Over the years Google has been wishy-washy on if they use or do not use Exif (Exchangeable image file format) data for rankings. In 2014, Google’s Matt Cutts said Google can parse the data and reserves the right to use it. But in 2019, Gary Illyes from Google said it was not used for rankings. Now in 2024, Martin Splitt of Google said it is not used for rankings.
Martin Splitt, from the Google Search team, said at SMX Advanced in London yesterday that Google Search does not use Exif data for ranking.
Greg Gifford got the quote and posted it on X:
Officially settled once and for all… @g33konaut just said Google doesn’t use image Exif data for ranking…
So all the hustle bros can stop saying it works pic.twitter.com/4P03dvJ8Ep
— Greg Gifford (@GregGifford) September 11, 2024
This is similar to how Gary Illyes from Google was quoted in 2019 at PubCon:
Sounds like EXIF isn’t used but it’s being looked at but IPTC is used for copyright reasons. @methode #Pubcon
— Patrick Stox (@patrickstox) March 6, 2019
Q: is EXIF data still relevant for image search?
A: Yes. It can help people find images with, for example, a specific license. But it doesn’t always work properly. Google’s engineers are working on this.@methode #pubcon— Marie Haynes (@Marie_Haynes) March 6, 2019
But back in 2014, Matt Cutts from Google can that famous quote that Google can parse it and reserves the right to use it. This was then confirmed again by John Mueller of Google in 2017.
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The Exif data for this image looks like this:
As a reminder, Exchangeable image file format is a standard that specifies formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras, scanners and other systems handling image and sound files recorded by digital cameras.
I will say it is weird that Martin Splitt answered a ranking question – I thought he had a policy to never discuss ranking.
Forum discussion at X.