What happened in SEO this month?
Each month, Lumar’s in-house tech SEO experts hand-pick some of the SEO industry’s top news items from across the web to keep you up-to-date on all things SEO and website optimization.
This month, our SEO news roundup includes:
- Google’s human search quality raters are now asked to assess whether content is AI-generated
- AI overviews may reduce CTR for standard organic search results by 34.5%
- Google is linking to its own search results pages within AI overviews
- Google weighs in on discussions around LLMs.txt
- Google Discover is coming to desktop
- Google’s AI Mode is now multimodal
- Key takeaways from Search Central Live in New York City
Now, let’s dig into the key SEO headlines from April…
Google quality raters now assess whether content is AI-generated
Speaking at Google’s Search Central Live in Madrid, John Mueller confirmed quality raters are being directly asked to assess if content is AI-generated. This content may now earn itself a “lowest” rating from Google if its raters consider the content to be fully automated with little or no effort made to modify it and add value. — Source: Search Engine Land
AI Overviews may reduce clicks by 34.5%
AI Overviews reduce CTR by an average of 34.5%, according to new research by Ahrefs. The team analysed 300,000 keywords, half of which featured an AI overview at the time of testing.
However, it’s worth noting that it’s not possible to single out clicks that are generated through AI Overview citations in GSC data. Google has previously stated that content and links placed inside of AI overviews get a higher percentage of clicks than they would if they appeared in standard SERPs. While that claim is impossible to validate at present, data like this casts increasing doubt on its truthfulness. — Source: Ahrefs
Google now links to its own search results pages within AI overviews
Users started to see links to Google’s own SERPs within AI overviews a couple of months ago. While some people questioned the validity and usefulness of these links, Google has taken the step of confirming that these are now an “official feature” of AIOs and won’t be going away any time soon. — Source: Search Engine Land
Google weighs in on discussions around LLMs.txt
LLMs.txt files are comparable to the (relatively useless) keywords meta tag, according to John Mueller. Some sites have implemented LLMs.txt files in a bid to show AI bots their primary content. However, it remains a largely unused and unaccepted standard. Mueller’s comments seem to align with the experience of early adopters of LLMs.txt, many of whom claim that AI bots aren’t checking whether the file is in place at all. — Source: Search Engine Journal
Google Discover is coming to desktop
Google Discover is coming to desktop, following a successful rollout on mobile. The Discover feed is intended to generate personalised content recommendations based on a user’s search history and perceived interests. An exact date for the desktop launch hasn’t been shared, but it’s likely to start soon given that the feed is already so established on mobile devices. — Source: Search Engine Journal
Search Central Live is held in New York City
Key takeaways from the event include an admission from Google that they’re testing more in-SERP features than ever before – around 48% of which are designed to keep users on Google (and subsequently away from publisher sites). As a result, Google warned that past success in Search can no longer guarantee future success, and traffic patterns are likely to fluctuate at an accelerated rate. While none of this will come as “news” to anyone working in the SEO industry, it’s rare to hear Google speak so openly about the changing landscape of Search and the impact SERP features have on publishers themselves. — Source: Buzzstream
Google’s AI Mode is now multimodal
Users can now use AI Mode to take and upload images and ask questions about them. Gemini and Lens work together to identify the individual objects contained within an image and analyse their context, enabling the search engine to respond to even more complex and nuanced questions. AI Mode is now available to millions of Labs users in the US, where it continues to undergo regular testing and improvements. — Source: Google The Keyword Blog
Google lifts the lid on how web standards are made
Martin and Gary from Google’s Search Relations team are back with another Search Off the Record Podcast. The topic of discussion this time is web standards. From W3C to IETF, the duo discuss why these standards play such a critical role in ensuring a consistent and reliable experience for users across the web. — Source: Google Search Off the Record Podcast
Listen here:
