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Tag: google search console

  • Google is Hiring Engineers to Create AI Content in Discover

    Google is Hiring Engineers to Create AI Content in Discover

    Google is opening new horizons in the world of personalized content by hiring engineers to develop and implement artificial intelligence into its Discover service. This strategic decision aims to create a dynamic, ever-changing stream of information that will meet users’ deepest interests. If you’ve ever wondered how to make 100 unique pieces from one source, Google seems to have found the answer in AI.

    According to job postings, the Discover Feed Recommendation team will “recommend AI-generated content (AIGC) to meet user interests.” This is not just a recommendation, but an entire system capable of circumventing traditional algorithms and offering something completely new, unique to each user.

    How Google Plans to Transform Discover with AI

    Job postings reveal Google’s ambitious plans to transform Discover into a “proactive, hyper-personalized concierge service.” This means that the platform will not just show you content, but also anticipate your needs, offering information that will help you achieve your goals.

    Roles and Responsibilities of New Specialists

    • Staff ML Engineer: This role involves quality control, topic discovery, and content understanding for the Discover team’s AI-generated content. Tasks include building agent flows that generate content for “proactive surfaces” like Discover and Notifications. Special attention is paid to fact-checking, relevance, coherence, and tone, as well as feedback mechanisms for finding and delivering engaging stories worldwide.
    • Senior Staff ML Software Engineer: Similar work, but at a higher level, with an emphasis on the quality of AI-generated content used across all major Google platforms.
    • Principal UX (Director+): This leadership design position aims to transform Discover into a “concierge experience” that helps users progress towards their goals. The salary for this position ranges from $275,000 to $382,000 USD plus bonuses and stock. The specialist will work with YouTube, Shopping, Chrome, and Android teams, scaling AI formats in the feed while keeping the human voice and sources at the forefront.

    “Our goal is to help people dive deeper into their interests and move from inspiration to action,” one job posting states.

    This is not just content repurposing; it’s its complete repackaging and adaptation to individual needs, almost like creating “video DNA” for each user.

    Google is already actively integrating AI into Discover. In October 2023 (presumed typo correction in the original), AI previews for trending topics were launched in the US, South Korea, and India, each linking to content on the internet. This is an excellent example of how video uniqueness and articles can help bypass anti-plagiarism and attract new audiences.

    Features already available or being tested:

    • Discover Customization: Since August, users can customize their feed, indicating what they want to see more or less of.
    • “Dive Deeper” Button: In September, Robbie Stein, VP of Product at Google Search, announced testing a button that opens a brief overview of a topic with links to related stories, starting with videos. This is a kind of “video matryoshka,” where many small pieces of content, adapted for TikTok, Shorts, and Reels, can be obtained from one large piece of content.

    The Discover Experience team, responsible for the user-facing part of the feed, including AI integration, serves over 500 million active users daily, making Discover one of the largest products in the world.

    Google hires engineers to create AI content in Discover — illustration 2

    Search Console Report and Control over AI Content

    Search Console already provides reports on when links to your site appear in Discover’s generative AI features. This allows webmasters to track the effectiveness of their pages in Google’s new recommendation “matrix.”

    • The report shows impressions of links to your site in Discover’s generative AI features, grouped by page, country, and date.
    • The “Pages” view lists the canonical URLs that provided the information shown in these features.

    It’s important to note that the inclusion of your site in Discover’s generative AI features is regulated through Search generative AI control, which also covers AI Overviews and AI Mode. Excluding a site from these features prevents its links and content from appearing in generative AI Search.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is content repurposing in simple terms?

    Content repurposing is the process of transforming existing content into new formats or for new audiences. For example, turning a webinar into 50 short clips for social media or adapting an article into an infographic. This allows you to scale content and get more return on invested resources.

    Should I order uniqueness or create new content?

    It depends on your goals and budget. Video uniqueization and other content can be significantly cheaper and faster than creating new content from scratch, especially if you already have high-quality source material. For bypassing ad bans or for generating variations for A/B tests, uniqueization is a powerful tool.

    How does AI help in bypassing anti-plagiarism?

    AI can analyze text or video, identify key elements, and rephrase them, change the structure, background, voice timbre, creating new, unique versions. This allows you to get a uniqueization package that passes originality checks while maintaining the main meaning and message.

    Conclusion

    Google is actively investing in the development of AI-generated content for Discover, striving to create the most personalized and proactive user experience. This opens up new opportunities for content creators in the field of repurposing and uniqueization. Monitor Search Console reports and experiment with adapting your content to make the most of these innovations. Start adapting your content for different social networks today to be at the forefront of this digital transformation!

