SEO and AI are (officially) ruining the internet - and how Just About will help
Researchers find evidence that search engines are declining in usefulness
It’s not just you: Google Search really has gotten worse.
That’s what a team from Leipzig University found in a paper published this week. Meanwhile on Just About, we just closed a bounty on fleet etiquette in EVE Online.
Why do these things interrelate? What do they say about the shape of the web to come? Let’s get into it.
For people, by people - not robots
That EVE bounty is one of our favourite kinds because it’s very specific to its community. We do ask the same questions that players of any game want answered - what’s the best this or that - but it’s even more fun for members to share expertise about the deepest topics in their community, the ones that no one else will ‘get’.
It’s fun to read that stuff, and valuable too, because there isn’t much of it. After all, if you’re a traditional publisher looking to peel eyeballs from the open internet, where’s your incentive to tackle such niche questions? For us, it’s clear: they get strong engagement and make our members happy.
Now, how about that study on search engines? Having noted “an inverse relationship between affiliate marketing use and content complexity”, the researchers conclude the following:
“The majority of high-ranking product reviews in the result pages of commercial search engines use affiliate marketing, and significant amounts are outright SEO product review spam. We also find strong correlations between search engine rankings and affiliate marketing, as well as a trend toward simplified, repetitive, and potentially AI-generated content.”
404 Media has a great write-up of the researchers’ findings, and here’s their paper in full. In fairness it’s not certain these trends will continue; maybe search engines will find the magic formula that’s eluded them for so long - one that recognises quality content, matches it to search intent, and thereby incentivises it over manipulation by SEO or AI.
But assuming that doesn’t happen, what’s next? Where can you find content that’s made by trusted, verified, real people, experts who share your passions and can give you extremely specific advice?
You see where we’re going with this.
Making it work
Our latest departmental deep dive, from our Commercial Director, Al, has more on the new model we’re pursuing to ensure that we can do all of this ☝️ and thrive as a business. Here’s a sneak peek:
“Alignment between the needs of community members and our brand partners is making it possible. It also means that, way more than on any other platform, our commercial team and our community are on the same side.
“We won’t be able to benefit if you don’t.”
If you represent a brand and would like to talk about building a toxicity-free, people-led space for your real fans, reach out to Al, and come on in to Just About to see how it’s already working - look out for the comment from EveOnlineTutorials for one of the best pieces of member feedback we’ve had so far. In their words:
Image credit: Razorien on Flickr.