July 2023's Google Office Hours gave us a rapid-fire 28 questions in 19 minutes. The GSC team answered them gracefully. Let's fix that with bad office hours.

Q: Should a global company use .ai as their GTLD or is it considered by Google as a ccTLD?

A: Only if you are a qualified marketing ninja, SEO rockstar, or feel like it. It's a global TLD in the eyes of Google.

Q: I purchased a domain name and tested it, and it comes up with a 404 error. Why?

A: Have you tried plugging it in? No really, you've got to point that domain name to something.

Q: What is less harmful: millions of 404 error pages or 301 redirects?

A: Both are harmless so it's a bit like asking which weighs more: a pound of feathers or a pound of lead. Keep your technical signals clean and pick your poison.

Q: I searched for my website on Google and found links which were written in Chinese. I want to delete them.

A: Yes, my friend. People use all sorts of languages on the internet. Non-English links aren't inherently bad. If you didn't buy them, don't disavow them.

Q: How can I get Google Discover to come back?

A: Leave a bowl of food and a blanket with your scent outside near where you last saw it.

Q: GSC is showing 1 million "pages with redirects" despite a site migration a year ago. Why?

A: Google and elephants, my friend. As long as they're redirecting you've got nothing to worry about.

Q: We need your professional advice with our website ranking!

A: … We're flattered but that's not how this works.