Unscripted SaaS

Interview With Also Asked Founder: Mark Williams-Cook

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Guest Introduction
  • Mark Williams-Cook: Director of Kanda (formerly Candour SEO agency)
  • Creator of Also Asked, a search intent research tool
  • Publisher of Core Updates Newsletter
  • Host of SEO Patent Podcast
  • 20+ years of SEO experience
    • Key Topics Covered
    Current Google Search "Meta"
    • Google's algorithm favors brand-like signals over traditional relevance
    • Example: The Vatican website ranking for CBD gummies after being hacked
    • Mark describes this as "a bandaid for the shortfalls that have been magnified in Google's algorithm because of Gen.ai"
      • Content Creation Strategy
      • Video-first approach: "Start at video and work backwards" using transcription tools
      • Particularly effective for client information: "If you are having to get information, especially from clients, sometimes trying to get clients to write an article is like getting blood out of a stone"
      • Allows natural expertise to flow: "They will happily talk your ear off"
      • Tools turn video into written content without "regurgitating stuff"
        • User Knowledge Levels
        • Google has patents for understanding user expertise through search patterns
        • Demonstrated in People Also Ask (PAA) results showing different questions based on perceived knowledge
        • Example: Car dealership knowledge levels
          • Novice: "Red car under $20k near me"
          • Intermediate: "2024 Honda Civic MPG vs Toyota Corolla"
          • Expert: "Civic Type R torque curve comparison"
            • Google Query Classification
            • Google classifies queries into distinct semantic categories
            • These classifications determine which SERP features appear
            • Additional classifiers like "local intent" and "explicit local intent" work alongside these categories
            • Mark is developing a tool to predict which category a query falls into
              • Evolution of SERP Features
              • AI Overviews: Likely to eventually replace featured snippets
                • More dynamic and nuanced answers
                • Google reported 90% cost reduction in generating them
                • Featured Snippets: Currently coexist with AI overviews
                • People Also Ask (PAA): Critical for Google's query understanding
                  • Mentioned in DOJ trial as part of Google's "induction loop"
                  • Allow Google to understand different interpretations of the same query
                  • Localization feature coming to Also Asked tool
                    • The Future of Search
                    • Prediction: Shift from users doing research to AI agents doing it for them
                    • "I think we are going to have a fundamental shift of rather than people doing their own research..."
                    • Advantage to companies that own hardware (Google, Apple, Microsoft)
                    • Privacy concerns will diminish as convenience increases
                      • SEO Tools Mentioned
                      • Also Asked: Mark's tool for analyzing PAA data
                      • Screaming Frog: For automated content analysis
                      • ChatGPT API: For content gap analysis
                      • Perplexity: AI search tool Mark recommends
                      • 11 Labs: Voice cloning technology (mentioned in context of potential misuse)
                      • Storm: Stanford's agentic model for scientific paper creation
                        • Technical SEO Insights
                        • Google uses binary trust systems for many technical signals
                        • "If you get them all wrong, it's not like Google will trust you a bit less. They just have a very simple thing of, well, you don't seem to know what you're doing."
                        • Site reputation abuse handled manually rather than algorithmically
                        • Example of PageRank evolution: still used but significantly modified from original patent
                          • People Referenced
                          • Mordy Oberstein: Mentioned regarding brand discussions
                          • Gary Illyes ("Garyish"): Google representative
                          • Danny Sullivan: Google Search Liaison
                          • Darren Shaw: Discussed query categories with Mark
                          • Arnoud Hellman: Provided examples of localized PAAs
                          • Bill Slawski ("Bill Flosky"): Known for patent analysis
                          • Olaf Kopp: Current patent analysis work
                          • Lily Ray: Mentioned regarding Reddit in SERPs
                          • Michael Buckby of Noah Toa
                          • Matt Brooks of SEOteric
                          • Commercial restaurant cost savings company:Save Fry Oil 
                            • Resources
                            • Search Engine Land guide: Mark's guide on using Screaming Frog with Also Asked
                            • learningseo.io: Referenced for learning about SERP features
                              • Live Test Examples
                              • "Jam sandwiches" query test showing AI overview replacing featured snippet
                              • Demonstration of entity analysis with non-existent URL showing AI hallucination issues
                                • Upcoming Developments
                                • Query classification tool (planned release before Brighton SEO in April)
                                • Also Asked localization feature allowing city-specific PAA monitoring
                                • Location-specific search results using longitude/latitude data
                                  • SEO Conferences Mentioned
                                  • Brighton SEO
                                  • SERPConf
                                    • Contact Information
                                    • LinkedIn: Mark Williams-Cook
                                    • Bluesky: Mark Williams-Cook (previously on Twitter/X)
                                    • Newsletter: CoreUpdates.com
                                      • ...more
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                                      Unscripted SaaSBy Jeremy Rivera