Google Search increasingly seems like it doesn’t work the way it used to.
The search engine that has become a staple of almost everyone’s lives in the 21st century, used billions of times daily, is suffering the unintended consequences of the latest update. Basically, everything is junk. Welcome to the age of web search spam.
“These are the worst quality results on Google I’ve seen in my 14-year career,” says Lily Rae, senior director of SEO at digital marketing agency Amsive Digital.
Pop-ups, fake product ads, and links that are sure to download some malware that is impossible to remove are common on the Internet. But one doesn’t usually see them scattered among websites on Google. With billions of searches a day taking place alongside countless websites on the internet, Google can only catch so many of these scammers before they pop up again like a game of digital swiping.
“Right now, it looks like the scammers are winning,” Ray says. luck.
In essence, what happened, according to Ray, is that Google released an update to its algorithm that pushed user-generated content to the top of the search results rankings. The idea was that when users asked a question, they would be able to see answers from other real people who might have the answer, further democratizing the web and moving gatekeeper power away from, for example, news sites like luck. Google called this the Hidden Gems Update, which was implemented in a series of changes from May to November 2023, because it was ostensibly meant to find the best answers online regardless of who posted them. So, if a user searches for “what is the best used silencer?” Or “How do I know if my homemade beer has gone bad?” They’ll find answers from other people who have had a car problem or are more experienced with homebrewing.
Instead, what ended up happening was that unscrupulous sites realized they could take advantage of the new policy by placing spammy links in places that Google’s new algorithm prioritized, according to Ray.
“Google Docs, Google Maps, Linkedin, Reddit, anywhere you can imagine there’s a forum, spammers take advantage of that,” Ray says.
A recent study by researchers in Germany that examined the quality of product review sites, which was previously reported by 404 Media, is in line with Ray’s claims. Pages that ranked higher in their searches tended to have lower quality text and more affiliate links aimed at monetizing those sites, according to the research. Although Google’s search quality is superior to its competitors Bing and DuckDuckGo. The company also had the most effective mitigation methods compared to other search engines, although spammers will eventually find ways around those methods.
As Ray told Gizmodo about the state of web search: “I’ve never seen Google in such a mess before.”
“SEO parasites” infiltrate legitimate web pages
The reason some bad actors found it useful to spam the new search update was because of something called affiliate links. It is a common online practice where a website may earn a commission if a product is purchased after clicking on a link on one of its pages. If a website with a lot of affiliate links can get to the top of the page on Google search, it can be very profitable for whoever owns that website. Fraudsters try to take advantage of the rules to try to promote worthless products via links on useless websites.
Simply getting to the top positions on Google is an act in itself known as search engine optimization, or SEO. Last year, the SEO business was worth $76 billion, according to market research firm IBISWorld. It’s another very common practice for any company with an online presence (including every story this reporter publishes Fortune.com). Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become an important part of most online marketing and is considered a specialty in the world of advertising. When done well, it ensures that the most relevant information appears in the most visible locations on Google.
For example, people who live in an area where a hurricane is expected to make landfall need reliable sources of weather alerts, such as the National Weather Service or a local news outlet, at the top of their Google searches. An annoying side effect is that many search results now look the same. A simple search for something like “best bed sheets” will bring up dozens of the same articles with titles like “the 8 best sheets of 2024,” “the 22 best bed sheets of all time,” or the more colorful “these are our favorite sheets.” To catch some Z.”
Critics of SEO may argue that it has turned online searching into a homogeneous experience where all results repeat the same information. filter world, New book by The New Yorker Even now, nearly 30 years into a world changed by the Internet, the power of the algorithm has transcended culture to organize countless everyday experiences into “briefs,” says writer Kyle Chayka, for example the eerily similar café aesthetic around them. the world. On the other hand, proponents might say it’s a way to reward the best websites, especially if they’re small businesses that may not be able to afford huge advertising budgets for paid sites at the top of Google’s search results.
“The ongoing struggle of billion-dollar search engine companies with targeted SEO spam should serve as an example that web search is a dynamic game with many players, some with bad intentions,” the study authors wrote. .
A Google spokesperson said the study was flawed because it only looked at certain search terms. “This study looked narrowly at product review content, and does not reflect the overall quality and usefulness of research for the billions of queries we see every day,” they said. luck In an email message.
Another problem causing the quality of Google search results to decline, according to Ray, is what she calls “SEO parasites” that are “bleeding out top publishers.” This occurs when a trusted website rents space on its site, and more importantly its domain name, to third parties for sponsored content. These third parties leverage the traffic and respect of the original site to fill their sponsored posts with affiliate links. It’s technically allowed but it doesn’t provide a great experience.
“People are exploiting vulnerabilities in Google,” Ray says.
The study by German researchers also found that the prevalence of affiliate links could be linked to lower quality websites. “We also observed an inverse relationship between the use of affiliate marketing and content complexity, and that all search engines fall victim to large-scale affiliate link spam campaigns,” the study says. “However, we also note that the line between benign content and spam in the form of content and link farms is becoming increasingly blurry – a situation that will certainly get worse in the wake of generative AI.”
Since the early days of artificial intelligence, watchdogs have warned about its potential to be used to facilitate fraud. AI-generated voice recordings can impersonate people or their loved ones as part of a scam to gain access to their banking information or medical records. While in the case of online search, AI allows fraudsters to create the kind of spam that clutters Google search results on an unprecedented scale.
A Google spokesman noted luck To the Share on X From Ray highlights Google’s handling of a complaint about suspicious content hosted at a Harvard URL, noting that the company is working to “take steps to better address third-party content of this type.” Google’s account also specified that “the site is likely unaware that this content was placed on it and is not an intentional attempt to host the content.”
Google also acknowledged in its statement to Fortune that it “has launched specific improvements to address these issues (highlighted by the study).” Google noted that the same study indicates that Google search has improved over the past year and is performing better than other search engines. “More broadly, several third parties have measured search engine results for other types of queries, and found that Google has much higher quality than the rest.”
Ray agrees that Google is aware of the issue and is working to address it, likely through a combination of updates to its user policy and algorithm. “Google is always getting things right in general,” she says. “It just takes time.”