The Google Search Central Live Deep Dive event, held in Bangkok, Thailand, from July 23rd to 25th, 2024, marked a significant milestone for SEOs and digital marketers across Asia and beyond. Unlike routine virtual sessions or brief meetups, this three-day immersive event was designed for in-depth strategy, open Q&A, and, as attendees quickly discovered, lots of laughter and genuine community spirit.
If you couldn’t be there in person (or are just curious about what really went down behind the scenes), you’re in for a treat. This post delivers a first-hand, detailed tour through each day’s themes, the candid lessons from Google Search team members like Gary Illyes and Daniel Waisberg, and the “secret” discussions that every SEO, blogger, and business owner should know about.
Whether you’re based in the USA, India, or any other English-speaking market, here’s an accessible, in-depth look at Google’s evolving SEO landscape, straight from the heart of the action.
Table of Contents
- A Unique Google Event: Chill, Candid, and Community-Driven
- Event Structure: Three Days, Three Pillars of SEO
- Breakdown: 10 Essential SEO Insights from Bangkok
- AI Overviews: The Same SEO, New Presentation
- Google’s Stance on LM.txt: Ignore the Noise
- 404 vs. Soft 404 Errors: What Really Matters?
- HTML vs Images & PDFs: Indexing Infrastructure
- Schema Markup: No Penalty, Just Make It Accurate
- Entity Understanding: Don’t Re-Explain the Obvious
- Ranking vs Indexing Signals: Know the Difference
- Trends, Analytics, Search Console: Data Differences
- New Sites: Leverage Non-Google Channels Early On
- BigQuery Data Export: Secure Long-Term Insights
- The Tough AI Overviews Discussion: Google’s Policy Reality
- Final Thoughts: Should You Attend a Google Event?
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Closing Credit
A Unique Google Event: Chill, Candid, and Community-Driven
The moment you walked into the event, you could feel the difference. Google’s team, instead of sticking to scripts or keeping things stiff, were genuinely open, approachable, and ready for honest conversations. With session gifts like tote bags, stickers, T-shirts, and an always-excellent catering experience, Google reminded everyone that while the digital world is complex, connecting people is at the forefront.
In the lighter moments, attendees and Google staff bonded over SEO jokes, meme-worthy jabs at Sam Altman, and more, all of which kept the three days lively and relaxed.
Event Structure: Three Days, Three Pillars of SEO
Google structured this Deep Dive event around the three foundational pillars of search:
- Discovery (Day 1): How Google discovers new web content.
- Indexing (Day 2): The inner workings of Google indexing; what gets stored, when, and how.
- Serving (Ranking) (Day 3): How search results are ranked and presented to users globally.
This model aligns perfectly with how advanced SEOs train their teams: focus first on discovery (crawling), then ensure effective indexing, and finally, optimize for ranking.
Breakdown: 10 Essential SEO Insights from Bangkok
Let’s jump right into the core insights, the actionable secrets, and some myth-busting moments that shaped this event.
1. AI Overviews: The Same SEO, New Presentation
Key Takeaway: There’s no secret ‘AI hack’ to rank in Google’s AI Overviews or AI Mode. The bots crawling your site and determining visibility for AI features are the same as those used for classic search.
Details:
- Google uses the same crawling (bots, scheduling) and ranking signals (hundreds of factors) for both traditional results and AI Overviews.
- AI Overviews verify results using standard search index documents (“grounding in search”) and use “query fan-out” to cover more possibilities.
- No new “magic tricks” are needed; focus on evergreen, user-centric SEO practices.
2. Google’s Stance on LM.txt: Ignore the Noise
Key Takeaway: Google does not support lm.txt now, nor will it in the foreseeable future.
Practical Advice: If you’re in SEO forums or LinkedIn groups obsessing about lm.txt, disengage. This is a clear case of misinformation. Trust Google’s direct communication channels.
3. 404 vs. Soft 404 Errors: What Really Matters?
Key Takeaway: Standard 404 errors do not waste your crawl budget or harm your site’s quality in Google’s eyes. However, “soft 404” errors can be problematic.
What You Should Do:
- Ignore regular 404s unless they stem from internal linking mistakes.
- Prioritize fixing “soft 404s”, as they can drain crawl budget and negatively affect your website’s image with Googlebot.
- Differentiating these two boosts both efficiency and site health.
4. HTML vs Images & PDFs: Indexing Infrastructure
Key Takeaway: Google indexes HTML pages separately (and more quickly) than images, PDFs, or videos.
