Google Video Spam Through Text-To-Speech Technology

Jan 2, 2020 - 7:33 am 5 by
Filed Under Spam

Google Scraper

Roger Montti posted on Twitter that he is seeing more and more spammers using a technique to spam Google through videos. In short, the spammers would find the top ranking content, use text-to-speech software to create automated videos of the content, while using the featured image as the background to the video. Then those videos would rank in Google search.

He reported the issue to a bunch of Googlers and Gary Illyes from Google said he sent it along to the Google webspam team:

I am not sure how new this technique is? I've seen it a ton around political campaigns over the past few years or so, more so on YouTube. But I guess these videos are now showing up higher in the organic search results - which makes it a newer spam problem in web search?

In any event, I would hope Google can address these types of things quickly? If you have examples, feel free to add some in the comments.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 11, 2025

Jul 11, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Helpful Content Recoveries With Core Update, AI Mode Expands, Hidden Ad Terms & Fewer Ad Clicks

Jul 11, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google Maps

Google Local & Business Profiles Drops June 25th - Reporting Glitch?

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Tests Zoom Effect In On Images Within Search Results

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing Search Image Box Tests Explore Image & Visual Search Buttons

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:31 am
Bing Search

Microsoft Bing Tests Delivery Truck Icon In Search Ads

Jul 11, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google Local Pack "Choose Area" Feature Now Live