Google changes Google Search algorithms again, promising to reduce clickbait links shown in searches

Google promises to deliver “better quality content” on Google Search, reducing the visibility of questionable and unoriginal content in search results listings.

Promising to deal another blow to sites that “live” on clickbait, delivering content plagiarized from other sites or created just to generate listings, Google is adjusting the display priority of Google Search results. Affecting only the English-language version of the search engine for now, the new algorithms aim to reduce the visibility of low-quality content aimed at attracting clicks rather than delivering useful information to readers.

“This ranking update will help make sure that unoriginal and low-quality content doesn’t rank highly in Search, especially for online educational materials, entertainment, shopping and technology-related content,” Google says in a blog post.

From the perspective of content creators, the change will reward sites that make visitors feel like they’ve found what they’re looking for, while sites that don’t take a human-centric approach will become less visible in search results. Google gave the example of sites that take content from other web locations without offering extra information or even a different point of view.

The latest enhancement will also penalise websites that publish content automatically copied directly from other websites. However, websites that Google’s algorithms say contain “unique, authentic information” are likely to appear first in search results.