SearchGPT Prototype, Reddit Blocks Major Search Engines, Google No Longer Phasing Out 3rd Party Cookies!
SEO TL;DR #33 - 29/07/2024
AI
Open AI launches SearchGPT - A Google Killer?
Currently in prototyping (join the waitlist here), SearchGPT is designed to combine the strength of the Open AI models, with information from the web. It aims to:
Give you fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources.
Google and Bing started with the search engine, then added AI, now ChatGPT is doing the reverse, with the results looking very similar to AI Overviews (AIO) and Copilot:
Query: where can I see nudibranchs?
Where SearchGPT is trying to differentiate itself with its conversational abilities, demonstrated with GPT-4o. You’ll be able to ask follow-up questions, a feature Google promised through its smart home product range but never delivered.
💡 Takeaway
SEOs will no doubt be jumping on this - I will get you to rank #1 in SearchGPT - just as they’ve done with AI Overview optimisation. We’ve seen some fun experiments so far, with publishers managing to secure links in AIOs by simply rewriting the content on their site to match the AI-generated answer, only to lose the feature a day later.
AI Overviews only show for 7% of searches (down from 11% at launch), and the answers are fleeting - one day a question may trigger an AIO, the next it might not.
Optimising for SearchGPT, AI Overviews or whatever Elon Musk is cooking up with xAI is no replacement for a well-thought-out content strategy suited to your target market. Writing well-targeted, high-quality content aligned with keyword research is still the key to long-term organic growth. Featured snippets are just a side effect.
Technical SEO
Reddit Blocks Most Crawlers Except Google
On July 1, 2024, Reddit updated its robots.txt file to block most search engines (and their AI crawlers) from accessing the content, including Microsoft Bing but not Google - likely due to their $60 million a year access deal - smart move Google!
If you try a Bing site search, toggled to the past week, you may notice some results but no meta titles or descriptions due to Reddit not allowing them access.
Reddit explained to The Verge:
We have been in discussions with multiple search engines. We have been unable to reach agreements with all of them, since some are unable or unwilling to make enforceable promises regarding their use of Reddit content, including their use for AI.
Google Abandons Plan to Phase Out Third-Party Cookies in Chrome
Google has reversed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome, highlighting a new approach that emphasises user choice.
Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time.
Background:
Third-party cookies are crucial to the $180 billion programmatic ad-tech industry. Since Google announced plans to remove cookies in 2020, advertisers have faced uncertainty as Google repeatedly delayed the phase-out.
In place of cookies, Google had proposed Privacy Sandbox to balance online advertising needs with user privacy. However, early reports indicated publishers could lose 30% to 60% of their revenue without cookies.
Google countered these claims, stating that its tests showed a revenue drop of 20% for Ad Manager publishers and 18% for AdSense publishers, an improvement from the 52% revenue loss reported in 2019.
Google plans to continue refining its Privacy Sandbox technologies in the coming months, but for now, PPCers can rest a while longer.
General SEO
Don’t Ask ChatGPT for SEO Advice
Google's John Mueller cautioned against using large language models like ChatGPT for SEO advice.
Please don't use LLMs for SEO advice. They learn from all the bad SEO information out there.
This was in response to a post by Natalie Slater, who showed how they can give out-of-date advice but change their minds about the same thing when challenged.
Using Internal Linking for SEO
The latest episode of SEO Made Easy runs through 3 tips to help visitors and Googlebot navigate your website.
Don’t overdo it by linking to everything from everywhere - think what’s the most logical place someone would want to go from an article or product.
Use proper HTML references for links - don’t try to get clever with spans, divs, or button elements.
Use meaningful link text - not ‘learn more’ or ‘click here’)
It’s a good introduction to internal link building for anyone interested in how to surface content for Google to find.