    Travelling paves way for more and more energy. No wonder, your mail filters think the same πŸ™‚

    Try Darjeeling tea !! Amit must be knowing about it !

    Enjoy !

  235. Have fun and enjoy coming moment at extreme level πŸ˜‰

  236. If you copy content from one site and put it on his site, you cause harm to me whether this is a duplicate content

  237. Hi Cutts, enjoy your vacation with your wife and I hope you can get back to work with best performance!

  238. Good News for Webmaster, Matt Cutt taking off for four month!!!

  239. It’s good for you! But can you? Really? It’s a bet. I hope you will.

    We all have a virus called “internet” and it’s in our blood, it’s not a job, it’s passion. Can you stay away from your passion? I hope you will. It will be a lesson for me and I will be next!

    Life is not just online, take care of your family, we only live once, it’s good to live it with beloved ones (too).

  240. Matt, enjoy your leave! If you decide to go to Italy with your wife, I would happily give you some tips on best places πŸ˜‰ it can be very romantic.

    Sonia

  241. Hey Matt, Enjoy your vacation trip. Matt Life Algorithm Update rollout…….

  242. only and ever to work life is too short
    so I wish you a good time
    and hope we see you back with new energy
    and some new ideas

    and a little tip for the training before the half ironman:
    think now on later prblems.
    train runnig and spinning more in the water.
    I devellopped some special exercises because of my illneses
    (spinal disc, heel spur and Plantar-Fibromatosis from too much running)
    I can not run or cycle without some pain later
    but in the water it is smooth
    and the joints and tendons are not so loaded by the training over years
    may bee I am make some little movie spots out of it

  243. I’m glad you’re doing this. I took three months off when I was working for ITS, sat on a beach in Thailand, lost 20 lbs, completely off the network, not even a phone. It was great. I think it takes a month or so to completely leave work behind. Enjoy!

  244. Enjoy!

  245. Enjoy your vacation and be nice and do not come back πŸ˜€

  246. Life is too short to spend on fighting spam. The family is always first! Good luck Matt! Hope you and your wife will enjoy a long time off.

  247. That’s really a long vacation Matt. Enjoy!

  248. Several years down the road you will realize this is one of the best decisions you have made. Congratulations on taking time out, time for you, time for your wife, and your parents. We are all on borrowed time. The slow road is a very rewarding journey.

  249. Good for you, Matt. Enjoy yourself!

  250. The Fates only give us a limited amount of time on this earth. It is our choice as to how we spend that time — You have chosen wisely. Take a break, think big thoughts and know that your presence will be missed and your return awaited. We all should take time off away from our computer screens to be with those who make it all worth while –our families and loved ones. Bon voyage!

  251. Uber respect for your taking time off!! I believe more in our industry need to know it’s okay, and healthy, to unplug and nurture relationships.

    I’m hoping you’ll update us with a few non-work posts (or tweets). Would love to hear how Vineman goes. Hope the weather is in your favor. For someone who used to not prefer cycling and is now doing a half Ironman, KUDOS!

  252. Pubcon wont be the same without trying to track you down at the end of your keynote πŸ˜‰

    For travelling might I suggest Seychelles too… 15 years ago i got married there and still think of it as one of the best places on earth. Search for pictures of “La Digue” on that Googley thingy ma jig.

    Enjoy your time off! Well deserved!

    Carlos

  253. Enjoy your holiday Matt.

  254. There’s nothing better than time with family! How wonderful for you to have these warm fuzzies to carry with you as you slowly unplug. You’re a class act, Matt. Wishing you perspective, rest, and rejuvenation. (And keep a handwritten journal of all the cool a-has you see and learn! Educators say that writing in cursive helps to unlock and express what’s in the mind.:)

  255. Enjoy your well deserved break. Have a great time Matt πŸ™‚
    We’ll miss you

  256. Hope you enjoy a well deserved break.

  257. Have fun Matt!
    If you end up travelling to Madrid, let me know and I’ll show you guys around πŸ™‚

  258. Deependra Kumar

    Have a great fun, and do refresh yourself for coming back. It’s really pleasant to be with our beloved one. Thanks Matt. Wish you the best. Deependra

