Dominic Ponsford’s Post

Is SEO finally dead? I stumbled upon a recent study on Google's Search Generative Experience, and it made me realize that SEO is under threat. All businesses who have made Google Search their primary traffic source are under threat. What’s coming is an armageddon for all the SEO people and I am rethinking my own SEO strategy. The Search Generative Experience (SGE), Google's cutting-edge AI-driven search system is currently undergoing a global rollout. Presently, it appears in approximately 87% of all search queries. 🤖 While most users have a button to access it, about one-third are treated to SGE results with a 'Show More' link. Upon clicking the 'Show More' button, the search results dynamically shift, unveiling a fresh set of links and results handpicked entirely by the AI—10 links, all AI-selected. Now, here's the worrying factor 😥 An astonishing 94% of the links suggested by the AI are NOT from Google Search's top-10 rankings. Yes, SGE recommends a totally different set of links. This implies that the SGE results deviate significantly from the standard search outcomes. What one sees after hitting the SGE button is entirely different compared to traditional Google results. As SGE comes to everyone, and more people get used to using SGE... Your content will get less traffic even if it ranks at #1. This revelation, my friends, poses a substantial challenge. There's a looming possibility, if not a near certainty, that our investments in conventional Search and SEO might become futile. It appears that regardless of 👉how many links we build,  👉how meticulously we craft 1200-word, high-quality articles, or  👉optimize them for ideal keywords, SGE could redirect traffic to a set of links autonomously chosen by AI. So how does one optimize for AI? Frankly, I am not sure yet. 😣 With the potential takeover by SGE, the fundamental principles of PageRank and links may no longer be the governing factors. The algorithm's basis remains shrouded in mystery, especially since SGE operates as a trained model rather than a traditional algorithm. Even Google itself doesn't have a comprehensive understanding of the algorithm. They can merely guide the model on what constitutes a favorable result. I'm keeping my eye on what unfolds next. I'll keep you informed.

Today's newsletter: SEO winners and losers, peek-a-boo AIOs, Google turning DeepMind into DeepPocket ... 👉 Overly 'SEO'd' Sites Appear to Suffer A new "winners and losers" study from Cyrus Shepard suggests that SEOs may need to rethink what he's calling "over-optimization" – widely used tactics that Google may now be punishing ... 👉 Google AIOs Down to 9% Another study examines the current state of Google AI Overviews and their SERP frequency. SE Ranking confirms the diminished visibility of AIOs, currently only seen by signed-in US users. The big finding is that "only 8.71% of keywords (out of 100,013) have AI Overviews" ... 👉 DeepMind: Pushing for Products and Profits Almost a decade after Google acquired London-based AI research firm DeepMind, it merged its homegrown AI efforts with DeepMind to streamline disparate and often competitive AI operations. Since that time, reportedly, Google has pushed DeepMind to be less of a research unit and more of a product development pipeline ...

ICYMI: Google Gemini’s Gems is a feature that allows users to customize AI experts, like for SEO to make it more effective https://lnkd.in/diD-NMAQ #seonews #Google #SEO

Garrett Sussman published a great piece last week on AI overviews in search results. The article breaks down how overviews are formed and influenced and their impact on rankings. https://lnkd.in/gjaNpMXZ While many SEO practitioners, struggle with what to do with AI overviews, he simply asks in the penultimate paragraph, whether its worth trying to do anything . . . "We always want to rank number one and show up at the top, and there's a ton of value when it comes to brand visibility, but if it ultimately hurts your rankings, and they don't show up, and they take it away, and they give it back, is it worth it?" My take: Because the landscape is changing so quickly and how overviews are used and displayed will likely change 2-3 times before I post this, now is the time to aggressively test and learn. - Try to understand how search result features and layouts are impacting click through. - Test changes to schemas. - Track updates to Google and Bing very carefully and map your analytics to those changes. - Check in with your favorite SEO tool vendor and ask to see their roadmap Other good articles on the topic, including guidance on how to optimize for overviews: https://lnkd.in/ggdkvcRy https://lnkd.in/g98MPh47 https://lnkd.in/gi9XMmxm

