Perplexity Pages Now Rank Higher In Google Search Than TechCrunch, TheVerge, Wired, And More

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the impact of Google's March 2024 core update on websites, particularly those using AI-generated content. It highlights the issue of AI-generated articles from Perplexity ranking higher than content from established tech websites on Google's search results, despite Google's stated goal of reducing AI-generated spam. The article raises concerns about the prioritization of AI-generated content over human-written work and the implications for the quality and authenticity of online content.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The March 2024 Google Core Update

1. What was the impact of the March 2024 Google core update?

• The March 2024 Google core update resulted in a significant drop in search rankings for thousands of websites, leading to a massive decline in their stats and revenue.
• The update specifically targeted websites using AI to generate low-quality, spammy, and unoriginal content.

2. What was Google's statement regarding the update?

• Google's statement explained that their long-standing spam policy has been that the use of automation, including generative AI, is considered spam if the primary purpose is manipulating ranking in search results.
• The updated policy is in the same spirit as the previous policy and is based on the same principle, but has been expanded to account for more sophisticated scaled content creation methods where it isn't always clear whether low-quality content was created purely through automation.

[02] AI-Generated Content Ranking Higher

1. What did the author discover about AI-generated articles from Perplexity?

• The author discovered that AI-generated articles from Perplexity were ranking higher than articles from established tech websites like TechCrunch, The Verge, and Wired.

2. How does Perplexity Pages work?

• Perplexity Pages is a tool that transforms a researched topic into a well-structured, beautifully formatted article with ease.
• Users can publish the generated article in Perplexity's library of user-generated content and share it directly with their audience with just one click.
• Once the article is published, Google will rank it just like an article on the user's blog.

3. What is the author's concern regarding the prioritization of AI-generated content?

• The author is concerned that AI-generated articles that take mere seconds to produce are being prioritized by Google over meticulously crafted pieces that require hours or even days to write.
• This means that speed and efficiency are trumping quality and authenticity in the digital landscape.

4. How does Google evaluate AI-generated content?

• Google doesn't penalize AI-generated content outright, but instead evaluates it just like human-written work, ensuring it fulfills E-E-A-T criteria (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) and offers a positive user experience.
• The author believes that Google considers the Perplexity-generated article to be high-quality, which is why it ranked high on the search results.

5. How does the author feel about the prioritization of AI-generated content?

• The author is deeply concerned about Perplexity Pages saturating the internet with recycled content from human works, and is becoming more convinced that Google Search is broken and needs to be fixed.