Amazon’s internal search results pages are showing up in Google’s search engine results pages. Some are ranking well for their chosen keyword.
Google is showing, and in many cases, ranking Amazon’s search results in their search results pages. If you search for a keyword in Google, such as ‘smores k cups’, one of the top ranking results in Google’s organic search results is Amazon’s search results page for that same keyword, ‘smores k cups’. This is a big deal for several reasons, but I don’t think it’s acceptable to rank search results pages in the search results pages. It’s just a bad user experience overall.
Search Results in Search Results is Bad for Users
Showing pages of search results in the search results is, essentially a bad user experience. When we search at Google, as a user of that search engine, I am generally looking for information about something. Or, in the case of the name of a certain product or product category, I am looking for that product. The last thing I want to do is click on a search engine result and then see another page of search results. It just adds more clicks. And, personally, if I was looking to buy something on Amazon, I would go directly to Amazon and search for it. I don’t need to go to Google, search for something, and then have to essentially search AGAIN at Amazon.
The Amazon Search Results in Google’s Results
In the case of Amazon’s search engine results showing up in Google’s search engine results right now (as I write this), we can see exactly that this is, in fact, search results pages from Amazon that are “ranking” in Google’s search engine results.
If you look at the URL that is indexed in Google, it looks like this:
https://www.amazon.com/smores-k-cups/s?k=smores+k+cups
The “smores-k-cups” is a category (a sub category actually) of another category page on Amazon. The “s?k=” part of the URL is the search function (k stands for keyword), and you can easily see the keyword smores+k+cups in the URL. There is absolutely no question in my mind that this is a search result from Amazon, just looking at the URL. But even better, when you click on the result (the page that is ranking in Google for “smores k cups”), you get a page of search results at Amazon, that looks like this:
Screen capture of the Smores K Cups search results page at Amazon.
This search results page at Amazon is apparent since the search function is already populated with the keyword, ‘smores k cups’.
Internal Search Results Pages are Thin Content
It’s been widely known in the search engine optimization and search industry that internal search results pages in websites are regarded at “thin content”. In March 2021, Ron Lieback wrote about thin content on websites in Search Engine Journal:
“Oh, doorway pages. They are a huge problem, and easy to recognize. Google describes these as:
Having multiple domain names or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page.
Pages generated to funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site(s).
Substantially similar pages that are closer to search results than a clearly defined, browseable hierarchy.”
It’s actually the 2nd and 3rd example there, that Mr. Lieback mentions, that I would like to point out. In fact, the Amazon search results pages, the pages that are currently ranking in Google, are, in fact, pages designed to funnel visitors into the actual usable portion of the site: Amazon is creating these pages so they’re indexable, and so they bring visitors to the actual product pages. These pages are also “substantially similar pages that are closer to search results”. They are, well, search results. Internal search results.
Let’s look at the Google Webmaster Guidelines: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/thin-content
There is that actual page about thin content. Let’s see what they say:
Google will take action against domains that try to rank by just showing scraped or other cookie-cutter pages that don’t add substantial value to users.
Wait, what?!? Google will take action (as in give the domain a manual action penalty) against sites that “try to rank by just showing scraped or other cookie-cutter pages”. I don’t see how internal search results pages, literally millions of those pages, add substantial value to users. After all, users can just go search for that keyword at Amazon. And “try to rank”? Well, it’s not Amazon trying to rank: they’re actually ranking for these keywords.
Will Google actually take action against Amazon because they are getting their internal search engine results pages to rank in Google? I don’t know the answer to that. However, all I can do is point it out: and do my best to make sure that Googlers have a chance to see this.
Google Has Indexed Search Results Pages Before
It’s not like we haven’t dealt with this before. A while back, I wrote about Google indexing Bing’s search results pages in their search results. Once that came to light, and Google found out about it, Google promptly removed those search results from their search results. It happened back in 2019, and before that, it occurred in 2013.
As a searcher, or a user of the Google search engine, do you think that an internal search results page should rank well in the Google search engine results? Regardless of whether this is Amazon or not, what if it is another large retailer? Or even a small retailer? Does that provide a good user experience? I don’t think so.
