Is Google stealing content?
Does Google work legally?
Have you also noticed that Google generates ready-made answers these days? As far as I know, Google is a search engine that gets its content from websites. Google itself, has NO content, whatsoever!
If you want to know something now, Google will answer you immediately. Without having to visit a particular website. These answers do not contain any link.
Google website snippets
Google also supplies snippets, where the answer is provided from certain websites. But who is clicking through to a website when they already have the answer?
In fact, Google works against the website owner.
The website owner is missing out on advertisement fee.Very useful for the searcher, you get your answer within a few seconds, but very harmful to the income of the content writers of a website.
Are we writing for Google?
The creator of the content on the website in question actually is writing content for Google, because they are showing the answer to the requestor, without permission of the content writer. And without any need to click through.
What are your thoughts about this?
Recent Comments
143
Hi Loes,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. To be honest, I never thought about it this way. I always thought Google was neat for giving ready-made answers to searchers.
Today, I thought I would check on one of my high-ranking posts and I was shocked to see this:
Yes it is, Loes.
And no, in all fairness, the link to my site is included. However, I was really surprised with the way Google summarized the content of my post.
Can you detect how they did it?
Is it summarized from your post, or did they compose it themselves?
They picked out the 4 points I enumerated in my post in the same exact order, without the explanations.
Just to add Position zero-geddon means that being placed in Pos zero, your actual ranking position is automatically position 1....of page 2.
You will no longer be on page 1!.
With some simple answers, I'll accept what Google pops up first. Like math. Other answers, I want to check a variety of sources to make sure they match up, so I will check more than just the snippet.
I also find, like with your example of how many cups of tea a day, I want to look at the "why" as well as just the answer. So I'll usually still click on the site to find out why.
Always better to look further for in-depth information, unfortunately, people often look for a quick answer and will not click
It seems that this is the case Loes, good to see you.
Zero clicks are becoming the way of search, and I think that it is reflective of the shift to mobile.
We are living in a mobile world.
I just did the same search on my phone, got similar results.
You get the snippet,
Scrolling down;
Then,
People also ask;
Then,
Some results;
Then,
Recipies;
Then,
Some more results;
Then,
Related searches;
I don't have to go anywhere all the information is on page one. Who goes looking further these days. Google has created the best landing page that has been known to mankind.
The process is one of qualification.
If I chose to click through, then chances are that I am transitioning into a clicking searcher and they are the ones that click on ads and buy stuff as well.
Google makes most of its money through advertising.
They are an advertising agency, many will disagree.
I guess if we can create the content that is providing relevancy we stand a chance of appearing in the top billing. Which comes back to what we are learning and have access to here in WA. Systems within systems.
Basically Google is curating content and presenting it, if it happens to be your content then all is good if we miss the directors cut, then it is not so good. There is probably more happening than we are aware of.
If I look at my own searching behaviors, I tend to click through, in the hope of finding more in-depth information, I also skip if it feels like it is not going to fill my query.
Just like desktop on mobile, we can have tabs open and easily navigate between them.
It can feel like the content creator is being squeezed if we can observe what Google is offering we can get a leg in or leg up for that matter, I guess it is a case of rolling with the punches.
If people are not clicking Google is not making any money?
Their balance sheet makes my eyes water, so plenty of folks must be clicking and that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
They will continue to present the most relevant content, it is a match made in heaven.
Thank you, it's good to see you again too. I noticed too that Google has created the best landing page. Without any need to click through when you are in search of a direct answer, and when you are looking for an in-depth article, it's hard to find on the first page of Google. Time after time, I bounce on irrelevant articles, mostly from paid advertising websites.
I believe that Google is providing the searcher with answers collected from websites where they have the most profit from.
It is an interesting question. Google will penalize us for providing duplicate content, and rightfully so. But, when Google serves up that same duplicate content they are only giving the answer that someone has searched for. As is stated below - they will provide where that content came from, but by serving it up ready to consume they actively hinder someone from clicking through to the owner's website.
The problem is that once we allow content out into the wild of the web, it is available for all to see and we rely on the likes of Google to protect us from others who would steal our content. But who may I ask protects us from Google?
The EU is doing their utmost to control giants such as Google and Facebook and call them to order, I hope the rest of the world will follow their lead. As an individual party, you can do little
I am glad the EU is attempting to assert some control. Google needs to know that they cannot have everything their way.
