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The meta keywords tag lists a page's keywords in its HTML. Google has ignored it since 2009. History, current status in each engine and what to do with it.
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Summary
The meta keywords tag is an HTML element that lists the keywords of a page for search engines. Google stated in 2009 that it does not use it for ranking, and other major engines give it little or no weight. It can be removed without any SEO loss.
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The meta keywords tag, written <meta name="keywords" content="..."> in the head of a page, was designed in the 1990s to tell search engines which terms a page was about. At a time when engines relied heavily on what pages declared about themselves, filling this tag with relevant words could influence rankings, so site owners quickly started stuffing it with dozens of terms, including popular words unrelated to the page.
This abuse made the tag unreliable. Google stated officially in September 2009 that it does not use the keywords meta tag in its web search ranking. Other engines followed similar paths. Today the tag is a relic: it costs nothing to leave in place, but it brings no ranking benefit.
No. Google's 2009 announcement on its Webmaster Central blog is explicit, and its current documentation on the meta tags it supports lists the title, the meta description, robots directives and a few others, but not keywords. Writing the most precise keywords in this tag does not help a page rank, and leaving it empty does not hurt.
Other engines differ slightly. Bing has said it gives the tag little weight and that a stuffed keywords tag can be seen as a spam signal. Some smaller or regional engines and internal site search tools may still read it, but for organic visibility in major engines its effect is negligible.
Not all meta tags are obsolete. The title tag remains one of the most important on-page elements and is usually the clickable title in results. The meta description does not influence ranking directly, but it often provides the snippet that convinces users to click. The robots meta tag controls indexing, for example with noindex. Your effort belongs there, not in a keywords list.
There is no urgency, but removing it is a sensible cleanup. It reveals your target keywords to anyone who reads your source code, including competitors, and a long list of terms can look like an outdated or spammy practice. Many CMS and SEO plugins no longer generate it; if yours does, you can switch it off. Sorank's free meta tags generator produces the tags that are still useful: title, description and Open Graph.
Keywords still matter, just not in a hidden tag. Place the main term naturally in the title, the H1, the first paragraph, a few subheadings, the URL and image alt text where relevant. More importantly, cover the topic completely and answer the questions behind the query, so that the page is relevant for its whole family of keywords, not only for one phrase.
The most common mistake is spending time filling meta keywords on every page instead of improving titles and content. The second is copying the same list across the whole site. The third is believing that an SEO audit tool flagging a "missing meta keywords tag" points to a real problem: that warning can be ignored.
For SEO, knowing that meta keywords are ignored frees time for what moves rankings: titles, content, internal links and backlinks. For GEO, the conclusion is the same. AI assistants read the visible content of pages, their structure and sometimes structured data. A list of terms hidden in the head says nothing to them; clear headings and precise answers in the text are what they extract and cite.
The meta keywords tag lists keywords in a page's HTML, but Google has ignored it since 2009 and other major engines give it little weight. You can leave it or remove it without SEO impact. Put your effort into the title, the meta description and, above all, content that answers the query completely.
To go further, read our pages on meta tags and title tags. Reference sources: Google's 2009 announcement on the keywords meta tag and the meta tags Google supports.
Sources
No. Google has not used it for ranking since at least 2009, and other major engines give it little or no weight. Filling it in does not improve rankings; your title, description and content matter far more.
Leaving a short, relevant tag in place does no harm in Google. A long list stuffed with unrelated terms can be seen as a spam signal by some engines, and it also reveals your target keywords to competitors, which is why many sites remove it.
Use a precise title tag and a compelling meta description, place your main keyword naturally in the H1 and first paragraph, and cover the topic completely. Structured data can also help engines understand what the page describes.
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