In this nineteenth episode, WordPress’s Executive director, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, discusses and expresses gratitude for the inspiration behind the People of WordPress series, HeroPress.
Have a question you’d like answered? You can submit them to wpbriefing@wordpress.org, either written or as a voice recording.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the WordPress Briefing. The podcast where you can catch quick explanations of the ideas behind the WordPress open source project, some insight into the community that supports it, and get a small list of big things coming up in the next two weeks. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy. Here we go!
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 00:29
The month of November includes the Thanksgiving holiday in my part of the world and in my familial traditions. And one of the things that November always brings up for me is the concept of gratitude. I have a gratitude practice that lasts throughout the year. But this time of year always kind of lets me look outside what makes me feel routinely grateful and explore areas that I don’t always notice.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 01:05
This year, I’m taking some time to do that in the context of the WordPress project, and it’s reminded me of one of the foundational things I talk about a lot that may be a little harder for folks to see. I am routinely grateful, of course, for the people who show up to maintain WordPress, the people who keep the back office work going, the contributors who contribute directly to the WordPress CMS and project, the folks who routinely go out and tell other people about WordPress and make sure others know how to use it.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 01:35
But there’s another group that I talk about a lot that is a little harder to grasp. And that’s this conceptual group of people whose lives have been changed by WordPress. I used to run into people like this all the time when I was organizing WordCamps. And the small but meaningful successes that they share year after year made me realize that my small contribution of organizing these events was really quite valuable; valuable to them, and I assumed also valuable to just other people in the WordPress project.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 02:09
Now, if you’re contributing in a way that doesn’t let you have contact with the same users consistently over time, or if contributing doesn’t quite balance out in your ledger at the moment, it can be hard to put names to faces in a way that lets you see how your contributions are making an impact. To help with that, a few years ago, the WordPress project partnered with the community Marketing team and the HeroPress team to share the People of WordPress series which you can find monthly on wordpress.org/news. For me, this series provides a glimpse into the humanity of the people who use WordPress, and for me, that’s enough. If all the series ever did was to remind us that WordPress was made for people whose needs matter, that would be enough to continue to have that series forever. But fortunately, the series does quite a bit more than that.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 03:04
The People of WordPress series also lifts up the stories of people who we don’t always hear from in technology. It highlights the wide array of origin stories that lead people to WordPress. It reminds us of the global nature of what we’re doing. It reconnects us to the hopefulness of our own first WordPress successes. And it draws a direct line to why we should care about refreshing the commons of this open ecosystem. I’m sure that there are more things that do as well. But those are just the things off the top of my head, we draw all of the people of WordPress stories that are inside that series directly from the HeroPress essays that have been submitted by users. And I was gonna say users like you in a kind of Reading Rainbow way. But I actually don’t know if any of you are everyday users who are also using WordPress but maybe not contributing yet. If you are then like I’m talking to you. And if you’re not, I’m probably still talking to you. Because all of these stories that go to HeroPress are very valuable and very important for us to know. Anyway, I digress.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 04:14
Topher DeRosia, who founded HeroPress, is among the first people I met in the community lo these many years ago. And I think the impact that HeroPress has on the WordPress community as a whole is not always well recognized. So in the spirit of expanding the scope of my gratitude, and in the context of refreshing the commons, I would encourage you to head over to HeroPress.com and their newly launched HeroPress Network and see if there’s any little way that you can contribute to their commons, submitting your story donating to their network offering a small bit of volunteer time if you happen to have any spare time lying around. I know that the team would be delighted to hear from you.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 05:01
That leads us now to our small list of big things. We are about a week away from the feature freeze for WordPress 5.9, the final release of the year. Feature freeze caused a little confusion last time. So I just want to clarify there won’t be a package released with this milestone. But no more enhancements or features will be worked on at that point. And bug fixing will become the primary focus. That will be on November 9, which I believe is next Tuesday. It’s definitely next week whenever the calendar turns to nine of November 2021. That’s the day that we’re going into feature freeze.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 05:38
The second big thing in our small list of big things is that team rep nomination season is upon us. If you are a team rep or want to learn more about being one, now is the time to kind of look at what’s going on and how to keep everything moving in that way. I’ll include a link to the announcement post of that in the notes below.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 05:57
And finally, Daylight Saving Time movements are also upon us. Some parts of the world are ending Daylight Saving Time others are starting it and some have already started or stopped that already. So no matter where you are, don’t forget to check and double-check the timing of things across time zones for the next few weeks.