  259. Hi Matt, have a nice and well deserved break from work, disconnecting from the email is a must, otherwise will be though to be completely on holidays. Enjoy the time with your wife and when back you’ll be a fresh man! πŸ™‚

  260. Hi Matt Cutts, enjoy your vacation with your family
    Holidays are the best. I couldn’t imagine being from a small family.
    Thats sound good. Have a great Vacation πŸ™‚

  261. Enjoy the vacation. If you get bored, I bet Larry and Sergey could get you tickets to Burning Man. πŸ˜‰

  262. Congrats on the Vacation!!! I wish I had the strength to put dow the work email and live a disconnected life for a week! The 30 Day Challenge seems a bit harsh lol. Kudos Enjoy!

  263. Vince Pimentel

    Enjoy Matt, I’m glad you are living up to your end of the deal. πŸ˜‰
    Better late than never!
    You’ll have to write a blog about your journeys, experiences and your fresh views/approach after being gone. Because we all know, your mind isn’t going to ‘park’ work, but just be less focused on it.

  264. Much respect to you for unplugging and focusing on things outside of work!

  265. its good to take a leave for some time.
    this will be good for you and your family.

  266. Hey Matt.. Enjoy Holidays.. Make them Most memorable.

  267. Good luck Matt, have tons of fun! Thanks for all the valuable advice over the many years. See you again late 2014.

  268. Hi Matt!

    Thank you for letting us know about your vocations. Yes you deserved to have a long leave more then months πŸ™‚ Caz you have show your lot of dedication as a head of web spam team at Google.
    Stay blessed.

    Thanks
    Mazhar

  269. You have earned it Matt. Disconnecting from email and technology (as much as that is possible these days πŸ˜‰ is a great idea. Enjoy your time off.

  270. Even presidents take vacations once in a while, yours is more than well-deserved. The internet will be here when you come back.

    I hope.

  271. Enjoy your vacation, Matt. Have a great adventure ahead!

  272. Christy Kunjumon

    Good for you Matt, have a good time with family. If you are planning to come Kerala, India, please do tell me. A bunch of SEO’s are waiting to see you here. We will surely have fun πŸ™‚

  273. Have a great time and enjoy your break

  274. its good !! πŸ™‚

  275. Leigh Alzapiedi

    Wow, that sounds like a great getaway for the two of you! I give it a couple of weeks before typing “google.com” into the browser results with “malfunction”

  276. But duuuuude,!!!
    You are like, my favorite nerd!
    What the heck am I gonna do with out you?!?!!

  277. Have a good holiday.

  278. Enjoy your time Matt!

  279. sachin mahajan

    Good luck Matt! Enjoy it πŸ˜‰

  280. very good rest by matt .. We love you .. πŸ™‚

  281. Hi Matts, what a brave choice. Enjoy everything!

  282. Leave your smartphone at home, I look in the mail 5 times in 30 minutes. Relax and see the ocean, you’ll be no better than quieter there!

  283. Overdue and well deserved. Enjoy focusing on what’s really important in life.

  284. Few months is a pretty long period of time.. Anyway.. Enjoy every second πŸ˜‰

  285. You are probably not going to read that anymore, but good look for the half-ironman. Trained like hell for mine two years ago and let’s just say: It was hell, every meter, in the water, on the street. But after months of pain I guess crossing the finish line, may be one of the most magnificent moments of my life. And what better thing to do than training while spending time with your family. See you in a bit πŸ˜‰

  286. Great decision. Nothing’s more important than family. Google will keep on running, so no worries when you’re out. Have a nice trip.

