20 Real Facts About Matt Cutts, Google’s Spam Sheriff

Nov 28, 2006 by Chris Winfield | Google

Matt Cutts and CuttletsMatt Cutts is Google’s most public face to webmasters around the globe. There has always been a lot of speculation and rumors about Matt, what he does, what he did before joining Google and just about every other thing you can think of. After seeing Matt at PubCon Las Vegas recently I thought it would be cool to have one list that could serve as definitive facts about Matt so here are 20 researched facts about Matt Cutts:

Who is Matt Cutts?

1.
Matt Cutts is 34 and originally from Kentucky

Educational Background

2.
Matt has bachelor’s degrees in both mathematics and computer science from the University of Kentucky

3.
Matt has a Masters of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

4.
Before joining Google, Matt was working on a Ph. D. at UNC at Chapel Hill

5.
Matt doesn’t think he will ever go back to grad school

B.G. (Before Google)

6.
Matt used to work for a gaming engine company based in North Carolina called Numerical Design Ltd.

7.
Matt worked for the Department of Defense as part of the University of Kentucky’s co-operative education program

8.
Matt’s top secret clearance no longer exists

The Google Years

9.
Matt joined Google in January 2000 at a time when there were less than 100 employees and his friends thoughts he was nuts

10.
Matt is a Senior Staff Software Engineer and head of the Webspam Group at Google

11.
Matt wrote the adult safe search feature in Google

12.
Matt has called himself “the human voice between Google and webmasters”

13.
Matt was responsible for the hiring of his protogee Adam Lasnik

Personal Info

14.
Matt goes to the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert

15.
Matt has owned a Chevy Cavalier, a Ford Escort and a Honda Civic (complete with power locks and windows)

16.
Matt Cutts is married and his wife has baked cookies for other Googlers

Fun Facts

17.
Matt’s groupies are called Cuttlets (also pictured courtesy of Jim Boykin via flickr)

18.
Matt “admitted” to being Webmaster World’s GoogleGuy

19.
Matt’s sentimental favorite search engine spider is Grub which is now a part of LookSmart

20.
Matt has an evil twin brother appropriately named Evil Matt Cutts ;)

Have your own real facts about Matt?  Please feel free to add them to the list.

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17 Responses to “20 Real Facts About Matt Cutts, Google’s Spam Sheriff”

  1. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Google’s Matt Cutts | Marketing Pilgrim on November 28th, 2006 8:59 pm

    [...] Over at the 10e20 blog, Chris has taken all of the available information on Matt Cutts and compiled 20 real facts about him. [...]

  2. katar on November 29th, 2006 10:38 am

    Nice list!!! One addition – Matt Cutts hates media!

  3. Lee Odden on November 29th, 2006 1:49 pm

    Here’s one: Matt doesn’t mind being interviewed.

  4. Wednesday SEO News Tidbits » Online Marketing Blog on November 29th, 2006 4:33 pm

    [...] 20 Real Facts about Matt Cutts from Chris Winfield including fun tidbits like: Matt is 34, goes to Burning Man and no longer has his top secret security clearance. [...]

  5. David Temple on November 29th, 2006 6:36 pm

    You are obviously a major Cutlett, as am I. Here’s one you won’t find on the web, Matt’s mom taught English in China.

  6. Eric Ward on December 1st, 2006 7:23 pm

    He’s in LinkMoses’s “Linking Commandments” –

    VII – “Thou shalt not use the name Matt Cutts in vain”

  7. Search Engine Roundtable on April 6th, 2007 11:39 am

    Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp – 4/6/07…

    Ah, the month of April. We opened the month with a few fun tricks all around and then Barry and I went off to celebrate the first days of Passover. What did you (and I) miss in the week of……

  8. Fargham on April 11th, 2007 5:05 am

    “Evil Matt Cutts” most interseting!

  9. Gagan Bassi on April 13th, 2007 4:59 am

    It’s interesting to know 20 things about Matts.
    Good information.

  10. Utah Internet Marketing :: Social Media Optimization :: eBay Selling Tip on May 19th, 2007 2:50 pm

    Interesting facts about Matt Cutts…

    If you’re not familiar with Matt Cutts you really should head over to his blog and get to know him. Matt Cutts is the public face of Google’s webmaster division. He’s the one many of us look to in order to find out how in the world …

  11. Utah Internet Marketing :: Social Media Optimization :: eBay Selling Tip on May 19th, 2007 2:50 pm

    Interesting facts about Matt Cutts…

    If you’re not familiar with Matt Cutts you really should head over to his blog and get to know him. Matt Cutts is the public face of Google’s webmaster division. He’s the one many of us look to in order to find out how in the world …

  12. Damien Jorgensen - Cardiff on May 19th, 2007 5:12 pm

    Well seems like we know more about Matt than he does himself lol

  13. Igor The Troll on July 22nd, 2007 7:29 pm

    I wonder who has the power now?
    Adam Lasnik or Matt Cutts?

  14. Igor The Troll on January 19th, 2008 12:57 am

    Chris, I did a nice post about Evil Matt Cutts.

    Evil Google and Dr. Evil Matt Cutts

  15. adult merchant accounts on August 4th, 2009 11:50 am

    I also added your site in my rss reader great post.

  16. Term on October 31st, 2009 8:48 am

    he seem to be a nice guy… he has a twin? really?

  17. seo tips on January 11th, 2010 7:30 pm

    Matt cutts rules nice guy to keep a eye on

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