Josepha Haden Chomphosy 06:21
And that is your small list of big things. Thank you for tuning in today for the WordPress Briefing. I’m your host, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, and I’ll see you again in a couple of weeks.
When it comes to creating a great piece of web-based art, the details are what stand out. Lighting and shading effects are prime examples. They can turn a flat, 2D work into an immersive 3D experience.
For quite a while, the ability to add realistic light and shade to an illustration or animation seemed like the holy grail. The technology wasn’t always there. Thus, developers had to find workarounds to approximate the effect.
Thankfully, the power of CSS and various JavaScript libraries have ushered in a new age. It’s now possible to add lighting and shading effects that are nearly on par with what we see in video games.
Today, we’ll share some CSS and JavaScript code snippets that bring these effects to life. Enjoy!
Creativity Now✨(click anywhere) by Anna the Scavenger
Text seems like a natural place to add lighting and shading. But this example takes it to a whole other level. The creative makeup of each letter and cursor-following animation makes this a true work of art. It’s akin to a 3D mobile hanging from your ceiling. Even better: click on the presentation to create an entirely new look.
Place your cursor on one of the upper corners of a photo, then click-and-drag downwards. You’ll notice the image ripping apart. By itself, that’s a pretty cool effect. But what really sells it is the shading as the perspective shifts. The entire process feels very much authentic.
This 3D animation has a stunning liquid effect. A piece of metal twists and morphs its way into various objects. Realistic reflections make it all the more compelling to watch, thanks to WebGL.
Nothing like performing a huge drum solo in the spotlight. What? You’ve never been in a famous band? Maybe the next best thing is to play this virtual drumkit, made from a hamburger. You get the sounds, the spotlight and even the shadows. Just don’t get any grease on your new clothes.
Here we have a slinky-like array of pure CSS squares. Their chain-reaction animation is further enhanced by the use of, you guessed it, lighting and shading. Gradients add the illusion of depth, while drop shadow moves along with each layer of the animation.
This virtual art installation is certainly abstract. It features a colorful blob that morphs as your cursor moves across the screen. Rays of light add a touch of realism. However, click on the “Light OFF” button and the entire presentation transforms into a particle explosion.
With clever implementation, the flashlight effect can be simply amazing. Here it’s used to illuminate a rocky surface. Thanks to SVG, the image looks ultra-realistic. Both the light and perspective shift along with your cursor. It also has the benefit of being safer than walking around in the woods after dark.
This PAC-MAN inspired snippet brings the beloved video game into the 3D age. Ghosts travel through an illuminated cube, with sharp rays of light bursting through the maze. Once again, the cursor plays a role, as you can change the scene’s perspective by moving around.
It used to be that you needed high-end software to create convincing lighting and shading effects. But, thanks to the advancements in web technologies, similar enhancements can be achieved through code.
The ability to leverage hardware acceleration also plays a key role. Without the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU), these advanced scenes couldn’t run with such fluid motion.
Put together, the results can be stunning. And the examples above might only be scratching the surface of this potential.
Want to check out even more amazing 3D scenes? Visit our CodePen collection to get your fill!
BuddyPress is a powerful, free plugin that adds community features to your WordPress website. Install it on your site, and you’ll have access to handy features like activity streams, user profiles, notifications, groups, and private messaging. But that’s just the base layer of what BuddyPress can do.
bbPress is a forums plugin that is often used in conjunction with BuddyPress. The forums are easy on the eyes, simple to use, and fit nicely with BuddyPress groups.
Extending BuddyPress and bbPress with plugins can bring even more functionality to make your site into a real online community hub. You might be surprised at some of the cool features you can easily add-in.
Here are 10 free plugins you can use to make BuddyPress and bbPress even better:
Not only will BP Profile Search allow users to search member profiles, but it’s also a quick way to create a member directory. When it comes to search, you can build a custom form to meet your community’s needs. Directories are also easy to customize, with the ability to apply filters and create multiple member listings.
