Does google know too much about wordpress?

Newman8r · 09-20-2011, 11:24 AM

First off, I'll say I love wordpress and I really push my new clients to utilize it in some way since it's so user friendly.

I'm concerned about how big WP is getting and how smart google is when it comes to checking out these sites. WP says it powers almost 15% of the top million websites, so it's a big deal.

On my google webmaster tools panel I'm constantly getting information about how I should update my WP installations and specialized messages for wordpress.

Googlebot obviously knows its way around a WP installation and it might increasingly know what's up in terms of your marketing activities. The good thing about this is I don't think google penalizes as hard for 'appropriate' dupe content on a WP install, such as archives, category pages, tag pages, etc.

On the other hand, I wonder if there are any downsides to google knowing so much about someone's website. It's obviously not as much of a risk as using google analytics (which I use for most of my sites anyway), but WP is constantly developing new features that googlebot could eventually use to gain 'unwanted' insights into your site.

At this time I don't think it's a big deal at all, but I'm definitely keeping watch.

MikeFriedman · 09-20-2011, 11:50 AM

Matt Cutt's blog is run on Wordpress, so I'm pretty sure Google doesn't have any issues with it.

yukon · 09-20-2011, 11:51 AM

Remove the Wordpress Version number from your header.

1) Backup your site

2) Read this http://www.proxyutza.com/remove-wordpress-version-tag-from-header/

3) The code in the link above goes in the functions.php file, at the very bottom of the page.

When you remove the WP-Version from your source code you should stop getting those messages to update in GWT (Google Webmaster Tools), worked for me.

Doing this has no effect on any pages in the SERPs. I've been running without the version number on multiple WP sites for a few months, no problems in the SERPs.

Jared581 · 09-20-2011, 12:22 PM

The web is so ginormous that Google can only check out sites through their algorithms.

To me, that means we are all on a level playing field. Google just wants original, relevant, easily crawlable, fast, and secure content. They say it all the time!

Jared

09-20-2011, 11:24 AM	#1
Newman8r Warrior Web Developer Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 152 Thanks: 10 Thanked 17 Times in 16 Posts	Does google know too much about wordpress? First off, I'll say I love wordpress and I really push my new clients to utilize it in some way since it's so user friendly. I'm concerned about how big WP is getting and how smart google is when it comes to checking out these sites. WP says it powers almost 15% of the top million websites, so it's a big deal. On my google webmaster tools panel I'm constantly getting information about how I should update my WP installations and specialized messages for wordpress. Googlebot obviously knows its way around a WP installation and it might increasingly know what's up in terms of your marketing activities. The good thing about this is I don't think google penalizes as hard for 'appropriate' dupe content on a WP install, such as archives, category pages, tag pages, etc. On the other hand, I wonder if there are any downsides to google knowing so much about someone's website. It's obviously not as much of a risk as using google analytics (which I use for most of my sites anyway), but WP is constantly developing new features that googlebot could eventually use to gain 'unwanted' insights into your site. At this time I don't think it's a big deal at all, but I'm definitely keeping watch.

09-20-2011, 11:50 AM	#2
MikeFriedman Don't Drink and SEO War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: York, PA Posts: 2,009 Thanks: 207 Thanked 551 Times in 393 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Does google know too much about wordpress? Matt Cutt's blog is run on Wordpress, so I'm pretty sure Google doesn't have any issues with it.
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09-20-2011, 11:51 AM	#3
yukon SEO Strategist War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 6,532 Thanks: 355 Thanked 1,992 Times in 1,273 Posts	Re: Does google know too much about wordpress? Remove the Wordpress Version number from your header. 1) Backup your site 2) Read this http://www.proxyutza.com/remove-wordpress-version-tag-from-header/ 3) The code in the link above goes in the functions.php file, at the very bottom of the page. When you remove the WP-Version from your source code you should stop getting those messages to update in GWT (Google Webmaster Tools), worked for me. Doing this has no effect on any pages in the SERPs. I've been running without the version number on multiple WP sites for a few months, no problems in the SERPs.

09-20-2011, 12:22 PM	#4
Jared581 Warrior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Diego Posts: 9 Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Social Networking	Re: Does google know too much about wordpress? The web is so ginormous that Google can only check out sites through their algorithms. To me, that means we are all on a level playing field. Google just wants original, relevant, easily crawlable, fast, and secure content. They say it all the time! Jared
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