Google has decided to take a stand against the SEO industry, which has been manipulating search rankings and diminishing the value of Google Search results. Many times, users searching for product recommendations, reviews, deals, or discounts are met with low-quality or spammy websites that fail to deliver on their promises despite having high rankings. Google aims to change this with its latest search update.
On Tuesday, Google announced a search quality update focused on enhancing the search quality ranking of websites and updating Google Search’s spam policies. The new policies will combat low-quality content in search results, including expired websites turned into spam repositories and obituary spam.
The update aims to refine Google’s ranking systems by downranking pages that prioritize search engines over user experience. Google estimates a 40% reduction in low-quality and unoriginal content through this update and previous efforts.
While Google’s blog post doesn’t explicitly mention “artificial intelligence” or “AI,” its Search Central detailed post does. Google acknowledges the impact of AI on web content, emphasizing the challenge of distinguishing between human-created and automated content due to advanced automation technologies.
Google will address the abusive behaviour of creating content at scale to boost search rankings, targeting low-quality AI-generated content and other content that lacks value for users. The focus is on reducing the presence of pages with unsatisfying and unoriginal content, regardless of how they were created—be it by humans, generative AI, or other automated means.
The changes will also combat “site reputation abuse,” where valuable websites host low-quality content to confuse users and leverage the site’s existing reputation. For example, educational websites featuring payday loan reviews to improve rankings.
Addressing concerns raised by 404 Media and other search marketers about declining search quality, Google’s update aims to counter SEO spam and improve the overall user experience. The changes will target expired domain abuse, preventing misleading tactics that make new content appear part of an older site.
The impact of Google’s search quality update could significantly influence how consumers perceive the usefulness of Google Search. Concerns about AI advances affecting website traffic have led publishers to explore new strategies, such as employing AI for content summarization. Google plans to enforce these changes on May 5, providing site owners with a two-month window to make necessary adjustments.