Add the power of collaborative documents to your community with BuddyPress Docs. Documents can be uploaded, assigned to specific users or groups, and edited on the front end of your site. There’s also a revision history and the ability to categorize/tag uploads.
BuddyPress has a default messaging system. But if you want to take things up a notch, BP Better Messages offers an improved user experience. It uses AJAX to power live chat, allows for file uploads and multimedia embeds. Messages can range from a private chat between two users or site-wide notifications.
BuddyPress Group Email Subscription helps keep group members informed of activity. There are five different notification levels members can choose from: No Email, Weekly Summary Email, Daily Digest Email, New Topics Email and All Email. If desired, admins can set a default notification level for users.
Spam bots can hit BuddyPress just like everything else on the internet. BuddyPress Registration Options helps squash spam registrations by allowing for moderation on new user accounts. Email notifications are sent when an administrator either approves or denies a new registrant. This plugin also works with bbPress.
GD bbPress Attachments enables users to upload files to forum topics and replies. Administrators can control file size limits, the number of files that can be uploaded at once, and can change things up on a forum-by-forum basis.
Want to change up the look of your bbPress install? bbp Style Pack lets you change fonts, colors, and forum layouts. In addition, you can tweak emails, and add handy features such as an unread topics page. And that’s just the beginning. This plugin gives admins plenty of ways to make bbPress their own.
Take control of bbPress email notifications with bbPress Notify. Easily customize messages sent to users and choose who receives them. The plugin is developer-friendly, with lots of hooks and filters at your disposal.
GD bbPress Tools offers a suite of tweaks for your WordPress forums. Visual changes include the ability to disable breadcrumbs and advanced topic filtering. There’s also a collection of 30 shortcodes that make adding custom functionality a breeze. Unlock even more features with the pro version.
If you’re looking to limit your forums to a specific group of users, give Private Groups a try. The plugin allows administrators to restrict specific forums and topics. There’s a lot of flexibility here when it comes to user permissions – perfect for bbPress installs that need both public and private access. This is a great option for membership websites.
Build Your Community
The combination of BuddyPress and bbPress can help you build a bustling and productive online community. And, because they both take advantage of WordPress, they’re also very easy to use and customize to fit your needs. Experiment with them and see how they can benefit your WordPress website.
In this series, we share some of the inspiring stories of how WordPress and its global network of contributors can change people’s lives for the better. This month we feature a WordPress e-commerce specialist on the difference it makes.
Empowered to make a change
For WordPress contributor Ronald Gijsel, open source is a lifeline and a perfect place for people with creative minds. It led him on a transformational journey from chef to WordPress e-commerce specialist. Originally from the Netherlands, where he trained in hospitality, he was to find a restorative and energizing power within the WordPress local and global community.
Ten years ago, life took a sad turn for Ronald and his wife Nihan when their baby daughter passed away only a few days after she was born. At that time, Ronald was a restaurant owner in the UK, working hard in a challenging economic environment. Discovering open source was in many ways his lifeline and helped him and his wife through their considerable heartache. Through this community, a journey to understand the opportunities of the web and new career paths began.
Ronald believes that working together in WordPress and other open source communities can lead to massive benefits for a large number of users. Not least, an online presence has been essential to the survival of many businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During recent years, he has visited open source events worldwide as a partnership manager at a WordPress e-commerce plugin company and community supporter. His enthusiasm for WordPress has steered him to being part of local support, solutions and collaboration as a co-organizer of WordCamp Bristol, the WordPress Cheltenham Meetup and more.
Moving forward
When Nihan enrolled in the UK’s Open University to complete her computer science degree, Ronald found her course materials stirring his own interest. He started to follow the lectures with her and even attempted some of the course work for himself – all whilst he continued to work as a chef in various local pubs.
Through this, he discovered how to generate affiliate commission earnings through blogging on different platforms. “Creating websites was slowly becoming a passion. In these first few years, I enjoyed every part of the steep learning curve, from tackling the basics to more advanced coding and designs,” said Ronald.
