Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, said last week that the search company will issue additional clarifications around the acceptable or unacceptable use of AI to generate content for SEO purposes. In short, Google has already said you cannot use AI (or other means) to generate content to manipulate ranking in search results.
The specific language Google previously wrote, as I covered earlier, is:
Using automation—including AI—to generate content with the primary purpose of manipulating ranking in search results is a violation of our spam policies.
If that is not clear enough for you, Sullivan said on X, "is something we thought was pretty clear from our post last year." But he added, "People who read that and somehow interpret it as a "free pass" should seriously be rethinking. I'm sure you'll also see us look at ways to make this even clearer."
Here is that tweet:
"Using automation—including AI—to generate content with the primary purpose of manipulating ranking in search results is a violation of our spam policies" is something we thought was pretty clear from our post last year: https://t.co/w4LGtiJRXI.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 8, 2024
People who read that and somehow…
Now, maybe the issue is the word "primary," I mean, if you are making content for both users and search engines - I will tell myself it is primarily for users and sure, secondary for search engines.
yea, the word "primary" here may be the issue.
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 8, 2024
This sprung up again because of this WIRED piece named Confessions of an AI Clickbait Kingpin - it is worth a read.
Forum discussion at X.