  287. Bonnie Parrish-Kell

    Enjoy your time away, Matt! You’ll need that quality time for a fun yet challenging Ironman 70.3. Can’t wait to see *that* race report. πŸ™‚

  288. Your work with the webspam team has definitely earned you some R&R. Thanks for all the info and enjoy it.

  289. Have a good break from the crazy search world. Gosh, you need it

  290. Matt,

    Have fun. One of the things we like the most about cruising is the way time flows. Your hosts understand that and help you enjoy yourself as you move from moment to moment. At the ports, venture out on our own to experience the local flavor. You won’t miss a “guide”.

    Enjoy.

  291. Good for you Matt, hope you and your family enjoy your time off. Simon

  292. Have a great vacation!

  293. Heh Matt

    Good luck with your long break. I have been planning one with my wife for around 9 years or so now. But in the end, took the plunge and moved to Spain.
    I am sure us webmasters can get by.

    Remenber No work email!!!
    Do what I did. I got rid of my smartphone and went back to press numbers and a screen.
    Internet in Spain is about as fast as — well I am writing this quicker than it will upload.

    Enjoy!

  294. Good luck on the half ironman! I did triathlons for about 15 years to destress and get in shape. The hardest part is swimming, if you are not already a good swimmer.

    It’s going to be 1.2 miles with hundreds of other people, that can be intimidating. After that, the crowds spread out and you want to get through the bike ride and have something left to run or run/walk through the half marathon.

  295. Right on Matt. Taking time to be with family is a great thing. Glad for you and well deserved! Thank you for all that you have done to make the internet a better place.

  296. hello , Matt Sir you deserve it . Enjoy everything!

  297. Happy that at least you are tweeting while on leave.

  298. Hello matts,
    Give us some fresh news. How are your holidays? is it not too hard to not be active with your community? I tried to move for two weeks for vaccation without my computer last month, but I surrendered after three days:) I don’t know how you do!

  299. Ohhh.. then there will be no new updates from google for next few months, so we have some more time to do spam work… We SEOs are happy as like school children, bcz no teacher in class for some days… hehe

  300. That’s great Matt Cutts.

  301. I took a year, it was the best thing I ever did. Clear you mind and get new perspectives.

  302. Good for you! You really deserve to take time off to enjoy your family and explore new places.

  303. Great! Enjoy your summer

  304. ” Great point !
    Have a FUN trip ~ ”

    β˜€

  305. Good for you. Have a good time with your wife.. Relax time coming….

  306. Good luck Matt! You are deserve it more than anyone! Be good to your wife!

  307. Enjoy dude!

  308. Try to give more time to your family Matt work will never finish till end in life…

  309. good for you matt πŸ˜€ and congrat for aniversary πŸ˜€

  310. Ram Chaturvedi

    You guys think Matt is handling all the SEO updates individually? Naaahhhh..He has a team of experts which can take care of future updates and I think all the updates would be carried out on Time with no mercy lol.

    Now the real question is….whats next? πŸ˜€

    @Matt : Enjoy your holidays man!!

  311. Hey Matt, sorry to see you go! Hopefulyl someone else steps up and answers questions with regularity now too!

  312. Maybe we need to take a break… too! jeje

    Great! Enjoy your summer

  313. Matts Mood! Always good to disconnect a time to collect forces and thus return with more new ideas

  314. Smart man (and husband!).

  315. Hi Matt,

    Relax..Pray..Sleep..Enjoy..Cheers..:)

  316. Yes matt you are the one among the busy peoples, “rest” is one of the important word in life , so have a rest and enjoy your personnel life.

    thank you

    wish you All the best…

  317. It’important to know when you have to get some rest.
    Enjoy it !
    ++

  318. Have a great holiday Matt. I am sure you will enjoy it.

  319. Dear Matt,

    Working for a living is good, but the most important is health and family!
    rest well.

    best regards
    Jimmy

  320. i love you Matt i learned a lot from you you are kind and your reviews all are simple as 123 I am from Egypt and my English is not good but i feel that my words will get my mean
    have a good time i will wait your coming back .

  321. We all know Google has a department that deals with websites and their owners/manangers that have received a Manual Penalty. Does Google have a department that deals with owners/managers of website that have unfairly been penalized via an Algorithmic Penalty like Penguin?

