SEO? More Like S-E- NO!
Google’s Algorithmic Control — Has Digital Studies Students All Over FURIOUS!
An article by The Verge, makes me begin to question what is really going on behind the scenes when you are doing a Google search. The article discusses the gamification of content writing. Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO), websites are forced to compete with one another to provide content that is more likely to get people to see it. This becomes interesting because the system is beneficial for websites to find traction, but then it also is a problem, as it drowns out sites that do not necessarily have the best SEO but good information.
From being from an Advertising background, I am somewhat familiar with basics of SEO. From a marketing standpoint, good SEO is just another practice of good business. However, with the dominance of Google, we are no longer writing content for people and are now writing for Google.
“Google controls around 90 percent of the search market, by some measures, so it’s too valuable a referral source to just leave up to luck” (The Verge)
With the writers of this content, there are the benefits that more niche content will be rewarded with more unique results. However, for the most common of searches, this may become a problem. As a general user of the internet, it feels a tad manipulative to have content represented as something it may simply not be.
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To test this theory, I did my own experiment, where I googled Valentine’s Day. From there, the initial loading page is dedicated to Google. Only after scrolling an entire page do I find something; however, the links following are highly successful SEO companies like IMDb and History.com.
Google is a powerful search engine and tool, however, it has completely become gamified and forces creators to play the game of SEO to earn any sort of success. Google’s very powerful algorithm, which is constantly changing, can completely make SEO specialists have to start all over again. This process makes web browsers have to choose between user experience and more accurate results, or the complete gamification of companies, and whatever company can type the right keywords, shows up ranked higher, rather than the most related company or source.
Ultimately, I am interested in where SEO goes in the future, as I feel very connected. Users should be more conscious of the backside of Google’s interesting algorithm.
