Notes from the Google Webmaster Hangout on the 13th of January, 2017.
Whitelisting Googlebot for First-click-free Isn’t Cloaking
With First Click-Free, you can whitelist the Googlebot user agent to see all articles, and it won’t be considered cloaking.
Google Doesn’t Crawl with a Referrer or Cookies
Googlebot doesn’t include a referrer URL when crawling, and doesn’t use cookies.
Non-Country Regional Domains are Treated As Top Level Domains
Regional domains which don’t target specific countries, such as .berlin, will be treated as top-level domains and won’t have any geographic targeting applied.
Ranking Boost from Geographic Targeting is Query Specific
The ranking boost for geographic targeting is specific to the query.
Google Will Send Alerts for Mobile-first Issues
Google will send alerts for mobile-first issues such as mobile pages having less content and markup than desktop pages.
Internal Links Opening in New Window Are Treated Normally
Internal links which open in a new window are treated the same as any other link.
