FEATURE
WHEN SEO MET AI
To stay onside with Google and not forfeit millions in lost visibility , you need to be more diligent than the search behemoth itself and also understand its increasing use of artificial intelligence , says Paul Reilly from Media Skunk Works
FOR THOSE OF YOU who have had the pleasure of having been around this industry for even a short period of time , you will no doubt have figured out that SEO can be a funny old game . For that matter , it doesn ’ t matter what industry you work in , Google is now deeply integrated with all of our lives and has been for nearly two decades . However , if you are one of the lucky few who remain unaffected by it , I can only guess you ’ ve recently returned from a couple of decades of devoted Ayurvedic introspection or perhaps the pursuit of enlightenment with an isolated monastic order . Or perhaps your government ’ s leadership insists you use the state-run alternative . Failing that , you may have simply messed up your parole review . In any of the aforementioned possible eventualities , you will have a lot of catching up to do .
My aim with this article is twofold : 1 ) to provide a starting point for those who are currently peering down the SEO rabbit hole ; and 2 ) for those who have already begun their venture into wonderland , to share some insights with you which I expect to be of interest to both pure SEO and affiliates in general .
But first : happy “ belated ” birthday , Google I ’ d like you to join me in a toast to Google , wishing it the very best belated birthday . If you missed it , it was Google ’ s 19th birthday on 27 September ( a few days ago , at the time of writing ).
According to Google ’ s official birthday announcement ( 2017 ):
“ In 1997 , one of Google ’ s co-founders , Larry Page , had just arrived at Stanford University to pursue his PhD in computer science . Of all the students on campus ,
Google ’ s other co-founder , Sergey Brin , was randomly assigned to show Page around . This chance encounter was the happy surprise that started it all .”
For reasons you ’ ll understand in a moment , I ’ d like to ask you to read the full quotation one more time . Seriously , it ’ s important ! Did you read it again … carefully ?
How would you know if the claim was true ?
I will use this example by way of illustration while I remind you that SEO ( when practised responsibly ) is actually a subfield of forensic science and as such it requires the same investigative approach .
Consider the definition : Forensic ( adjective ) “ belonging to , used in , or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate ” ( Merriam-Webster ).
Every detail , no matter how minor , in order to be considered admissible in court , must be supported by evidence , the reliability of which must be sufficiently robust to withstand scrutiny . For the purpose of this exercise , let ’ s specify the UK as our legal jurisdiction . Arbitrarily , let ’ s assume this to be a criminal court , because it probably best suits 70-80 % of
“ SEO is actually a subfield of forensic science and as such it requires the same investigative approach ”
SEO practitioners randomly sampled from the wider , global SEO community . ( Stay with me , you ’ ll see where I ’ m going .)
According to In Brief , a fantastic legal resource from which I took inspiration for this article , under UK criminal law evidence falls into 11 categories , eight of which are either not applicable to our analogy or inadmissible . This leaves us with three remaining types of evidence : evidence ; expert evidence ; and corroboration .
According to the Crown Prosecution Service ’ s definition : “ Expert evidence can be used to assist the court in determining the issues in a case where it is relevant and where the opinion of an expert is needed to give the court a greater understanding of those issues ” ( 2014 ).
Because this example is trivial , and considering the CPS guidelines on expert evidence , we do not require any such expert evidence . This leaves us with two remaining types of evidence with which to reach a verdict , reject the case or call an adjournment .
Now read it with your own eyes : google . com / doodles / googles-19thbirthday ( or tinyurl . com / ggl19 )
I ’ ll ask again : is the statement from Google true or false ? You might answer one or none of the following :
● ●It sounds reasonably accurate to the best of my knowledge .
●●Why would they lie ?
●●What is to gain by making up falsehoods ? It ’ s actually untrue .
My point , however , is not to pick holes in a statement made by Google . My point relates purely to the importance of taking a forensic approach .
The importance of forensics in SEO Consider the small and ambitious affiliates with plans to do great things . Consider too the big affiliate with a growing team , mouths to feed , and responsibility as an employer .
It doesn ’ t matter who you are . Google is a highly optimised technology . It runs the western world ’ s largest collective distributed application , employs the world ’ s largest AI research team and , based on that very premise , continues to attract talent of the highest calibre .
This results in more innovation than any other organisation on the planet can match . Moreover , the output of its AI research and innovation creates more data as a by-product and direct result of its aggregated intellectual capacity
30 iGB Affiliate Issue 65 OCT / NOV 2017