Google uses algorithm updates to maintain its dominance in search and defend against competitive threats from AI and other technologies. These updates can be either vague, telling website owners to improve content quality, or specific, targeting certain types of content or behaviors. While updates aim to surface the most helpful information to users, they also manipulate rankings in ways that protect Google's authority and give it an advantage over competitors.

2. GOOGLE’S DEFENCE
AGAINST THE
AI ONSLAUGHT

3. @THCapper | @getSTAT
#smx
getstat.com/smxm

4. ON THE AGENDA TODAY:
• Google’s dominance and inherent weakness
• Current and most recent competitive threats
• Google’s best means of defence
• What you might be seeing more of
@THCapper

5. GOOGLE’S DOMINANCE
& INHERENT WEAKNESS
@THCapper

6. @THCapper
GOOGLE WASN’T
ALWAYS SO
DOMINANT.
Yahoo! anyone?

7. @THCapper
ONE TOOL — A WEB
SEARCH ENGINE — TO
RULE THEM ALL.
(Even if it shouldn’t.)

8. @THCapper
Product search

9. @THCapper
Authority needed
Product search

10. @THCapper
Don’t need 10 blue links
Authority needed
Product search

11. @THCapper
Don’t need 10 blue links
Is a true navigational search
Authority needed
Product search

12. SERP FEATURES ARE GOOGLE
ADMITTING THAT WEB SEARCH ISN’T
THE ANSWER.

13. CURRENT & MOST
RECENT COMPETITIVE
THREATS
@THCapper

14. @THCapper
EACH USE CASE CAN
BE SOLVED BY A
GOOGLE COMPETITOR.
Google is threatened from
multiple sides.

15. @THCapper
Amazon (retail)

16. GOOGLE IS HYPER-FOCUSED ON
THE PRODUCT REVIEW VERTICAL.

17. @THCapper
Amazon (retail)
Amazon (voice search)

20. THE YEAR OF VOICE SEARCH
DID NOT COME.
@THCapper

21. THE YEAR OF VOICE SEARCH
DID NOT COME.
But these queries matter.
@THCapper

22. @THCapper
LOSS LEADERS
In retail, these are products
sold at a loss to entice more
in-store tra
ffi
c.

23. @THCapper
THESE QUERIES ARE
LOSS LEADERS FOR
THE ONE ON TOP.

24. GOOGLE’S LOSS LEADERS ARE
THREATENED FROM MANY
ANGLES.
@THCapper

26. @THCapper
Amazon (retail)
Amazon (voice search)
Tiktok

28. @THCapper
Amazon (retail)
Amazon (voice search)
Tiktok
Apple?

29. (THIS COULD BE A SERP FEATURE.)
App Clip Card App Clip

30. @THCapper
AI chatbot

32. FOR MICROSOFT, SEARCH AS A
WHOLE CAN BE A LOSS LEADER.
It can’t be for Google.
@THCapper

34. SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO TAKE
CHATGPT SERIOUSLY.

35. TOOLS LIKE CHATGPT ARE NOT
INTENDED FOR INFORMATION
RETRIEVAL.
They’re text generators better at producing
fi
ction than facts.
@THCapper

36. SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO TAKE
CHATGPT SERIOUSLY.

37. OTHER TIMES, IT’S BETTER THAN
A GOOGLE RESULT.

38. GOOGLE SEES AI AS
A DOUBLE THREAT.
It’s both a competitor and a pollutant.
@THCapper

39. @THCapper
AI chatbot
AI content

40. GOOGLE’S AI INTOLERANCE
• Their guidelines have long forbidden AI content.
@THCapper

41. Surely there were always reasonable uses cases for AI-written content?

42. GOOGLE’S AI INTOLERANCE
• Their guidelines have long forbidden AI content.
• The Helpful Content Update (HCU) explicitly
targeted AI content.
@THCapper

43. GOOGLE’S AI INTOLERANCE
• Their guidelines have long forbidden AI content.
• The Helpful Content Update (HCU) explicitly
targeted AI content.
• And the anecdotal evidence of crackdowns is
mounting.
@THCapper

