Google Is Still The Gorilla In The Room But There Are New Kids On The Playground
Google at it's I/O Conference Is Changing The Search Game Again. Damn It! 🤪 But other players are making waves.
Google at it's I/O conference is changing the game for Search... again.
They are hellbent on getting rid of the 10 blue links and having everything go through AI Mode.
And what's more, they're going to, not surprisingly, put ads in their AI.
Granted they are going to make these ad obvious, which is good. Though it's still a bit yuck for the consumer. But for the marketer, this is opening a whole other avenue to reach their target markets.
But don't let these new shiny ads fool you. It's a fully pay-to-play model. And that can't be ignored.
Granted there will still be "Organic" or "Non-Paid" answers that AEO/SEO practitioners will be fighting for, but the easiest way is still through cold hard cash.
So really nothing's changed. 😜
Don't Ignore The Others Players
I've been saying that everyone needs to pay attention to not just what Google does, but what the rest of the AI engines are doing as well.
ChatGPT might not be the gorilla in the room that Google is, but it's a force to be reckoned with. Perplexity, though not in the news as much lately, is still a player, and let's not forget about Claude.
Google recently deprecated the FAQ schema and everyone started saying it was time to rip it out of their sites. Even though it's not a penalty to have it on your site's FAQs page.
What people fail to realize is that other engines still prioritize it, use it, and rank based on it. Just because Google isn't, doesn't mean you jump to conclusions that every engine is going to fall in line. That's not how it works, folks. Their is competition in the AI engine optimization space, unlike in traditional search.
Marketers need to, more than ever, take a holistic view when it comes to search. The fundamentals of SEO are still relevant, but how you apply them has changed.
And that brings me to...
For Crying Out Loud... SEO ISN'T DEAD!
People have always said don't write a book about technology that is specific because it'll be out-of-date well before it goes to print. This is true for all the SEO books out there. But don't go making a bonfire with them quite yet or use them as door stops. The fundamentals of basic SEO still apply in the world of AEO/GEO.
Ignore this fact to your detriment. Many of the fundamentals that we've learned ever since we started to "game" the search engine rankings, still apply. The tools and systems are adapting and changing, but not drastically, in my opinion, from a holistic view.
What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments!
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Web Jawn
Libertas Software Research
I agree fully. Granted some of these companies cutting people is less because of AI and more because they over hired during the pandemic. They won't say this to protect their valuations, but it's the truth.
Ellyn Lapointe
Yikes! Not good. Especially in places like Phoenix, where it's already hot as hell. 🥵🌵🌶️🔥
Barry Schwartz
Google is always making adjustments. So if you've seen a change, up or down, this is probably why.
Barry Schwartz
Ads in AI search, now with updates. 😜
Rand Fishkin
True then, even more true now. Are you going to listen? Or still do stupid stuff that doesn't help your business grow?
WIRED
Not good. This is going to make a mess.
Rhett Allain
Sometimes old is good.
Kristin Robinson
What could go wrong? AI is EVERYWHERE! 😜
Daniel J. Lewis
The riches are in the niches, especially in podcasting.
This is pretty wild.
The Hacker News
Yikes.
Mayank Parmar
That didn't take too long. 🤪 Should they be releasing it more publicly? I don't know. 😈
Web Find
(Link)
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(Link)
Matthew Gault
You can't make this up. And the fact that is wasn't his first time trying it! Geezus!
Pretty cool if you're a into Star Trek. h/t David Bisset
That's It For This Week! Keep Rocking It!
-Seth
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