[null,null,[],[[["\u003cp\u003eGoogle currently does not use the keywords \u003ccode\u003emeta\u003c/code\u003e tag to rank websites in its web search results.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe keywords \u003ccode\u003emeta\u003c/code\u003e tag has been disregarded by Google for many years due to frequent misuse and irrelevance.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAlthough Google does not use the keywords \u003ccode\u003emeta\u003c/code\u003e tag for ranking, it does support and utilize other \u003ccode\u003emeta\u003c/code\u003e tags, such as the description \u003ccode\u003emeta\u003c/code\u003e tag, for displaying search result snippets.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhile Google might utilize the keywords \u003ccode\u003emeta\u003c/code\u003e tag in the future, it is unlikely given its longstanding policy of ignoring it.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Google's web search ranking does not use the keywords `meta` tag, a policy established due to past abuse. While the Google Search Appliance product can match `meta` tags, this is separate from the main web search engine. Although Google ignores the keywords `meta` tag, it does use other `meta` tags, like the description tag, for search result snippets. Google has ignored keyword meta tags for years and sees no need to change this.\n"],null,["# Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking\n\n| It's been a while since we published this blog post. Some of the information may be outdated (for example, some images may be missing, and some links may not work anymore). However Google still [doesn't support](/search/docs/crawling-indexing/special-tags#unsupported) the keywords `meta` tag.\n\nMonday, September 21, 2009\n\n\nRecently we received some questions about how Google uses (or more accurately, doesn't use) the\nkeywords `meta` tag in ranking web search results. Suppose you have two website owners,\nAlice and Bob. Alice runs a company called AliceCo and Bob runs BobCo. One day while looking at\nBob's site, Alice notices that Bob has copied some of the words that she uses in her\nkeywords `meta` tag. Even more interesting, Bob has added the words \"AliceCo\" to his\nkeywords `meta` tag. Should Alice be concerned?\n\n\nAt least for Google's web search results currently (September 2009), the answer is no. Google\ndoesn't use the keywords `meta` tag in our web search ranking. This video explains\nmore, or see the questions below. \n\nDoes Google ever use the keywords `meta` tag in its web search ranking?\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nIn a word, no. Google does sell a Google Search Appliance, and that product has\n[the ability to match `meta` tags](https://code.google.com/apis/searchappliance/documentation/50/help_gsa/serve_filters),\nwhich could include the keywords `meta` tag. But that's an\nenterprise search appliance that is completely separate from our main web search. Our web search\n(the well-known search at Google.com that hundreds of millions of people use each day) disregards\nkeywords `meta` tag completely. They simply don't have any effect in our search ranking at present.\n\nWhy doesn't Google use the keywords `meta` tag?\n-----------------------------------------------\n\n\nAbout a decade ago, search engines judged pages only on the content of web pages, not any\nso-called \"off-page\" factors such as the links pointing to a web page. In those days, keyword meta\ntags quickly became an area where someone could stuff often-irrelevant keywords without typical\nvisitors ever seeing those keywords. Because the keywords `meta` tag was so often\nabused, many years ago Google began disregarding the keywords `meta` tag.\n\nDoes this mean that Google ignores all `meta` tags?\n---------------------------------------------------\n\n\nNo, Google does support several other `meta` tags. This\n[`meta` tags](/search/docs/advanced/crawling/special-tags) page documents more info on\nseveral `meta` tags that we do use. For example, we do sometimes use the description\n`meta` tag as the text for our search results snippets, as this screenshot shows:\n\n\nEven though we sometimes use the description`meta` tag for the snippets we show, we\nstill don't use the description `meta` tag in our ranking.\n\nDoes this mean that Google will always ignore the keywords `meta` tag?\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\nIt's possible that Google could use this information in the future, but it's unlikely. Google has\n[ignored the keywords `meta` tag for years](https://searchengineland.com/meta-keywords-tag-101-how-to-legally-hide-words-on-your-pages-for-search-engines-12099)\nand currently we see no need to change that policy.\n\nPosted by [Matt Cutts](https://www.mattcutts.com/blog/), Search Quality Team"]]