45. If a free tool can do this, think of what Google can do.

46. GOOGLE
AI
CONTENT AI
COMPETITORS

47. BEST MEANS OF
DEFENCE
@THCapper

48. GOOGLE NEEDS TO GET BETTER AT
QUICK ANSWERS.
This is its biggest weakness against chat AI.
@THCapper

49. GOOGLE’S LAMDA:
IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ’EM, JOIN ’EM.
@THCapper

50. (IT LOOKS LIKE A SERP FEATURE.)
@THCapper

51. GOOGLE NEEDS TO PROTECT ITS
AUTHORITY AND TRUST.
These are its two greatest strengths.
@THCapper

52. @THCapper
AI ANSWERS TO
THESE QUERIES
COULD DAMAGE
TRUST IN GOOGLE.

53. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF
GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATES.
The speci
fi
c kind and the vague kind.
@THCapper

54. SPECIFIC
• E.g. CWV, Mobilegeddon.
• Google is trying to change our
behaviour.
• “X is now a ranking factor.”
• Slow, uneventful rollouts.
@THCapper

55. SPECIFIC
• E.g. CWV, Mobilegeddon.
• Google is trying to change our
behaviour.
• “X is now a ranking factor.”
• Slow, uneventful rollouts.
@THCapper
VAGUE
• E.g. Core updates.
• Google is telling us to expect
a
fl
ux.
• “Just make good content.”
• Tumultuous, unannounced
rollouts.

56. SPECIFIC
• E.g. CWV, Mobilegeddon.
• Google is trying to change our
behaviour.
• “X is now a ranking factor.”
• Slow, uneventful rollouts.
@THCapper
VAGUE
• E.g. Core updates.
• Google is telling us to expect
a
fl
ux.
• “Just make good content.”
• Tumultuous, unannounced
rollouts.
MANIPULATE
YOU
COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE

57. HOW DOES GOOGLE KEEP AI
POLLUTION OUT OF SEARCH?
@THCapper

58. HOW DOES GOOGLE KEEP AI
POLLUTION OUT OF SEARCH?
With algorithm updates that manipulate you.
@THCapper

60. GOOGLE SOUNDING VAGUE:
“How can you ensure you’re creating content that will
be successful with our new update? By following our
long-standing advice and guidelines to create content
for people, not for search engines.”
@THCapper

61. SOME SPECIFICS:
“Are you using extensive automation to produce
content on many topics?
…
Does your content promise to answer a question that
actually has no answer?”
@THCapper

62. A PROBABLE OVERREACH:
“Any content — no just unhelpful content — on sites
determined to have relatively high amounts of
unhelpful content overall is less likely to perform well
in Search.”
@THCapper

63. AVERAGE RANK BARELY CHANGED.
GOOGLE WAS GENTLE (OR BLUFFING).
Average
rank
of
URLs
—
CrUX
data
6
7
8
9
10
May '21 August '21
8.74
7.59
8.99
8.8
8.59
8.4
Passes 3 Passes 1–2 Passes 0

64. MozCast
temperature
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
0
8
/
1
1
0
8
/
1
3
0
8
/
1
5
0
8
/
1
7
0
8
/
1
9
0
8
/
2
1
0
8
/
2
3
0
8
/
2
5
0
8
/
2
7
0
8
/
2
9
0
8
/
3
1
0
9
/
0
2
0
9
/
0
4
0
9
/
0
6
BEFORE & AFTER HELPFUL CONTENT UPDATE

65. 30,000
60,000
90,000
120,000
150,000
180,000
0
8
/
1
1
0
8
/
1
3
0
8
/
1
5
0
8
/
1
7
0
8
/
1
9
0
8
/
2
1
0
8
/
2
3
0
8
/
2
5
0
8
/
2
7
0
8
/
2
9
0
8
/
3
1
0
9
/
0
2
0
9
/
0
4
0
9
/
0
6
WHITEHOUSE.GOV SERP VISIBILITY

