Goossips SEO: Lastmod, Originality, Robots.txt

Changing a year in the footer is not a significant content update

Gary Illyes recently pointed out that merely updating the copyright year in a website footer does not constitute a significant content update. Therefore, it's not necessary to update the lastmod tag in the sitemap for this kind of minor change. The lastmod tag should be changed only for substantial content updates, such as major text revisions or structural changes to the page.

Source: Search Engine Roundtable

We mostly agree. There is indeed 'an update' and... an 'update'!

Goossip #2

For Google, 2025 is the year of originality

Gary Illyes stated that originality will be a priority for Google in 2025. This highlights the importance for sites and content creators to produce unique, authentic information, especially in the face of the rise of AI-generated content.

Source: Search Engine Roundtable

Focusing on originality, fine, but what exactly are we talking about? In a generative AI context where content tends to become homogenized, it makes sense that you need to find ways to stand out. Will that be enough for Google? Nothing is certain!

Goossip #3

If you want to block unwanted URLs, use robots.txt

In a LinkedIn discussion about handling undesired indexed URLs — in this case, 'add to cart' pages — John Mueller offered his advice. He recommended blocking these URLs via robots.txt, noting that it's unnecessary to canonicalize them (rel=canonical). He also pointed to an episode of Search Off the Record covering duplicate content, clustering, and canonicalization.

Source: Search Engine Journal

As Roger Montti points out, the rel-canonical attribute is a suggestion that Google may choose not to follow. It therefore seems wiser to use robots.txt or noindex.