A study by German researchers has confirmed what many of us have long suspected: Google search really is getting worse.
A team of researchers led by the University of Leipzig, Bauhaus University Weimar and the Center for Scalable Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence, has carried out a one year research experiment to answer the question “Is Google getting worse?”, and the answer was essentially a resounding “yes.” The study was not specifically limited to Google, but also analyzed results from Bing and DuckDuckGo search engines.
The researchers looked specifically at product review search terms, which means we shouldn’t panic right away: searches for short questions with real answers still yield accurate results, for example. However, the study found that across all search engines, “top-ranking pages” often showed “indicators of lower text quality,” specifically, SEO spam.
Search, involve, obliterate
For the uninitiated, SEO stands for ‘search engine optimisation’ – the process of optimizing the content of a web page to ensure a better ranking in search engine results. This process has evolved significantly over the years; Gone are the days when you could simply put the product name in an article 100 times and lock yourself into the top spot of search results. Google works tirelessly to optimize its own search algorithms to combat spam and deliver the best results to users, so the demands of SEO are constantly changing.
SEO has become a dirty word among many online media outlets – trying to keep up with Google’s ever-changing algorithms often sees sites throw everything at the wall to see what happens. sticks, and sometimes low-quality content is “rewarded” by search engines. because it manages to tick the right boxes. SEO has become something of a cottage industry, with companies promising (sometimes falsely) to ensure that your site will be the top-ranking result for relevant search terms. The need for good SEO can come at the expense of the quality of the content itself, a frustrating paradox, as high-quality content should naturally rise to the top of search results.
Trying to keep up with SEO best practices is a constant game of cat and mouse for anyone producing content online. (Image credit: Pexels | pixelcreatures)
Google isn’t entirely to blame here, of course. The study noted that Google outperformed Bing and DuckDuckGo in several key areas, and when contacted for comment, a Google spokesperson agreed that “the study itself notes that Google has improved over the ‘last year and it is performing better than other search engines. They also stated that Google has “rolled out specific improvements to address these issues” and noted that other third-party studies have found that “Google consistently shows better quality results,” including this New York Times study from 2022.
However, there may be deeper issues at play than simple SEO spam attempts. The advent of generative AI tools like the wildly popular ChatGPT has seen a marked increase in low-quality content specifically targeting the Google algorithm, and we’re only just getting started.
The machines are coming… for your search results
The German team behind the study noted “a trend towards simplified, repetitive and potentially AI-generated content,” and Bing and Google are already introducing AI-generated search results, through Bing AI powered by ChatGPT and Google’s own Google Bard. After all, why bother writing content and trying to optimize it for a search engine if a machine can do it for you?
There has been a veritable flood of AI-generated content online since the dawn of ChatGPT, with many turning to machine learning tools to try and make a quick buck from Google search traffic. Sites like the aptly named Robots.net are designed to produce articles that target popular search terms, trying to drive traffic away from legitimate reviewers and journalists. These articles are gathered from the real work of product reviewers and buying guide editors, pulled from dozens of reputable sites, and combined into something the AI thinks Google will like. Algorithms trying to satisfy algorithms…it’s a strange world, isn’t it?
You’ll notice that I haven’t linked to Robots.net despite our usual practice of linking directly to other news sites when we reference them, which is, kind of funny, for SEO reasons. I don’t particularly want Google’s all-seeing algorithm to think that we here at TechRadar are somehow associated with this kind of AI author nonsense, but you can check it out for yourself if you want; it is an unfortunate thing.
Spoiler: The “journalists” credited to AI-powered shovelware news sites like Robots.net don’t actually exist. (Image credit: Robots.net)
As the reach of AI expands, researchers warn that many Internet users have already noticed “a flood of low-quality content” that “continues to drown out any kind of useful information in search results” . I can’t say I disagree, and AI programs have a far greater ability than human writers and editors to “game the system” when it comes to SEO, so there’s a definite danger that things just they will get worse
Of course, Google won’t take it lying down. Fighting AI spam is a big priority for the tech giant right now, though some have questioned Google’s sincerity on the matter, understandably so given Google’s forays into using AI for search results. But I’d like to believe that the powers that be at Google know that people don’t want content written by robots, for robots. Hopefully, the near future will contain changes that will ensure that the articles you get when you search for “best budget gaming pc” are written by humans, for humans.
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