Will Google Punish AI-Written Content?
Will Google Punish AI-Written Content?
Moving from "Written by People" to "Written for People"
The advent and proliferation of generative-ai has raised many questions, especially for writers. At the heart of these questions and uncertainties is whether Google, among other search engines, will discriminate against content written with artificial intelligence bots.
The uncertainties are more amplified by the fact that major search engines like Google and Bing are pioneers in developing generative AI, with Google experimenting with Bard while Bing is running wild with Bing Chat.
The September 2023 update by Google, dubbed The Helpful Content Update, seeks to clarify these issues. This issue examines the latest Google updates on helpful content. If you are a content creator or even a consumer of content on Google, here is what you need to know.
Google rolled out the September 2023 Helpful Content Update on 14th September. It is one of Google's efforts to ensure that web searchers get quality and insightful content.
It is vital to stay up to date with changes in algorithms to ensure you are doing whatās right for your website.
Here is a breakdown of the 2023 September Google Helpful Content Update.
1. Content Written for People
Google seemed to favor content written by humans. However, the latest update seems to have updated the term to include content written for people. The phrase āwritten by peopleā is now replaced with āhelpful content written for the people.ā
The phrase change puts an end to the debate about whether Google will penalize content written by machines. Google will only concentrate on whether your content serves the readers. Website owners are free to use any tools of choice so long as they create content for the people.
Google finally seems to affirm our speculation that AI will not replace human writers, but humans will greatly be at the center of 'humanizing' AI content.
2. Third-party Content
The hosted third-party content update states:
If you host third-party content on your main site or in your subdomains, understand that such content may be included in site-wide signals we generate, such as the helpfulness of content. For this reason, if that content is largely independent of the main siteās purpose or produced without close supervision or the involvement of the primary site, we recommend that it should be blocked from being indexed by Google.
It means Google will now start looking to other sites hosted on your main domain to check your content. If the content is not aligned with the main site or it is not up to standard, it will hurt your site rankings.
According to Google, people who operate third-party sites want to manipulate rankings. Also, most micro-sites are questionable and unrelated to the parent sites.
3. Expert-reviewed Content
Google continues to emphasize the need for expert review of content. Having the content reviewed by a knowledgeable enthusiast of the topic is acceptable. You can read more about the Experise questions here.
4. Editing Content
Remember how you update content by changing dates? Google says it will be keen on content that is not current, even with changed dates. It will focus on whether the content has any added new information.
Changing dates on pages will not cut it anymore. The search engine-first tactic is another area of focus for Google. Also, not listing dates to keep your content evergreen will not cut it.
Google seems to assert that creating evergreen content is the key to long-lasting ranking.
5. Classifier Improvement
Google spots a new classifier. It is not exactly clear what is new with the classifier. Yet, Google added it as part of the recent Helpful Content Update.
Closing Thoughts on Google Helpful Content Update 2023
Google first announced the Helpful Content Update in May 2023. It is now here with us. If your site gets hit, look for the above pointers on what could be the cause. The changes may work for your site if you write quality content for the people.
There are many projected changes to come in the Helpful Content Update. As we wait for the rest, ensure your site follows the new rules by making the necessary changes above.
Should you need to update or write new content for your blog or companyās website, talk to us, and we will write Google-compliant content for human consumption.