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Infographic: The Matt Cutts Debunking Flowchart

Officially, Google distinguished engineer Matt Cutts heads Google’s web spam fighting team. Unofficially, he’s Google’s chief debunker. If someone seems to be talking crazy about Google, Matt may turn up with a polite clarification. When does Matt react? This is Search Engine Land’s guide, based on years of observations (you can click to enlarge it). […]

Danny Sullivan on May 31, 2013 at 12:01 am

Officially, Google distinguished engineer Matt Cutts heads Google’s web spam fighting team. Unofficially, he’s Google’s chief debunker. If someone seems to be talking crazy about Google, Matt may turn up with a polite clarification. When does Matt react? This is Search Engine Land’s guide, based on years of observations (you can click to enlarge it).

Origin Of The Flowchart

This flowchart originally appeared two years ago, on May 31, 2011. I was delivering on a promise I once jokingly made to Matt, that I would outline his debunking process as I’d observed it from afar to work. Matt hit three debunks on that day, so I quickly punched out a flowchart, a simple version, made in about an hour. The original can still be seen here.

New & Improved!

The flowchart became more popular than I ever imagined. That made me want to get a nicer version made. For its two-year anniversary today, I’m happy to present the updated infographic from the folks at Column Five Media, who do great work (thanks Travis, Jason & Kelsey). The content is the same as my original, but it’s more fun and more colorful (except for the language — I changed one word to be more office-friendly).

Get Your Copy

Want the infographic for your site? You can also directly host the flowchart, as long as you credit this page and link back to it in some way that seems reasonably appropriate. Here are two sizes:

Even easier, just use our embed codes below:

Small PNG – 600×464 (104k)

Large PNG – 1000×773 (177k)

Want to print a copy? Here’s a PDF version suitable for that.

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, Marketing Land, MarTech Today 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.