  322. Hi Matt, good decision for you and your wife. If you decide to come in Nice, France, I’ll be glad to invite you to lunch

  323. Good for you man, there are so many places you could travel.
    If you go to Vineman , you should go travel China .

  324. That’s nice Matt!! Hope you are enjoying your holiday!
    Webmasters will miss you for a while! Google will miss you a lot!
    Have a great vacation!

  325. Hi Matt,

    Enjoy your Holidays and Stay with your Family.

    Hope to see you on board πŸ™‚

  326. I hope you left all your t-shirts at home. πŸ™‚
    Have a Great time and enjoy your family Mr. Matt.

  327. Matt You have been doing a great job. You really deserve some quality time off with your wife. enjoy.

  328. Wow! Many would be jealous but don’t worry. Enjoy the time with your family. I wish all men do that at some point in their life πŸ™‚

    Enjoy!!!

  329. Jealous, I just don’t think I’d ever be able to pull that off. Enjoy, you’ll be missed.

  330. Enjoy your summer Matt, you deserve it! Would love to hear some fresh news about your holiday. πŸ™‚

  331. You deserve it, enjoy your holiday!

  332. Well you gotta enjoy your life. To much work is not that good for anybody. Enjoy your vacation. I hope to see you back with more useful tips :).

  333. On a side note, have fun Matt and careful with the ice-cream, sore throat is no fun

  334. Enjoy !! Matt…see you back in action..

  335. Ramesh Chauhan

    Happy Holidays Matt!

  336. Enjoy the vacation Matt. Cheers

  337. Enjoy your vacay Matt! I’m pretty sure your wifey is uber happy πŸ˜€

  338. Enjoy your ballroom dance , and please your experience after coming back

  339. Have a nice summer Matt and enjoy your time in family.

  340. Enjoy the vacation Matt. When you get back, please share with us a few tips from what you might have learned along the way, on things like ‘how to control the tempt to not check emails’, ‘how to stay away from computers’, ‘what to do when there are no notification bells throughout the day’.. etc πŸ™‚

  341. I read you a lot! Just thinking how a Matt Cutts be build again to replace you when you are on leave!

  342. I’m jealous of the long vacation you’re taking; I’m not jealous of all the long hours and hard work you have put in to more than earn that long vacation! Enjoy!

  343. That is amazing Matt. This will help clear your mind and give you a chance to enjoy your Summer with the people you love the most. Have a wonderful time!

  344. Hello Matt,
    Semtrix Team wish you great Holidays. Please post some Uodates if.
    Enjoy your Holidays.
    See you

  345. Plenty of time to practice those quirky eyebrow expressions:)

  346. Congrats on the well deserved break. See you soon hopefully πŸ˜›

  347. Enjoy the vacation Have fun matt cutts Enjoy summer πŸ™‚

  348. Enjoy the time off Matt, you deserve it

  349. have fun. hope to see you soon. πŸ˜‰

  350. patiently waiting on October. enjoy your leave

  351. I wish I have that luxury as well, 4 months leave is so cool… Enjoy…

  352. hey Matt

    We have been following you a lot lately, along with search engine land and moz to make our website more mobile responsive and user friendly inline with your best practises. I have to say it was quite funny when you were throwing the penguins into the audience in one of the recent conferences. Can you send me one lol

    Besides all that & from us all in Australia at Compare and Choose we hope your time spent away from all the hard work is a relaxing & memorable one with your family and we hope you have an awesome time. Also would be great when your back to maybe let us know what you got up too, there will be thousands dying to hear lol. But if not then perfectly understandable

    Enjoy
    Alan

  353. Matt, I hope the time away is going well. If you’re in Lexington, KY on Thursday, October 9, please stop in national landmark, Keeneland Race Course for AAF Lexington’s inaugural 1/2 day digital conference, “Interactive Social” set in the sales pavilion. Chuck Brymer, CEO of DDB Worldwide and UK alum is joining us to speak. And if you want to attend our second annual agency hop and meet up on Wednesday, October 8, then share insights at the conference, we’d LOVE to have you.

