Google Algorithm Updates After the Leak: Erfan Azimi on What Changed and What Didn’t

Описание: Google algorithm updates have shaped online businesses for over a decade — but what really changed after the Google leak?

In this episode of Odys Podcast, Erfan Azimi, the expert behind the Google leak, joins us 18 months later to explain what happened after the leak, whether he faced repercussions, and how Google algorithm updates actually work today.

We go beyond headlines and controversy to break down what the leak confirmed, what it didn’t, and what SEOs, founders, and C-level executives must understand to protect traffic, revenue, and long-term growth in a post-leak search landscape.

If your business depends on organic traffic, content, or visibility, this conversation will fundamentally change how you think about Google.

🔥 KEY TOPICS COVERED:

The Google Leak
• What the Google leak really revealed
• What SEOs misunderstood about the leak
• Whether Google “gaslit” the industry for years
• Did Erfan face consequences after publishing it?

Google Algorithm Updates Explained
• How Google algorithm updates actually work today
• Which ranking signals still matter post-leak
• What changed — and what didn’t
• Why user behavior data matters more than ever

SEO & Business Strategy After the Leak
• Why “playing Google’s game” is the wrong mindset
• What SEOs should stop doing immediately
• How founders and C-level leaders should think about search risk
• Why businesses should not be like Google

AI Search & The Future of the Open Web
• Google SGE, AI search, and traffic disruption
• How algorithm updates affect publishers and content creators
• What the future of search means for businesses relying on organic growth

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 introduction
2:35 life after the google leak - legal concerns and community response 4:45 google's real worry: AI overviews hurting the open web
6:10 90% of AI hype is illusion, 10% is reality
7:31 community reaction to the leak - 99% positive feedback
8:37 google's gaslighting campaign exposed - click data denial
9:43 5 days of chaos and silence at google after the leak
11:45 google's spam combat improvements post-leak
12:30 why you should ignore google PR and do your own research
15:25 click patterns for sustained high rankings - long clicks vs short clicks
16:30 link quality tiers: high, medium, and low index clusters
17:05 fresh content gets temporary boost to high quality bucket
18:30 site authority scores and subfolder-level signals
20:30 author bylines - not a ranking factor but impacts indirectly
22:30 semantic clusters vs isolated keywords - what's changed
24:30 freshness penalties and evergreen content strategy
27:45 chrome data as popularity signals - the shadow ban effect
30:05 internal link graph optimization for enterprise sites
33:12 spam signals for links - what google ignores vs penalizes
36:40 glue algorithm - how google adjusts SERP features based on user behavior
38:45 mixing media types in content - why it can hurt rankings
41:15 the missing elements from the google leak
42:45 how google gaslit the SEO community for 15 years
45:00 social signals impact on rankings through chrome and entity building
46:00 google algorithm updates slowing down due to AI overviews
47:04 new websites now need 12 months to recover (not 6 months)
47:30 will AI disrupt google's position in search?
49:00 traditional search algorithm development is paused
50:20 AI already replacing google for informational queries
51:20 should you focus on AI search optimization right now?
52:15 the SEO vs GEO debate - financial motives exposed
55:00 final message: don't hurt people

💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS:
✓ The Google leak didn’t break SEO — it clarified it
✓ Google algorithm updates are more data-driven than Google admits
✓ Many “best practices” never mattered in the first place
✓ SEO is no longer a traffic tactic — it’s a business risk decision
✓ Founders must understand search, not delegate it blindly

👤 ABOUT ERFAN AZIMI:
Erfan Azimi is an SEO expert and data researcher best known for publishing the Google leak that exposed internal details about how Google Search operates. His work has reshaped industry conversations around ranking signals, user data, and trust — forcing SEOs and business leaders to rethink how Google algorithm updates actually work.

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