BrightonSEO Bots, Browsers, Beyond: Google vs Bing in the Age of AI

In this presentation, we'll explore how conversational agents are reshaping our experiences with search engines like Google and Bing. We'll discuss how search results have changed due to the influence of these sophisticated language models. These changes directly affect what we see in our search results, but there are also indirect changes. For instance, language models like Copilot can provide information directly, without us needing to do a separate search. Additionally, we'll talk about the challenges that websites face when they have to decide how much information to share with search engines versus what they keep for their own platform users. This dilemma arises as deep learning models blend real-time data (current events) with training data (past events). We'll take a broad look at the changes we've seen in the past few months and make some predictions about what might be in store for the future.

Transcript

1. CONFIDENTIAL Bots, Browsers & Beyond Christa Watson LOCOMOTIVE Agency Speakerdeck.com/christawatson Linkedin.com/in/christawatson
2. CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 2 AI @ Google Machine Learning
3. CONFIDENTIAL Machine Learning (AI) Is not new… “Google’s been using AI (machine learning specifically) since about 2001. Thanks apocalyptic AI article you just read is about 20 years late.” -Gary Illyes 3
4. CONFIDENTIAL 4
5. CONFIDENTIAL 5
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7. CONFIDENTIAL 7
8. CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 8 Coverage Media
9. CONFIDENTIAL 9
10. CONFIDENTIAL 10
11. CONFIDENTIAL 11 ➔ Feb - May 2022: Early integration of AI in Google services. ➔ Jun - Sep 2022: Emergence of AI chatbots and DeepMind’s new oerings. ➔ Oct 2022 - Jan 2023: Increased competition between Google and Microsoft, including significant investments and concerns over ChatGPT. ➔ Feb - Apr 2023: Rapid development in AI-powered search technologies by both Google and Microsoft. ➔ May - Aug 2023: New product launches, collaboration, and open-source initiatives, along with expansion of existing AI services.
12. CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL Impact 12 Traic
13. CONFIDENTIAL 13
14. CONFIDENTIAL 14
15. CONFIDENTIAL 15
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17. CONFIDENTIAL 17
18. CONFIDENTIAL StackOverflow had a change to their cookie consent and GA that, according to them, impacted their analytics reporting in their public tool. However, their post data (we assume is internal - although they didn’t confirm), tells a similar story. 18
19. CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL Tactical 19 In the wild…
20. CONFIDENTIAL Informational 20 Bard Bing Chat Winner?
21. CONFIDENTIAL Informational 21 Bard Bing Chat Winner?
22. CONFIDENTIAL Not Deterministic 22 You can search for shared responses in Bard using the site: operator to see others saved results.
23. CONFIDENTIAL 23 Shared Prior New Write a response apologizing for not being able to aend a friend’s wedding
24. CONFIDENTIAL Still Stingy
25. CONFIDENTIAL Still Stingy (but better)
26. CONFIDENTIAL Tracking 26 For Bard and their SGE, Google uses the same indexed passages that we find in traditional Featured Snippets. hps://techboomers.com/sites-like-s tubhub#:~:text=TicketsNow.com%2 C%20another%20Ticketmaster%20s ub%2Dsite%2C%20this%20alternativ e%20to,then%20replace%20it%20wit h%20a%20new%20bar
27. CONFIDENTIAL Tracking 27 Here is a clearer view of the links and the passages from the URL decoded:
28. CONFIDENTIAL Tracking 28 While Whilst not perfect, updating your tracking code to capture these “text=” fragments as custom dimensions can give you some coverage of SGE, especially if it starts to replace featured results that traditionally have used this convention. Platform Attribution Work-around Google SGE Will appear as organic Track text= landings Bard Google sets noreferrer on links to hide this traffic Bing Will appear as organic ChatGPT Will appear with source: chat.openai.com
29. CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL Questions? 29