  354. May you have a rejuvenating trip, Matt! You deserve it πŸ™‚

  355. Hello sir,

    Can any one give me guideline to come my keyword in google first page. What activity we have to apply for keyword to get in google first page. Please i kindly request to help me ……..

    Thanks & Regards

  356. Hope you are having fun.. Its 7th Aug (End of 30 day challenge :P) . We are waiting for you…

  357. Wow big news Matt. Enjoy your time off indeed and lets hope your wife can allow for some more Google-time afterwards πŸ™‚ Alle the best from Belgium!

  358. Time to enjoy with your family Matt, Happy holiday and refresh your mind.

  359. Enjoy your vacation. We all need to unplug from time to time.

  360. Matt you are dedicated to your work, I don’t know if I could have waited 15 years. You have a good wife too; my wife could not go a year without us going somewhere. Matt I know you didn’t ask for my opinion, but you should start spending more time with your wife.

  361. As you know already, family is much more important than the stress these computers could bring. I wish you and your wife an awesome vacation! Can’t wait to read your first after returning!

  362. That’s awesome and have a wonderful time. Enjoy it!
    -Christian

  363. You deserve it after working for so long time. Wishing you a happy vacation with your family and friends.

  364. But then who’s going to send out videos reassuring webmasters that there’s still hope?

  365. Like it sir..

    Waiting for update about Holiday’s business :)hahaha

    Enjoy your non-work life…!!!
    Good luck..!!

  366. Coool, πŸ˜€ please come to Indonesia.. and you will see a real life πŸ™‚

  367. Came to read your latest posts and found you have taken leave. Take a well deserved break and clear the mind. Enjoy!

  368. Hi, Matt – I hope you’re having a great holiday – did you get to Scotland?? πŸ™‚

    Look forward to seeing you back on duty later in the fall.

    Kind regards
    Margaret

  369. Great plan, I’d rather never have to work again, personally!

  370. Enjoy Your Vacation Matt!…

    Visit India in this time… You will enjoy a lot for sure…

  371. You’ve made the best choice in the world. Family comes first.
    Have a good holiday.

  372. Don’t forget to visit Kerala in India. Its heaven there during Monsoon, although I live in Mumbai πŸ™‚

    Well deserved break. Cheers.

  373. Hope ur having a great time. Any idea when you will be back?

  374. Great Matt! Have an amazing time.

  375. Its always good to take time away.

  376. We are missing you Matt When you will come? Hope you will come soon πŸ™‚

  377. Have a good time.

  378. Time away from work is the greatest thing going, it is called living. Have Fun.

  379. Hopefully, we will see you back on twitter soon too, enjoy yourshort leave, mr cutts

  380. I think after the pounding you’ve been giving you body, it truly needs a rest, however I think the long break is for the best. Good luck!

  381. Kristin McGowan

    I don’t even know you, but I miss you. It’s not the internet without Matt Cutts.

  382. How is the leave coming along? πŸ˜€

  383. Congratulations Matt! It’s about time you got a break…you’ve been working at Google for over half my life!!! Also, I love the unplug idea. Every time I go on vacation, I make sure not to touch a computer; unless I’m looking up what I’m going to do next that is! Again, congrats on taking the vacation, have a great time!

  384. Blackhatworld.com is getting so lonely without you Matt!!

  385. Just read about your holiday on twitter.
    Have a good time, Matt, you really deserve it!

  386. Hi Matt! I’ve really appreciated reading your blogs and though I’ll miss your posts, I am truly a man with a heart for my family as well and wish you nothing but the best! Enjoy!

  387. Have a nice summer! We will be glad to welcome you in Greece!!!

  388. I Wish I could do it too. It’s hard to get your mind off from the work when you live it with true passion. Family comes first in any case so, enjoy your time off, never check the email and see you for the usual “before christmas” algo change πŸ˜€

  389. Matt, enjoy your holiday! Hope to see you back real soon :).

  390. Hi Matt!

    Good luck with the training for the Iron Man.
    Other races planned for ’15?
    Would like to see you in the European circuit.