  • Is CPM profitable? Forget about search ranking, count real cash

    Is CPM profitable? Forget about search ranking, count real cash

    Is CPM profitable? Forget about search ranking, count real cash

    CPM is profitable only when it converts into money. With the advent of AI Overviews (AIO) in Google Search Console, traditional position metrics are distorted, creating a false impression of visibility. This requires a rethinking of the approach to evaluating SEO effectiveness, focusing on real visits and conversions, rather than on numbers that are worthless.

    Block Flattening: how Google distorts data

    Google Search Console uses an approach called “block flattening” to display AI Overviews. This means that the entire AIO block, which often appears in the first position, is counted as a single position, and all links within it receive the same “top” position in reports.

    “Tracking traditional positions for AI features is hard to make useful,” said John Mueller of Google Search.

    This leads to even links hidden behind a “Show more” button receiving the same position 1 as those immediately visible. As a result, Search Console data may show high visibility, even though the user may not have noticed your site.

    Why “average position” no longer works

    The problem of “average position” existed even before AIO, as it is a simple mathematical average. Search is personalized: results vary depending on geolocation, device, and query. Mixing all these factors into a single average number does not reflect the real picture.

    • Your page might be in position 1 in AIO, but in position 19 in regular results.
    • Search Console might show an “average position” of 10, hiding these extreme values.

    How impressions mislead

    Google’s rules for counting impressions are outdated and do not account for the interactivity of modern search results. An impression is recorded as soon as a result loads on the page, even if the user does not see it. This means that:

    • All links in AIO are counted as impressions by default, even if the user only read the first sentence.
    • Links hidden behind interactive elements (e.g., “Show more”) are not counted as impressions until the user clicks on them.

    This creates a paradox: invisible links get “impressions,” while useful but hidden ones are ignored.

    Impact of AI on clickability and traffic

    Studies show that AIO significantly changes user behavior and affects whether CPM is profitable or not. For example:

    • A Seer Interactive study showed that CTR for cited sites decreased by 61%.
    • An SEJ field study found that AIO cut clicks on regular organic results by approximately 38%.

    This happens because users get the information they need directly from AIO and do not go to third-party sites. This is especially true for informational queries, where AIO appear in 21% of cases.

    CPM profitable? Forget about search ranking, count real cash — illustration 2

    What’s cheaper: banner or target? Focus on the result

    Instead of chasing ephemeral positions, an arbitrageur should focus on real metrics. Testing hypotheses cheaply is possible if you understand exactly what you are measuring. If you see your brand mentioned in AIO – that’s already good. Next, you need to look at:

    • Actual website visits: how many users actually came to your resource.
    • Lead generation: how many inquiries or contacts you received.
    • Conversions: how many sales or target actions were performed.

    These indicators are not distorted by “block flattening” and provide a clear understanding of how much money each ruble spent will bring. To control the real display of the page, use tools that simulate live viewing, rather than relying on averaged Google data.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    What is “block flattening” in Search Console?

    “Block flattening” is a method where Google Search Console combines the entire AI Overview (AIO) block into one position, usually the first. All links within this block receive the same “top” position in reports, regardless of their actual location or visibility to the user.

    Why has the average position in Search Console become less reliable?

    The average position has always been an averaged metric that does not account for search personalization (geolocation, device). With the advent of AI Overviews, it has become even less reliable, as the same page can be in the first position in AIO and in the twentieth in regular results, leading to a distorted average value.

    How do AI Overviews affect click-through rates?

    AI Overviews can significantly reduce the number of clicks on organic results. Users often get all the necessary information directly from AIO and do not go to third-party sites, which leads to a drop in CTR for many resources.

    What metrics should be used instead of positions in Search Console?

    Instead of positions, you should focus on real indicators: the number of actual website visits, lead generation, conversions, and whether your brand is mentioned in AI Overviews. These metrics provide a more accurate picture of the real effectiveness of your SEO.

    Conclusion

    Old metrics don’t work. Price vs. result — that’s what matters. Forget about the illusions of “average position” and “impressions” that don’t bring cash. Focus on real visits, leads, and sales. Only then can you understand if your CPM is profitable and if AI is worth the effort. Analyze unit economics, not reports that Google itself admits are inaccurate. Switch to a new strategy for evaluating effectiveness, based on actual data, not on numbers that are worthless.