Search Engine Land
  • SEO
    • > All SEO
    • > What Is SEO?
    • > SEO Periodic Table
    • > Google: SEO
    • > Bing SEO
    • > Google Algorithm Updates
  • PPC
    • > All PPC
    • > What is PPC?
    • > Google Ads
    • > Microsoft Ads
    • > The Periodic Tables of PPC
  • Focuses
    • > Local
    • > Commerce
    • > Shopify SEO Guide
    • > Content
    • > Email Marketing Periodic Table
    • > Social Media Marketing
    • > Analytics
    • > Search Engine Land Awards
    • > All Focuses
  • SMX
  • Webinars
  • Intelligence Reports
  • White Papers
  • About
    • > About Search Engine Land
    • > Newsletter
    • > Third Door Media
    • > Advertise

Processing...Please wait.

Search Engine Land » Google » Google Provides FAQ About Authorship, From Blocking To No Mascots

Google Provides FAQ About Authorship, From Blocking To No Mascots

Trying to get your head around Google authorship? The Google Webmaster Central blog has posted a new FAQ designed to provide some answers. What Qualifies For Authorship? What pages can have authorship applied to them? Criteria include the page actually being mostly authored by the designated author, that it carries a byline and that it’s […]

Danny Sullivan on August 21, 2013 at 1:53 pm

google-authorship-plusTrying to get your head around Google authorship? The Google Webmaster Central blog has posted a new FAQ designed to provide some answers.

What Qualifies For Authorship?

What pages can have authorship applied to them? Criteria include the page actually being mostly authored by the designated author, that it carries a byline and that it’s a single article, not a compilation page of articles by the author.

but i'm a great authorNo Mascots Allowed!

Think it would be funny if the Geico gecko appeared as an author in Google search results? Google doesn’t. Google “prefers to feature a human,” it says.

Pick One Google+ Profile

Think it would be cool to have multiple Google+ profiles in different languages, to link to if you write in different languages? Don’t, says Google.

One Author Only, For Now

Sorry, Google authorship still doesn’t support pieces with more than one author. Google says it’s still experimenting on how to deal with the situation of two or more.

Yes, You Can Block Authorship

Don’t want authorship to appear, which can sometimes happen even if you don’t set it up? Google reminds that you can block your profile from being used for authorship according to the instructions here.

Authorship Isn’t Publishership

Similar to the rel=author tag that Google provides, there’s a rel=publisher tag designed to help publishers identify a publication with content. But this is completely separate from authorship, Google reminds. And it doesn’t really do much, at the moment.

Authorship Isn’t For Product Listings

Sorry, even if one particular employee has worked really hard to customize a product page for retail items or perhaps for property listings, authorship is “discouraged” in these cases.

More Information

For more, see Google’s blog post today, its guide to authorship, our own The Definitive Guide To Google Authorship Markup and some of our other articles, below:

  • Author Rank, Authorship, Search Rankings & That Eric Schmidt Book Quote
  • No, Publishership Isn’t Coming Soon To Google Search To Join Authorship
  • Google Continues To Experiment & Expand Authorship
  • Google’s Matt Cutts: Web Spam Benefits From Using Rel=”Author”
  • Google Authorship Beyond Webpages
  • Advanced Authorship: The Deep Dive
  • Google: Authorship Bug Affects “Very Few Sites,” Actively Working On A Fix
  • Is Google Authorship Affecting Rankings Today?

 


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


New on Search Engine Land

    Webinar: Overcome third-party data challenges for CX success

    Is Google Search showing fewer sitelinks

    Google News new design being tested

    How privacy changes affect B2B paid search marketing

    Google search results spam for ‘Bill Slawski obituary’ shows the dark side of SEO

About The Author

Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land and MarTech, and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Related Topics

Google

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

Processing...Please wait.

See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Learn actionable search marketing tactics that can help you drive more traffic, leads, and revenue.

March 8-9, 2022: Master Classes (virtual)

June 14-15, 2022: SMX Advanced (virtual)

November 15-16, 2022: SMX Next (virtual)

Learn More About Our SMX Events

Discover time-saving technologies and actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges.

Start Discovering Now: Spring (virtual)

September 28-29, 2022: Fall (virtual)

Learn More About Our MarTech Events

Webinars

Take a Crawl, Walk, Run Approach to Multi-Channel ABM

Content Comes First: Transform Your Operations With DAM

Dominate Your Competition with Google Auction Insights and Search Intelligence

See More Webinars

Intelligence Reports

Enterprise SEO Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms

Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Sales Enablement Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Digital Experience Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

Enterprise Call Analytics Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

See More Intelligence Reports

White Papers

Reputation Management For Healthcare Organizations

Unlock the App Marketing Potential of QR Codes

Realising the power of virtual events for demand generation

The Progressive Marketer’s Ultimate Events Strategy 2022 Worksheet

CMO Guide: How to Plan Smart and Pivot Fast

See More Whitepapers

Receive daily search news and analysis.

Processing...Please wait.

Topics

  • SEO
  • PPC

Our Events

  • Search Marketing Expo - SMX
  • MarTech

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2022 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.