431 | Understanding Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) with Bill Slawski

We went through the Bill Slawski-looking glass in this second part of our interview with the Gandalf of SEO. SEO strategy starts with knowledge of the entity you are wanting to market for as well as understanding the gaps that can be exploited. Bill provides a continued history of the entity-understanding journey Google is on, with the recent additions of BERT and Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) rollout.

[00:03:29] Patent author sleuthing

[00:05:44] Understanding BERT. It’s been around longer than you think.

[00:07:58] “You should know a word by the company it keeps”

[00:09:49] Understanding Intent

[00:10:38] 40% of our language has multiple meetings.

[00:11:33] Example of Google’s MUM in the Wild

[00:12:39] Format of content might be an indicator of entity types

[00:16:42] A Search Engine’s Job: They're filling either the informational or situational needs of a searcher.