What This Means:
- If your images aren’t appearing swiftly in Google Images, that’s infrastructure; not your fault.
- Google’s architecture processes HTML fast because it’s lightweight; media files require more time and work.
5. Schema Markup: No Penalty, Just Make It Accurate
Key Takeaway: There are no penalties for using schema markup liberally, as long as it’s accurate and correctly formatted.
SEO Tip:
- Apply as many valid schema types as you want.
- Validate all structured data before deployment.
- If Google doesn’t support a particular schema for rich results, it simply won’t be shown; but your schema helps Google better understand your content.
6. Entity Understanding: Don’t Re-Explain the Obvious
Key Takeaway: Google understands widely known terms immediately. For popular concepts (like “root canal” or “machine learning”), you don’t need to waste copy re-explaining; they’re already in Google’s knowledge base.
SEO Application:
- Save your content space (and reader’s attention) for more unique, unexplained concepts.
- For niche or lesser-known topics (like “double die machine”), be thorough: detailed descriptions, images, and supporting context help Google index and rank these pages properly.
7. Ranking vs Indexing Signals: Know the Difference
Key Takeaway: Don’t confuse ranking signals (used when search results are presented) with indexing signals (used when content is first processed). They’re related but serve different stages.
SEO Application:
- Freshness, for example, is a ranking-time feature; not an indexing feature.
- Focus on ranking signals when optimizing for visibility.
8. Trends, Analytics, Search Console: Data Differences
Key Takeaway: Google clarified the distinctions between data tools:
- Google Trends: Offers global search data, unrelated to your site.
- Google Analytics: Focuses exclusively on on-site data; it knows nothing about wider web context.
- Google Search Console (GSC): Bridges both worlds; providing site-specific and comparative search performance insights.
If you care about organic traffic, GSC is your most trustworthy and recommended source, as echoed by Daniel Waisberg from Google.
9. New Sites: Leverage Non-Google Channels Early On
Key Takeaway: If your new site isn’t even ranking for its brand name, don’t stress. Like real-world businesses, it’s normal for traffic to start slow.
Real-World Approach:
- Use other marketing channels (social, referral, direct) to drive initial traffic.
- As Google’s systems recognize and learn about your audience, organic traffic will naturally build.
10. BigQuery Data Export: Secure Long-Term Insights
Key Takeaway: If your site is large enough, consistently export Search Console data into Google BigQuery.
Benefits:
- Analyze vast datasets easily for smarter marketing decisions.
- Retain data beyond Search Console’s rolling 16-month window.
- Ensure data exporting remains uninterrupted; if there’s any lapse, the entire process can halt and may not auto-resume.
The Tough AI Overviews Discussion: Google’s Policy Reality
Perhaps the most pressing question came from the audience: “If Google expects us to create high-quality, accurate, and responsible AI-generated content, why can’t Google ensure the same from its AI Overviews?”
Gary Illyes’ candid response revealed some hard truths:
- Google does not see itself as competing with websites for traffic. (Audience members and SEOs, however, often disagree.)
- Content in AI Overviews is sourced from websites, so responsibility is shared.
- AI Overviews will not be rolled back. Google is committed to expanding and refining this feature, regardless of ongoing quality debates.
The sense was clear: Some AI Overviews policy decisions are happening at the highest corporate levels (think Liz Reid, Sundar Pichai), and even the Search team can’t override them. For SEOs and publishers, this means continuing to adapt, voice feedback, but also accept certain realities about automated summaries in SERPs.
Final Thoughts: Should You Attend a Google Event?
Absolutely, yes. Beyond the technical tips and myth-busting, these events foster relationship-building, open peer-to-peer learning, and direct access to Google’s search team. Whether you’re a business owner, SEO manager, or content creator, attending future Google events is a chance you shouldn’t miss. If you spot people networking in the corner or grabbing an extra breakfast pastry, don’t be shy; that’s often where the best, most memorable conversations happen.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Will AI Overviews be rolled back due to incorrect answers or traffic loss?
A: No. Google is “all in” on this feature and won’t be pausing or reversing it soon.
Q: Does using more schema markup increase my penalty risk?
A: No. Use as much as you like, as long as it’s valid and relevant.
Q: Should I panic about 404 errors in Search Console?
A: No. Classic 404s are not a major issue unless caused by your own internal linking errors.
Q: What’s the best channel for organic search data?
A: Google Search Console remains the most reliable and SEO-specific dashboard for organic performance tracking.
Written by Qausain Anwar
Founder at www.branxhq.com
Cracking Google’s Deep Dives; So Your SEO Always Comes Up for Air.
