Google's Preferred Sources tool is surfacing parked domains, spammy domain squatters, and random websites, detracting from legit sites that should be benefiting.

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This development reflects ongoing changes in how search engines evaluate and rank content, with implications for organic visibility strategies.

A simple guide to plug-and-play AI tools that free up your time, help you win back repeat customers, and keep your business growing well into the new year. Google's Preferred Sources tool is supposed to benefit high quality sites.

Why is it surfacing spammy domain squatters and random sites? Google’s Preferred Sources tool is meant to let fans of certain websites tell Google they want to see more of their favorite sites in the Top News feature. However, Google is surfacing copycat spam sites, random sites, and parked domains. Some of the sites appearing in the tool are so low quality that only their home pages are indexed.

Key points

  • I have 25 years hands-on experience in SEO, evolving along with the search engines by keeping up with the latest ...
  • What appears to be happening is that people are registering domains that are similar to those of well-known websites.
  • One way they’re doing it is by domain squatting on an exact match to domain name using a different TLD.
  • Rather than relying on Google’s ranking system alone, users can make their preferred news sources appear more frequently.
  • It’s possible that SEOs are registering copycat domains and then submitting their domains to the Preferred Sources tool .

Why it matters: Could influence rankings, visibility, or content strategy decisions.

Source: Search Engine Journal

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