66. PAGE-ONE HTTPS URLS: AUGUST 2014

67. PAGE-ONE HTTPS URLS: 2014–2022

68. HOW DOES GOOGLE KEEP AI
POLLUTION OUT OF SEARCH?
With algorithm updates that manipulate you.
@THCapper

69. HOW DOES GOOGLE ENSURE
BETTER SEARCH RESULTS THAN
APPLE & BING?
@THCapper

70. HOW DOES GOOGLE ENSURE
BETTER SEARCH RESULTS THAN
APPLE & BING?
With algorithm updates that give them a competitive
advantage.
@THCapper

71. Number
of
algorithm
updates
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
2
0
0
9
2
0
1
0
2
0
1
1
2
0
1
2
2
0
1
3
2
0
1
4
2
0
1
5
2
0
1
6
2
0
1
7
2
0
1
8
2
0
1
9
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
1
GOOGLE MAKES A LOT OF UPDATES
N/A N/A

73. @THCapper
“Just make good content.”
- GOOGLE

74. -150
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86. NOBODY IS IMMUNE TO
GOOGLE’S WILD RIDE.
@THCapper

88. Percent
of
sites
impacted
4%
8%
12%
16%
Number of core updates
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
10% OF SITES DODGED A CORE UPDATE

89. Percent
of
sites
impacted
4%
8%
12%
16%
Number of core updates
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
MOST SITES SHOULD CARE ABOUT
CORE UPDATES

90. Percent
of
sites
impacted
4%
8%
12%
16%
Number of core updates
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
MOST SITES SHOULD CARE ABOUT
CORE UPDATES

91. Percent
of
sites
impacted
4%
8%
12%
16%
Number of core updates
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
MOST SITES SHOULD CARE ABOUT
CORE UPDATES

92. Percent
of
sites
impacted
4%
8%
12%
16%
Number of core updates
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
MOST SITES SHOULD CARE ABOUT
CORE UPDATES

93. Percent
of
sites
impacted
4%
8%
12%
16%
Number of core updates
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
MOST SITES SHOULD CARE ABOUT
CORE UPDATES

94. Percent
of
sites
impacted
4%
8%
12%
16%
Number of core updates
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
~20%
~20% OF SITES ARE HIT BY MOST UPDATES

95. 37
41
1,500
Mixed
All positive
All negative
THE VAST MAJORITY OF SITES SEE
GAINS & LOSSES AFTER CORE UPDATES

96. WHAT YOU’LL SEE
MORE OF
@THCapper

97. THREAT
AI CONTENT ERODES
GOOGLE’S AUTHORITY
ADVANTAGE.
@THCapper

98. THREAT
AI CONTENT ERODES
GOOGLE’S AUTHORITY
ADVANTAGE.
@THCapper
RESPONSE
MORE EMPHASIS ON
ATTRIBUTION.

99. THREAT
BING AND APPLE
CLOSE THE SEARCH
QUALITY GAP.
@THCapper

100. THREAT
BING AND APPLE
CLOSE THE SEARCH
QUALITY GAP.
@THCapper
RESPONSE
CONSTANT
ALGORITHM FLUX.

101. THREAT
QUICK ANSWERS.
@THCapper

102. THREAT
QUICK ANSWERS.
@THCapper
RESPONSE
COMPLEX SERPS.

103. SEO CHALLENGE
• Emphasis on attribution.
• Constant
fl
ux.
• Complex SERPs.
@THCapper
SEO STRATEGY

104. SEO CHALLENGE
• Emphasis on attribution.
• Constant
fl
ux.
• Complex SERPs.
@THCapper
SEO STRATEGY
• Focus on brand and authorship.

105. SEO CHALLENGE
• Emphasis on attribution.
• Constant
fl
ux.
• Complex SERPs.
@THCapper
SEO STRATEGY
• Focus on brand and authorship.
• Play the long game.

106. SEO CHALLENGE
• Emphasis on attribution.
• Constant
fl
ux.
• Complex SERPs.
@THCapper
SEO STRATEGY
• Focus on brand and authorship.
• Play the long game.
• Your site as a destination and
careful tracking.

107. Get the deck at
getstat.com/smxm