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This improved the experience for the end user, which is Google's ultimate goal. Their goal is to find the best content, and to serve that very content.
Is this ethical? Well that is a question that could be argued, as they are serving your content, without sending people to your website where you have revenue opportunity. The argument certainly could be there that this is not.
In all reality though, it is going to be easier to try to "benefit" from Google than to try to fight with them (or boycott). They now have a monopoly on search, and people that are looking for simple answers will read your snippet, but people are searching MORE than ever as a result of this...and they are searching from way more devices than ever.
Featured snippets have been around for some time, they are not going anywhere, and the traffic that you can get from Google alone is by far the best, and it is vast.
that was my exact point regarding site comments:)
Yes, I know we have to enter into a pact with Google, without Google we will be lost on the internet, we have to find a way to work together, but in my eyes, it is not entirely neat to give ready-made answers in a snippet so it deprives my website of clicks
I'm struggling to figure out how to get ahead of, or at least keep up with Google. I diligently do my keyword research & follow the SEO steps provided by Jay in his webinars, but I just do not seem to be ranking like I used to. The simple answer is "Write better content!"... but I devote myself to writing the highest quality content I can! I am careful with every article. I'm not sure what else to do, and definitely noticed things starting to fall apart with the algorithm changes this past fall. I'm not sure how to win with SEO.
At least, provide a compact answer on a question in your blog, try to be that #1 snippet🤗
Kyle,
I have very mixed feeling with regards to google for varied reasons. That said, as I go through the training and learn and build, I'm learning to work within the system.
Thank you for your insights
Greg
The idea of fighting with Google or even boycotting them is absolutely futile, even impossible. Unfortunately whether we agree or disagree with some of their tactics and policies, we are compelled to accept them. Seems they almost have a monopoly on the Internet. Personally I think this is unfortunate, it is not a fair playing field, but then again not too many things in life are fair.
Just my opinion and observation.
Michael
They are the Monopoly game, we are the pawns...
True dat
Sometimes we just have to accept the things we cannot change. And do our best to take advantage of Google by providing the rich snippets it's looking for.
Political correct answer😜hi Marion, so good to see you again😘
Good to see you again too, Loes.
I get p*ssed off when Google tells people to start watching my videos at a particular time instead of from the beginning. I can't do anything about it so I just accept that I'm notching up more views for the videos even though people are not watching the whole thing.
I have my suspicion about Google too, my workathome website is in Google news, but the only news I get from Google alerts is from advertising sites. They set the rules.
If only it were that easy. Still, we have to try, I agree with you we want to be that snippet.
Try to sleep with one mosquito...
Very well said.
Yes Kyle,
But clicks from searches only result is 49% of users clicking over to a website.
https://searchengineland.com/49-of-all-google-searches-are-no-click-study-finds-318426
At the heart of it..yes google is stealing our content and scraping it, placing it on their results page in the form of PAA and featured results, monetising the results page with ads and not compensating the content creator.
There is something fundamentally wrong with that. They have build an empire off the back of content creators hard work and give zero, not a single cent of compensation for it.
Thanks Kyle, because personally I am worried about this. I've also been reading lately that my theme doesn't provide an easy way for Google to get the snippets, so this is more concerning. Then on top of that, everyone is going visual, so there needs to be a big focus on that, - which is the harder part for me. There's no question that as many sites are saying, "it's becoming harder and harder to rank''. Which means we must do more work pulling in customers from elsewhere, - Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, FB, Bing and Yahoo, and building that loyal community that come back again and again.
I think a fair "payment" for using our content for snippets would be to give us more authority and ranking on our websites. I'm thinking it does? So, even though you may feel like you lost a few specific "clicks", you are "probably" gaining more in the long run, in the form of more love from Google.
Note that I used the word "probably". I would like to think this is true. Is it? I don't know. LOL. Just thinking out loud a little. :)
Also, if I find an answer I like in a snippet, I almost always click through to find even more information. The snippet is not usually enough. And the type of articles we should probably be writing would supply the "more".
I look at the snippets as more of a filtering system to help me sift through to what I am really looking for.
I hope with you, that we are better off in the long run, we never will be sure, Google is far from transparent