AI-generated Content

Using AI-generated Content? Google Says It’s Time to Stop

Before you sign up for that service that promises to write your content in seconds for half the cost of hiring a copywriter, read Google’s stance on the topic.

Generating content using AI writing tools goes against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, and Google’s team is speaking out against this content. 

New services have been cropping up that claim to have the ability to improve SEO while being more affordable than hiring a writer. But Google might flag these autogenerated content pieces for violating webmaster guidelines

And while content writing algorithms have greatly improved over the years, so has Google’s AI, which can spot when content is nonsensical and just uses keywords. Or if you translate text using an automated tool without a translator before publishing, Google will likely know it.

This is not the first time Google has addressed this issue. In fact, statements about auto-generated content date back to 2010 when Google came out stating that using automated translation services would be treated as spam due to violations of the webmaster guidelines

AI-generated content

Webmaster Guidelines for Auto-generated Content

Google’s guidelines specifically state the following when it comes to AI-generated content.

Automatically generated (also called “auto-generated”—content) is content that’s been generated programmatically. In cases where it’s intended to manipulate search rankings and not help users, Google may take action on such content. Some example cases include, but are not limited to:

  • Text that makes no sense to the reader but which may contain search keywords.
  • Text translated by an automated tool without human review or curation before publishing.
  • Text generated through automated processes, such as Markov chains.
  • Text generated using automated synonymizing or obfuscation techniques.
  • Text generated from scraping Atom/RSS feeds or search results
  • Stitching or combining content from different web pages without adding sufficient value.

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Is AI Content Worth the Risk?

Google isn’t the only one that doesn’t like AI-generated content. Your customers will likely not enjoy the content as much as they would if you were to write it. Here are some top considerations before using AI-generated content and hoping Google can’t detect it.

1. Google Might Flag Your Entire Website as Spam

When you use AI-generated content, you aren’t just risking that Google will flag that one page as spam. It might flag your entire website, harming the time you’ve put into a stunning design and copywriting for other pages.

2. The Content is Not Original

Some auto-generated services simply piece together a variety of content it can find on other websites. That means the content is virtually the same and puts you at risk of getting dinged for duplicate content. It’s dangerous to pull content from other people’s websites and you’ll likely still struggle to rank for those topics.

3. Low-quality Content

Paying less for AI content might seem appealing until you learn that it requires ample editing to get it ready for your audience. That means time and effort that you could have just put into hiring a human writer in the first place.

The benefit of AI content is that it requires less time to draft, it costs far less than hiring a copywriter (which is not inexpensive) and AI services can help with generating content ideas. 

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether you’re comfortable with the risks in light of the benefits. However, at New Light Digital, we focus on customer-centric copy that not only delivers first-page SEO rankings but also helps convert visitors into prospects and prospects into customers. Learn more about our content marketing and SEO services by scheduling a free consultation with our team.

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