    Welcome back to work

  391. Have a great time Matt… !! Atleast we are satisfied that Google Spam is in safe hands.

  392. Matt,

    Hope your enjoying yourself. I too, took time off this year away from marketing to focus on family and friends. You’ll come back more energized and focused, and truly appreciate the little time we really have with those we love. Take care, and look forward to your return!

  393. enjoy your short vacation, mr cutts, please in the meantime try to continue sharing your insights on seo via twitter or g+, regards from europe.

  394. Ovidiu Drobotă

    Hello Matt Cutts!
    I have a question for you.
    Are all comments with links SPAM?

    When I post comments, I’m pointing my website because I am representing myself and I am using my name as an anchor text.

    The comments are relevant, but 50% of my website’s backlinks are from comments.
    Is that a problem? Let me know please.

    Thanks. πŸ˜€

  395. great time! Come back with new Google Webmasters videos good luck

  396. Matt, please come back – we need you πŸ™‚

  397. Matt, you have given much to this community and although I have been mad as heck at Google sometimes you personally have always been clear and consistent not to mention the fact that you a a really nice guy. Good luck with your time off and spending time with your long suffering wife!..I took 2 months last summer and went to Europe it was simply brilliant and you will grow in many ways from focusing on what is important not work.

  398. Hi Matt,

    Thank you for all, enjoy the happy day with your wife πŸ˜€

  399. A decade overdue and unquestionably well deserved.

    I’m a little late to the party, so I hope your cruise went well pal!

  400. Hi Matt,
    I wish you an awesome and amazing vacation. Dance the stress away and enjoy the travels πŸ™‚

  401. Have a Good time and Enjoy Your Vacations.

  402. I see “G” Favicon as Genesis framework πŸ˜€

  403. Hi Matt, Please come back!! The SEO world seems quiet without you!

  404. I hope you will make an easy come back, not with a bang πŸ™‚

  405. wow its good enjoy your vacation thanks for information

  406. if your leave still holding, have a great time:) If is not, welcome back πŸ™‚

  407. it,s very nice. Fun and spend time with family compulsory. ok matt cutts do fun with family.

  408. Been missing the 30-day challenges that inspire me to stick to mine too.

  409. Good for you…Enjoy sir

  410. I wish I could take time off! I need to stop being a newbie and make some money online!

  411. Will you be stopping in Dublin on your cruise? You really should you know. There’s a beer on me if you do πŸ™‚

  412. Have a great time..When will you get back?

  413. I will wait till you come back. Enjoy your time. Thanks Matt.

  414. Something everybody should do! Work hard and then enjoy even harder with doing no work for a while… good balance!

  415. Hello Matt,
    i would like to exchange with you about a problem on Google search with the filter “dates”.
    For example, i am looking for the last pages written about “GPS running” or “GPS Running TOM TOM” in France. I would like to buy the last release of this Watch. So, I launch the search with the filter “less than 1 week” or “less than 1 month”. All the results gives me articles written one year or more ago !!!!! The problem is the same with many products and i cannot be able to have fresh results. The second problem is that the articles do not give the exact date when written. So, you search fresh articles and you have old results….and when you access to the page, there is no date prooven the age of the article.
    Do you think Google able to improve that problem in the next months ?
    Best regards
    Jean-Michel

  416. Nice! And congrats on the well deserved break! Looking forward to hearing all about your long-break-experience once you’re back on the grid

  417. Hi Matt,

    Taking time off work is a great thing to do and your wife deserves it knowing how hard people at google work.

    Wishing you the best of luck and looking forward to your return.

  418. October month: so we expect a new Google Update once you will join office.

  419. congo Matt Cutts πŸ™‚

  420. Have a great Time

  421. I hope you’re enjoying your time out – so important to do so and hopefully you will inspire others to do the same. That said, we do miss your insights.