The Start of a Web Career
Ronald reduced his hours as a chef and devoted more time to online courses learning coding, e-commerce, SEO, and online marketing. Yet when he applied for a job as a WordPress designer, he had only heard of the platform in the context of blogging. This was all to change when an online tutor on one of the training sites revealed the many functions available with WordPress. It was the start of a new career and life journey. This tutor was Topher DeRosia, who went on to create HeroPress.
Ronald with Topher at WordCamp London in 2019
To learn WordPress, Ronald ‘binge-watched’ webinars on various development topics and over time he became more familiar with it. Securing a job as a designer was only the beginning of his journey into the WordPress ecosystem.
A year later in 2015, after landing the job as a WordPress designer, Ronald’s boss asked him to consider taking on the business and its clients. With his wife, Ronald decided to take on the firm and to expand their work in WordPress e-commerce and online marketing.
As an advocate for learning new skills and practicing them, Ronald encourages others to continue to expand their knowledge through study, attending talks at Meetups and WordCamps, and using the new Learn WordPress resource.
“WordPress has evolved in so many branches that require different skills. There are hundreds of areas of expertise, roles, and jobs that complement WordPress to make it what it is.”
“WordPress is an essential tool in my box.” Ronald Gijsel
Ronald believes WordPress thrives on diversity, with many contributor opportunities and jobs in the ecosystem that require a wide range of skills.
“A big part of this is that each person’s personal background complements their skill sets. Who you are and what you do is influenced by what you have done and learned. We need to cherish this. These things also add to our culture, language, experience, and knowledge,” he said.
A journey into WordPress e-commerce
Ronald shares his enthusiasm for building WordPress and e-commerce websites at WordCamp London in 2019
Ronald initially extended his interest in the WordPress ecosystem through representing a plugin company at WordCamps in the UK. He became hooked and went on to attend events in many different countries.
In 2018, he realized he could do more with his connections and create meaningful partnerships. Within a few weeks, he had crafted his dream job and sent a proposal to the CEO of a WordPress e-commerce firm.
But pitching to strangers wasn’t an easy task, as he did not know if they would understand his vision.
Ronald said: “The doubts went through my head for months. ‘Do I give up my business and work for the benefit of another company? What if I don’t get on? What do I do with my customers?’ But I decided to take the leap.” His pitch proved successful, joining his current firm in 2019.
In the firm’s CEO, Ronald found a mentor, supporter, and a friend. He explained: “Nando Pappalardo never tells me what to do, but instead, he asks questions to make me realize what is achievable, or could be even better. He simply makes suggestions that I read something and reach my own conclusions.”
Looking back at the journey
Taking risks or changing directions in mid-career often involves a giant leap. In Ronald’s view, through WordPress, you don’t need to be alone. He believes its community can offer support and help to process thinking.
Ronald said: “I often think back to the moment my daughter passed away. She only lived for a few days. Every day, I wonder how events would have unfolded if she had survived. Maybe her memory lives on in every decision I make and the paths I decide to take.”
From his experience, he found that changing a career can sometimes take a few years and have a period of transition. He said: “Only looking back do I realize that each small step slowly made a difference in my life.”
“It was WordPress that made the online world easier to navigate and empowered me to make a change”
Ronald Gijsel
He added: “Feeling welcomed into the WordPress community through Meetups and WordCamps added a human dimension and confidence that I can do ‘this’ too.”
Ronald’s wish is that his story will offer support to others who may have experienced tragedy in their lives. “I hope that I can give you the hope and strength to try and put your energy into something else that can lead to more significant changes in your life. Try to take it as one positive decision at a time.”
Share the stories
Help us share these stories of open source contributors and continue to grow the community. Meet more WordPressers in the People of WordPress series. #ContributorStory.
Contributors
Thank you to Abha Thakor (@webcommsat), and Surendra Thakor (@sthakor) for the interviews and writing this feature, and to Ronald Gijsel (@just2ronal) for sharing his story.
This People of WordPress feature is inspired by an essay originally published on HeroPress.com, a community initiative created by Topher DeRosia. It highlights people in the WordPress community who have overcome barriers and whose stories might otherwise go unheard. #HeroPress
