Introduction
Google Search, which has become an integral part of most people’s lives in the 21st century and is used billions of times every day, is grappling with unintended consequences of its latest update. It appears to be overwhelmed with spam. Welcome to the era of a search engine inundated with unwanted content.
Lily Ray, Senior Director of Search Engine Optimization at Amsive Digital, says, “These are the worst quality search results I’ve seen from Google in my 14-year career.”
Pop-up windows, ads for suspicious products, and links that undoubtedly download impossible-to-remove malicious software are common on the internet. But typically, we don’t see them mingling among the pages in Google search results. With billions of searches conducted daily and countless web pages, Google can only catch a limited number of scammers before they reappear, like a game of digital whack-a-mole.
“Right now, it seems like the scammers have the upper hand,” says Ray to Fortune magazine.
Essentially, according to Ray, Google released an update to its algorithm that prioritized user-generated content in search results. The idea was that when users asked a question, they could see answers from other real people who may have relevant insights, further democratizing the internet and shifting power away from platforms like news sites such as Fortune. Google referred to this update as “hidden gems” and introduced it as part of a series of changes from May to November 2023, aiming to provide the best answers from across the internet, regardless of the source. So, if a user searched for “best used muffler” or “how to tell if homemade beer has gone bad,” they would find answers from other individuals who had experience with car problems or were more experienced in brewing their own beer.
However, instead, dishonest websites took advantage of the new policy by placing spammy links in areas prioritized by Google’s new algorithm.
According to Ray, “Google Docs, Google Maps, LinkedIn, Reddit, anywhere there are forums, scammers are taking advantage of it.”
A recent study by German researchers, published by 404 Media, confirms Ray’s claims. Websites with higher rankings in the researchers’ searches typically had lower quality content and more affiliate links aimed at money-making, according to the study. However, Google’s search quality was better than competitors Bing and DuckDuckGo. The company also had the most effective countermeasures compared to other search engines, although scammers ultimately found a way to bypass their protections.
As Ray told Gizmodo about the state of internet search, “I’ve never seen Google in such chaos.”
‘SEO Parasites’ Exploiting Legitimate Websites
The reason dishonest players began spamming the new search update was due to a phenomenon known as affiliate links. It is a common practice where a website can earn a commission if a product is purchased after clicking on a link on their site. If a website with many affiliate links manages to rank high in Google search results, it can be very lucrative for the site owner. Scammers try to exploit this system and attempt to sell worthless products through links on useless websites.
Getting to the top positions on Google is a business in itself known as search engine optimization (SEO). Last year, SEO was a $76 billion industry, according to market research firm IBISWorld. It is a prevalent practice for nearly every company with an online presence, including every article published on Fortune.com by this reporter. SEO has become an integral part of most online marketing activities and is considered a specialty in the advertising world. When done well, it ensures that the most relevant information emerges at the top of Google search results.
For example, people living in an area expecting a hurricane need reliable weather warning sources, such as the National Weather Service or local news websites, to rank high in Google search results. Unfortunately, an annoying side effect is that many search results now look the same. Just perform a simple test by searching for something like “best bed sheets,” and you’ll find dozens of articles with similar titles, such as “8 Best Bed Sheets of 2024” or “22 Best Bed Sheet Solutions,” or a more attention-grabbing title like “Here Are Our Favorite Bed Sheets for a Good Night’s Sleep.”
Critics of SEO argue that this has turned online search into a uniform experience where all results repeat the same information. “Filterworld,” a new book by Kyle Chayka, a writer for The New Yorker, claims that after approximately 30 years since the internet changed the world, the power of algorithms has extended beyond culture and has curated numerous daily experiences into “feedies,” with strangely similar coffee aesthetics around the world. On the other hand, supporters argue that this is a way to reward the best websites, especially if they are small businesses that cannot afford massive advertising budgets for paid positions in Google search results.
“To fully understand the dynamic game for top positions on billion-dollar search engines, one must consider the battle these firms wage against former spammers, who have malicious intentions,” write the study’s authors.
A Google spokesperson said the study was flawed because it focused only on certain search queries. “This specific study narrowly focuses on the content of product reviews and does not reflect the overall quality and usefulness of Search for billions of queries we see every day,” Google representatives said in an email to Fortune magazine.
Another issue that has affected the quality of Google search results, according to Ray, is “SEO parasites” that “piggyback on large publishers.” This involves established websites allowing third-party companies to lease space on their site, primarily their domain, to publish sponsored content.
FAQs about Google’s Search Update:
1. What issues did Google encounter with its latest update?
Google is dealing with the unintended consequence of its latest update, which led to an overload of spam in the search engine. Users noticed an increase in pop-up windows, ads for suspicious products, and non-removable malicious software.
2. What did Lily Ray say about the quality of Google’s search results after the update?
Lily Ray, Senior Director of Search Engine Optimization at Amsive Digital, stated that the update resulted in the worst quality search results she has seen from Google in her 14-year career.
3. What changes did the Google algorithm update introduce?
The Google update prioritized user-generated content in search results. Answers from real people who may have relevant insights to a user’s question were displayed as the best answers.
4. Why did scammers start abusing the new Google policy?
Dishonest players began to abuse the new Google policy because of the phenomenon known as affiliate links. They took advantage of trusted websites by placing spammy links in areas prioritized by Google’s new algorithm.
The source of the article is from the blog papodemusica.com