Just read this fascinating article by Julia McCoy on Search Engine Land about the recent Google updates that aim to increase the content quality on their search engine and the effects of AI. It's important to note that Google is not targeting AI content, but rather eliminating useless, repetitive, and unoriginal content, regardless of whether it's created by humans or AI. The latest update's goal is to surface websites with valuable content while removing bad ones that don't benefit users. It's crucial to keep up with these updates and adapt to them, or else you risk falling behind. With SEO AI, you can leverage the power of AI while providing quality content that enhances the user experience. If you're interested in learning more about how we've successfully navigated these recent updates, DM me. #googleupdates #seo #leads #content #AIcontent

The more content there is on the internet, the more intensively Google, as the world’s largest search engine, carries out eligibility selection. The algorithm is always updated and creates search results that are always different every time. That’s where many people are making various efforts to find the 2024 SEO prediction formula. On every occasion, many SEO experts describe the conditions and behavior of search engines and SEO that they will encounter in the future. With the views of some of the world’s SEO experts, at least you can see the SEO mapping for the future, namely 2024. This is of course related to the SEO method that will be used. What are the SEO predictions for 2024 actually like, are they not much different from the situation in the previous year? Here are some reviews! https://lnkd.in/gf95R_c7 #seotips #seostrategy #seo #seoagency #seoservices #digitalmarketingservices #digitalmarketingstrategy #digitalmarketingtips #digitalmarketing #digitalmarketingagency #artificialintelligence #ai

🤖 Do you know how to optimize your site for Google AI search results? Google plans to roll out Search Generative Experience (SGE) globally in the first quarter of this year once they are confident it will be well-received by users and not jeopardize their quarterly financial results. #google #googlesearch #googlebard #seo #searchengineoptimization

This is one of the most exciting times for SEO, ever. Rankings volatility and AI Overviews are making lots of people nervous, and rightfully so. But: Thanks to the Google API docs leak, we now have more hard evidence than ever before about how Google's ranking systems actually work. These insights give us new ideas about how to win traffic. New ways to approach content and information architecture. A fuller view of how to reach and satisfy potential customers. The leak confirms many industry theories, some of which Google previously denied. Beyond the insights those docs provide, they also give SEOs more concrete ammunition to launch and expand projects. And to steer website development based on a stronger argument than "my own general experience and a couple of loosely related observational studies from a decade ago." At the same time, Google's missteps with AI Overviews are getting mainstream media attention. This is publicly demonstrating how valuable regular "SEO content" really is -- as people see what a lacking replacement for that content many AI Overviews are. As a result, I see SEO expertise and best practices being valued more and more highly moving forward.

Google Introduces AI-Organized Search Results and AI Overview Links. Google is enhancing its search experience with AI-organized results, offering a variety of content types, including articles, videos, and forum discussions. https://lnkd.in/g3xJPyjS #Google #AI #GoogleAlgorithm #SearchEngine #SEO #SearchEngineOptimization

A lot of AI related SEO news have been popping up lately on my feed and it got me thinking does it affect the websites I have been working on and launched during last year(s). Search console does not show any big ups or lows when comparing last 12 months and using three different sites. Only conclusion I can make in the Finnish market is that during summer the volumes drops and then in august the numbers start climbing up again. There is also a chance things rollout quite slowly to the cold nordic countries far away from US. When comparing wanted keywords, I don't see any drastic changes either. So am I too early or is the AI really changing SEO? In case of wondering the three sites I used for this had almost 400k clicks from Google and impressions were almost 10M. So yes, still lot to do with keyword rankings. but some of the main keywords already are where they need to be. Google also launched update in August which seemed to upvote quality content. This post was written to all the people working with SEO, data and content. AI might have it's place, but I still believe in human touch when building your online precense. Keep up the good work ✌ If you have noticed big changes, please let me know in the comments and has it been positive or have you numbers been falling down? ps. this post had no AI involved