Google Search is about to undergo the biggest Shift/change in its entire History!
Folks (and Kyle also), I just read quite a VERY interesting article about how Google's search engine is about to undergo the biggest change in its entire history and it makes me wonder how it will affect everyone here.
First of all, before I go too much further, I need to say that Kyle and Carson and those working behind the scenes of WA, have done a TREMENDOUS job transitioning Wealthy Affiliate to a new platform, HUBS, that incorporates the use of AI. AI continues to make huge inroads into every day life online, at home, and in the work life. If you don't use AI in some form at all, you are undoubtedly getting left behind and that stands true in the Affiliate Marketing space as well.
Now with that being said, it appears AI is going to cause this dramatic shift in Google Search because according to this article, Google is getting ready to roll this out this change to the US and the rest of the globe very soon. Google Search will be run through its generative AI which is Google Gemini. The Head of Search at Google had this to say: "Now, with generative AI, search will do more for you than you ever imagined. Whatever's on your mind, whatever, you need to get done, just ask, and Google will do the googling for you".
Apparently, what this means is that Google hopes that people will start asking it questions instead of more of a focus on keywords. Instead of showing a list of links or the highest ranking articles or sites, the new search will try to draw together information from across the web to answer that question with a customized report called an AI Overview. What it means is that it'll go find the specific information you're wanting and bring it back in a succinct summary instead of links to other websites. There are some cases though where Google Gemini will still provide links to answer a complex question to give you more options to find more information. Apparently this is just the tip of the iceberg as well as Google pretty much wants Google Search to become your personal assistant to all kinds of other things well.
Why is Google doing this, especially this quickly? OpenAI's ChatGPT is the reason and it appears now that Google is declaring all out war and trying to bring its big guns of AI into the fold. Competition in the AI space is heating up and the traditional search engine space is undergoing the biggest shift in its entire history because of it. Microsoft's Bing is apparently getting ready to do something similar. Kyle, have you heard of this or researched this? It appears this could fundamentally change how keyword research is done and would affect most of us here. I know you've got a lot more stuff coming down the pipeline with HUBS and can't wait to see what those are.
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Search is evolving not only on Google but through other search engines. The world is moving to GEO (Generative Experience Optimisation)
From what I've seen of the new Google search, AI will answer the question as you say without links to the website. But there are still opportunities to improve rankings on websites and get the front page with snippets, videos, social media platforms etc. It will require more creativity with content and media on your website.
ChatGPT is launching its own search. I think its due this week or maybe next week. Google is in catchup mode with the Google Gemini. That will change the face of search.
The strategy I'm using at the moment is to continue using SEO (long-tail) add video, podcasts etc to the website. Use links from social media and YouTube to drive traffic.
Unless I'm missing something here, no matter what you add to a post, it will be linked, right? So it won't show on Google.
But we'll have to wait to see exactly how it plays out, right?
to be short: pivot to social media and expand your newsletter list. That's all I want to say about this. Maybe SEO will switch to Bing, maybe not, but your google traffic won't go up unless you have a high domain authority already.
Lizzy
Hi Lizzy
That is the strategy I'm moving toward now. 👍
The other thing to consider is PPC advertising for those who have the budget. 😎
Rock On! 🤘
Frank 🎸
for sure, the best source for ppc ads are at the moment Pinterest for me, it's nicely growing even more with one dollar per day :-)
Rock on!
Lizzy
I haven't tried paid ads on Pinterest yet because my organic traffic grows each day, but It's something I'm definitely considering.
I wanted to see if I could get to one million monthly views without ads, Lol
Right now I'm at about 700K.
Thanks for the info, Lizzy! 👍😎
Frank 🤘🎸
that is fantastic Frank, as you are much shorter than I am on Pinterest! 1,17 M views per month here with 15k outbound clicks.
The only problem I have right now on Pinterest, is that the AI pictures look so 'real', that some people leave a message on where they can find the project LOL! I just don't know what to answer haha
Hi Lizzy
That's amazing! Big congrats! You certainly deserve it!! 😎👍🎉
You can ask AI to create some pins in the "Abstract" drawing style, so it's clear that they are not real, or add the words "Image created with AI."
My outbound clicks are only 1,500/ month, probably because my niche is not very popular on Pinterest, but it's still growing.
Keep On Rockin' It!
Frank 🎸
yeah, but the thing is that people in my niche don't really like AI images at all, so that is a bit of a problem. 'someone who was famous here', is working on Reddit for me (hope to see what this does in a few months, will report back here if it works), and I got reported by people on a subreddit and banned hahahaha! They were all over my AI image, grumpy folks LOL!
But no worries, now he knows this, and just uses another account and is more careful. We'll see.
So basically, I just don't answer, not many people comment on Pinterest anyway or look at comments. On Facebook, I would have run away or deleted the post hahaha!