  422. Have a great time, it’s well deserved!

  423. All the best Matt. You deserve a little R+R

  424. Hurry, Matt on leave, SO No panda and penguin till he came back.

  425. Hey Matt,

    I did the same for our 20th anniversary …and took a year long family sabbatical. We toured across North America (did 36 States!) in a luxury rock star motorhome. It was a trip of lifetime and the focus and renewal was amazing. Hope your enjoying the quality time off.

  426. Who will be making now a new videos for Google?:)

  427. Wow.. having the ability to take time off and be with your wife is priceless.. would you be checking tweeter? Lol!!

    From Miami

    Alfred.

  428. Back to work!! πŸ™‚

  429. Hi Matt,

    When are you coming back online?

    Make the most of your private time while you can.
    I took 6 months off from work and traveled through Africa. It really made me appreciate what I had and gave me more energy to continue doing what I am doing.

    regards

  430. While congratulations are in order for taking a break, fifteen years appears to be a little bit of a long time before you get one. While working for Google must be a professional thrill that you never thought that you would get, your wife must have the patince of a saint. While writing this, you must be crusing by now. Enjoy, and start doing this annually, not twice every three decades!

  431. It’s good that you can take a break to refresh your mind. We’ll be waiting for you!

  432. Hope you enjoyed your vacation time.

  433. Hi Matt

    Have a great holiday and rest. I was just wondering though by posting this comment am I damaging my website because of spam type comments? That is a problem that you have addresses several times. So how do our comments stand on here? Lol No just joking go now while you have the chance and have a fantastic time.

  434. Hey Matt, you ready to come back yet? And are you returning with any of your Penguin friends? πŸ˜‰

  435. Google are going to struggle to find such a popular public face, you were the friendly helpful side of Google SEO to me.

    Have a great time and enjoy the break!

  436. Enjoy your extended leave, Matt, it’s much deserved.

  437. Hi Matt,
    I kinda feared this was coming as I counted away the days of October with no news of your return, but hope you’re really enjoying a little bit of freedom and time to enjoy with your wife.

    No idea whether you made it out to Pizza Republic in Hoboken during your New York trip, but if you haven’t been there yet, your Mac ‘n’ Cheese is paid for πŸ˜‰

    Sha

  438. Bold move – hard to do…but inspirational to others and shows where your priorities lay – and that you are taking the time to focus on your wife and family – you’ll never regret that move. When we leave this earth, we won’t say I wish I would have worked more!

  439. Have a good one Matt!

  440. This is a great way to refresh your mind & soul… Google seems to be a really supportive organization…

  441. Enjoy Matt…

  442. Have a great time!!

  443. No offense, but the webmaster team are doing such a good job I’d actually forgotten about your absence.

    Enjoy your continued time off.

  444. Enjoy your extended leave.. πŸ™‚ Really, you deserved..

  445. Mithilesh Tiwari

    Hello Sir,

    Good Luck for New Life, Stay Healthy Stay Happy…

    We are waiting for your new concept

  446. Hello Matt,
    We are really missing you. It has been long days that we are not getting any updates from you. Will you return in 2014? If not in 2014, How long it will take in 2015 that you will again provide us with your gold like posts.

  447. Hey Matt Sir we are missing you lot. We are waiting for you to come back. !!

  448. Congrats Matt! Enjoy all the time off while you can because you may not get another chance for another 15 years… Hope YOU learned how to dance and can rumba with the best and I am sure your wife will love you for it.
    Yup! Everything appears to be on track with both teams working faithfully in their respective ways. You may actually come back to quality work and out of the spam biz – LOL !
    See you in the new year and have a great season of wonders and joy along with the fa la lahs…
    “Ghost” –

  449. Nice one Matt

  450. Enjoy Matt…

  451. Matt Cutts is really awesome…I will greatly miss his enlightening comments and statements that shape the minds of webmasters across the world

  452. 15 years is a long time. Enjoy your vacation Matt.

