And yes, Google results are getting worse. A year-long study by German researchers reveals that Google search has been infiltrated by low-quality SEO spam. The study examined search results for product-review terms across Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo and found that higher-ranked pages are more optimized and monetized with affiliate marketing, indicating lower text quality. The researchers also observed a constant battle between spam sites and search engines, with spam sites finding ways to manipulate rankings. They warn that the rise of AI-generated spam poses a significant threat to search engines. The study highlights the role of search engine optimization in the deterioration of search quality and the potential for search engines to become less usable.
Why do we care?
Now, you can answer your customers when they ask.