Google’s AI Could Ruin the Web. But it Probably Won’t.

Got questions? Artificial Intelligence is here to answer them. In fact, it’s already doing just that.

Sometime in 2015, Google started using AI to help generate the search results that show up on our screens every day.

Artificial Intelligence has been producing  search results for you since 2015.

While groundbreaking, the news has pulled some industry voices into a downward spiral of predicting that search engine optimization (SEO) is dead and the Internet itself will be forever changed.

That could be the case, but I don’t think it will be.

Google’s AI system, cleverly named RankBrain, has been in a constant state of development and refinement for well over a year. As of last fall, RankBrain was being used to answer the 15% of searches that are typed into a Google search box for the very first time.

Now the company says RankBrain plays a role of some sort in all searches, namely by making more intelligent connections between words to show us more relevant results.

Cue the dire predictions.

John Rampton recently wrote a piece for TechCrunch analyzing AI’s new role in online search and predicting how it will change the SEO industry.

He includes a neat breakdown of AI’s rapid progress that’s well worth the read – I learned a lot.

Though he does a great job sharing his understanding of AI, his conclusions about how it will change Google are off base because, it seems, Rampton doesn’t understand Google.

Rampton talks about the limitations he thinks AI will bring, whereas AI is instead likely to expand freedom for those who care about search (and that should be all of us). 

Let’s break down the three conclusions from Rampton’s article:

1. Rampton says “each competitive keyword environment will need to be examined on its own” and recommends we “focus on improving a particular part of SEO” depending on the keyword.

It makes sense that the search environment for each keyword or at least each topic area will eventually get its own unique ranking footprint. However, if you’re optimizing the right way, this shouldn’t change much for you.

Saying “I’ll focus on creating a stellar meta description for this focus keyword and instead think about content length for that one” misses the point. We help clients optimize using all available avenues, meaning they’re set no matter what.

2. Rampton believes “most sites will need to stay niche to avoid misclassification.”

What he misses here is that Google will only expand AI’s influence to the extent that it actually improves results. They won’t give it a bigger role if it’s going to misclassify sites. That would run counter to what has always been their main goal – figuring out what we want to see and showing it to us.

RankBrain isn't running unsupervised.

The good folks at Google are heavily monitoring RankBrain by periodically feeding it new information and then testing the results for accuracy before they push updates live. They’re sitting in the passenger seat next to RankBrain, not handing it the keys and telling it not to stay out too late. 

Niche sites can of course be better for search since they more readily give visitors what they’re looking for, but they don’t work for everyone. Google won’t allow a situation in which you have to go niche or face unintended consequences. 

3. Lastly, Rampton says “each site should mimic the structure and composition of their respective top sites in that niche” to rank well moving forward.

How boring! While I understand his assertion that AI groups similar content together, Rampton again shows a drastic misunderstanding of Google’s worldview.

Google has worked to foster more creativity, diversity, and quality content on the web, not less. They don’t want all shoe sites to look like Nike.com (to use Rampton’s example) because that’s not what consumers want either.

They also hate the bandwagon effect we see when everyone pursues the same tactics for the sole purpose of ranking better (guest blogging comes to mind). If all sites in a particular genre start to look the same, rest assured Google will introduce penalties designed to kick that trend.

Artificial Intelligence should ultimately be good for search.

Despite what Rampton and some others say, AI brings with it some great changes to search. It lets content creators write more naturally while still being found organically. Most importantly, it helps the engine understand what searchers want better than ever before.

That’s always a good thing.