But thanks for the thought!
Lizzy
Hi Lizzy
Yeah, I heard that some people on Reddit can be very disrespectful.
I put a lot of AI-generated pins on Pinterest and I’ve only had one person say “This is AI.” I replied, “Yes, I hope you like it and enjoy the article,” and I never heard from him again.
The pins I make without AI don’t seem to do anywhere near as well. Lol 😎
Frank 🎸
Using the Hubs platform with the longtail keyword suggestions (low-hanging fruit) will help AI Google searches more likely find our content if our prospects are searching for those specific keywords.
If someone searches for "how can I find profitable niches in affiliate marketing," and I write about "Finding Profitable Niches In Affiliate Marketing," would that mean I have a better chance of ranking higher in the displayed results in the new Google Gemini?
Sounds like this could be a good thing if we create content as we are taught here at WA!
What I have read in the last few days on Twitter is that the AI will scrape your content and not refer back to your blog, so basically stealing everyone's content and have the AI as the 'content creator', while the work of thousands doesn't rank high anymore, but is overwhelmed by high DA sites likes Forbes, Reddit, Youtube, etc. So many niches have lost huge amounts of traffic, and using longtail keywords won't make any difference. (just maybe once in a while if you get lucky that nobody before was looking for that longtail keyword, which in the case of your example wouldn't be the case)
Lizzy
Google has shifted a lot over the years, and will continue to do so. What is one thing that has been consistent?
They have a user that is looking for information. Whether this is an answer to a question, a product review, a how to walk-through, or facts on a particular subject, their goal is to deliver the answer fast.
From the users perspective, we want information that we can trust and rely on. We want to research in most cases, and we don't want a singular answer...in the case of generative AI, that is good for singular answers, but we as humans like to do research.
So look at the intent of your target keywords, before you create content around it. Is this a term that someone would want to do research for, "what are the best beach resorts in southern Thailand?" If yes, then it is a good target keyword.
However, if they are just looking for a quick answer, "What is the capital of Thailand", then the answer will be readily published, and there is no need for the end user.
Those are my thoughts. As I have been alluding to, there are 5.5 BILLION people online...they will be somewhere, they will be searching for information, and they will be buying stuff. There will always be a way to get in front of them and search is not going away...it is simply evolving.
there is no use for 5,5 billion people online, when they don't find YOUR content, because it is pushed down by AI first, followed by Reddit, Forbes, Youtube, Quora, etc. People won't just click through to your blog anymore, the chance of that happening is slim. No niche site that was hit from september/octobre update has recovered, if yes, show us a link with proof.
Unbelievable that this is still the narrative here, I understand why Partha left.
Lizzy
You sound very bitter Lizzy. It's going to do no good getting mad at Google. You can either remain bitter, or find ways to get in front of the crowd. Google has changed, make a shift in what you are doing if it is not working (because many are ranking and making it work).
Billions of people per day, still click through blogs. They are doing the same amount of research and yes, quora and reddit are near the top of lots of results, because they are much more specific and answering more detailed questions. And this is just ONE way to get in front of those people.
Answer those with your website, that is the narrative here, because that is what is working...along with everything else that we teach. If you don't want to do SEO, do youtube, do quora or medium, do social, do PPC. We teach all of these here within WA.
Lots of options if you are throwing in the towel on SEO.
wow, I'm not "bitter" anymore at Google since the update of September 2023 (off course I was mad, as millions of other bloggers), and I have pivoted to social media even before you guys started talking about that here. I am even trying Reddit now. And if you read my posts once in a while about Facebook groups or Pinterest, you would not have said this.
I was even stubborn enough to go against Jays advise of 'not using FB groups, not worth it'. Well , it IS worth it!
It's just reality, what makes me "bitter" is people claiming that using longtail keywords from the 'hubs' here, is going to save your site, it won't. Because everyone here using the 'hubs' are using the same long keywords. If they all have a low DA, they are competing amongst them ànd against sites like Reddit and googles AI now since a few days in the US.
Especially not with the new AI in front. Posting tons of blogs saying ' you have written 25-50-100 blog posts, is not helpful Kyle, bitter enough for you?
I was going to leave it at that, but this answer is a little bit over the top, wow!
I'm not 'bitter', i am being realistic here. SEO is not dead, no, but not the same SEO where we are talking about 10 years ago.
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Somewhere in this thread I saw "MMO". This is the second time I have seen that acronym but when I searched in Google :) I couldn't find a definition ... not even an AI definition. Can someone tell me what that is?
Also what are the perceived differences between Gemini (Google) and Copilot (Bing)? Mainly the scarping and lack of links?
Thank you - I read the whole thread. Interesting. I appreciate EVERYONES thoughts.