  453. Matt Cutts we know you might be BURNT OUT and may never return to Google. Being an SEO guy, you and me have not always been good friends and I admit there have been times where I been very frustrated at you and Google. But at the end of the day I know you are a very nice guy who is just doing your job, and very well at times. Come back! We all know that now one can replace you and if someone did, we would hate that guy much more than we sometimes dislike you πŸ™‚

  454. We are really missing you and your insights. But you deserve the break and it’s important to prioritize life over work. My boss once had a team meeting and said your priorities should be “your family, your health, your God, and THEN your job. And the first 3 can be in any order you’d like”. I really respected him for that and it was great to hear it from management. Take care of yourself and get back to work when you are ready. πŸ™‚

  455. I expect you to come back soon to join Google, a lot of the knowledge I learned from you, and it’s very useful

  456. It is good to know there are still people out there that value their family time.

  457. Hello Sir,

    Enjoy your leave and be Happy & stay Healthy to you and your family..

  458. Hi ! – When are you coming back ?

  459. I am happy for you Matt, and I have enjoyed hanging out with you at various SEO conferences over the years. Chillax and enjoy what is real. – Russell Wright

  460. Hi Matt, this is my first visit to your blog. After a long time using various Google products rather embarrassing to admit this. That’s not much compared to I have to use Google Translate to translate and make comments LOL.

    Vacation in a long time and part with anything that smells office, especially after so long bled at the office, it will make people like me jealous. Ballroom dance any more and make me jealous. But okay. Personally I will wait for your next post. After from July until now no more posts.

    regards,
    iOutbound

  461. Balancing a healthy work/life balance in the web development world seems impossible sometimes. I think there’s a voice in all of our subconscious’s reminding us that since the internet never turns off… that somebody out there is doing the work we should be. It’s great that you’re taking a little time away and I think it can serve a reminder to a lot of us to take a step back every now and then. Cheers to a relaxing and well deserved break.

  462. Matt, it is good to take a break. Thanks for all of these very informative videos and blog posts. The other day I was reading your post on Meta descriptions, and found it amazing how you reply to every comment, (when you’re not on vacation), especially when some of the comments are quite snippy! You are a standup guy! Enjoy your time off and hope to see more from you in the future.

  463. hi matt
    good for you, but We are waiting for you to come back.

  464. Balancing a work and personal life in the web development world seems impossible sometimes.

    I am happy for you Matt, and I have enjoyed hanging out with you at various SEO conferences over the years. Enjoy your leave and be Happy & stay Healthy.

  465. Good luck Matt:)

  466. Good luck wise Matt. Enjoy the time!

  467. Hey Matt, Now you should return at-least. We all are waiting for you, You told us that you are going on leave for a few months but what is this! You know, without you whole seo industry looks dull, Thanks…

  468. Good luck, Matt, enjoy the time, you deserve that πŸ™‚

  469. great Matt, i think Google are going to struggle to find such a popular public face, you were the friendly helpful side of Google SEO to me.Have a great time and enjoy the break!

  470. Good, MattCutts

    Enjoy your Leaves with your Family. we all waiting for you…. πŸ™‚

  471. Enjoy the time!

  472. Okay i will just try to be very short, what so ever you did with the new algorithm is making google search results less friendly. I hope someone will read this or notice what i am trying to explain. It is getting where i think I need to replace google with another search engine.

    The other day i tried to search for a local service an the area but what results i got was completely different from what i used to get. Unfortunately google convince many that it is trying to prevent people from spamming or using black hat, but unfortunately it is not true. The results i got in local way far from being accurate, I got in local at least two websites with incorrect address, and wow when I looked at their site i found they tried every way to mention their keyword all over. Google needs to take action, unfortunately it is not right when you search for a business and you end up with bunch of “craps” and why a business which is out of the area has to show in that specific area? I am not even sure having correct citations, correct business name and address will help. At the end i am open to all suggestions.

  473. Although you are back in business, I found some tips in the A’s (of the Q&A) that are very helpful for me. Hope you won’t be going in 2015, because this blog is great!

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