Surge in low-quality content and SEO spam prompts scrutiny of Google’s search experience
Researchers from Leipzig University, Bauhaus-University Weimar, and the Center for Scalable Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence have conducted an investigation that puts Google’s search experience in the spotlight. The study highlights the increase in low-quality content and SEO spam, particularly in searches related to products. It uncovers the difficulties search engines encounter in combating spam sites and adapting to ever-changing SEO tactics.
SEO Tactics vs. Search Engines
During the year-long study, the researchers focused on product review surveys and analyzed 7,392 of them. The findings revealed a worrying trend: an increase in affiliate links combined with a decrease in content quality. Manipulative SEO techniques used by websites to secure higher Google rankings were found to be a contributing factor.
A drop in quality in product reviews
Despite Google’s continuous efforts to improve the quality of its search results, experts observe a downward trend in recent years, exacerbated by the emergence of AI-generated spam, which calls for more comprehensive measures to combat this dynamic threat. As a result of the perceived degradation of Google’s search engine performance, users are exploring alternatives such as Kagi, Searx, Qwant and DuckDuckGo to search for higher quality results.
Alternatives amid Google’s collapse
Complaints about irrelevant and low-quality content dominating Google’s search results are increasing, prompting users to look for better alternatives. Responding to the study, a Google spokesperson stated, “This study’s focus on product review content does not fully represent the overall quality and usefulness of search for the billions of queries we process every day,” Mashable India reported.
The spokesperson highlighted the specific improvements Google has made to address the issues identified and highlighted the study’s recognition that Google is superior to other search engines. Despite the improvement seen during the researchers’ experiment, the study warns of a general downward trend in text quality across all three search engines, which may worsen as AI-generated spam increases.
The researchers concluded that “Dynamic competitive spam in the form of low-quality, mass-produced commercial content deserves more attention.” This concern is in line with the findings of other researchers, including Search Engine Journal, which reported on a major spam attack that overwhelmed Google in December 2023 and lasted several days.
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