Hamsterdam Part 41: SEO News Recap from 1/15 to 1/21, 2024
By Ethan Lazuk
Last updated:
A weekly look-back at SEO news, tips, and other content shared on social media & beyond.
Opening notes:
- Last week’s Hamsterdam had a special introduction about MLK to celebrate Monday’s holiday. If you missed it, I hope you’ll get a chance to check it out!
- I’ve been in the Lions corner all season. Whoever wins today’s divisional round game, it’s a win-win. That said, go Bucs!
- Marie Haynes has a community called The Search Bar for SEO and AI news. I encourage you to check it out!
*Feel free to jump down to the recap, or keep reading for an introduction and summary of the week’s news!
Introduction to week 41: “An entangled state”
The main definition of “perplexity” is an inability to understand something complicated or unaccountable; basically, bewilderment.
In information theory, perplexity refers to an actual measure of uncertainty.
However, there’s a secondary (and archaic) definition of perplexity as “an entangled state.”
After watching Neeva come and go, I sort of lost enthusiasm for AI-based search engines trying to be viable against Google.
Then about 2+ weeks ago, I read a letter from Perplexity AI’s CEO announcing their series B funding, which had names like Jeff Bezos attached. I mentioned this news a couple of times in Hamsterdam Part 39.
So, I decided to try out Perplexity.
Honestly, it’s not like Google, and likely isn’t trying to be.
Perplexity AI feels more like using Copilot in Bing to me, where it summarizes an answer, but it may be hard to discern where the exact information comes from, despite the citations.
I asked Perplexity for information about a topic I made up (11x content for SEO), and it summarized it very well.
For a thorough summary of a topic, that sort of feels like the top section of a Wikipedia page, Perplexity AI is a viable option.
For results with human personality and perspective from someone who’s done a thing before (not an LLM predicting facts about it), I’d be more apt to visit a webpage in Google’s main search results or an SGE snapshot.
When iPullRank published their 2024 generative AI predictions, they were kind enough to include mine. I guessed that people would grow bored of the pristine and generic writing style of generative AI, and creative writing (real hidden gem content, we might say) would undergo a renaissance.
Of course, I was speaking wishfully.
But check out this example to see what I’m getting at.
Here’s how Perplexity AI describes 11x content for SEO:
That’s actually a very thorough, accurate, and well-organized answer.
If I wanted a summary of the topic, that would be more than good enough.
But now look how Google’s featured snippet, which uses the article’s content (not an AI summary), compares:
Emoji aside 😉 … which would entice you more to click a result?
Which are you more likely to remember?
Which sounds like a brand or a person with a point of view?
If I was writing a paper or creating a blog article, the AI summary from Perplexity could be more useful.
I’d still want to cite the source, though, so unless I trusted the summary 100%, I’d visit a webpage. I can also tell you, it wouldn’t be easy to attribute every fact in that summary by skimming my article (it’s partly written that way intentionally, ha).
On the other hand, if I’m in a conversation, preparing for a meeting, or just need to confirm information without visiting its source or verifying it, then I could see Perplexity having the advantage.
Does that remind you of another search engine? TikTok, perhaps?
That’s what got me thinking last night about … MadMen. Don’t worry, this’ll all come full circle! 🙂
I was an avid fan of MadMen — I even quoted Don Draper in a title tag case study; although, Peggy Olson was the most hardcore, in my opinion.
There’s a famous scene from an early MadMen episode where Don is talking to a waiter in a restaurant about his choice of cigarettes (please don’t smoke, kids!).
The waiter is loyal to his brand, Rolled Gold, because it’s what he’s used to and started with years ago. The only way he’d switch is if Rolled Gold no longer existed.
That analogy can work for search engines, too.
I saw an image on X recently of Ask Jeeves from 1999. It brought back memories.
I used to search on Ask Jeeves, MSN, AOL Search — also, remember, Instant Messenger? Ah, AIM, the good old days! But, when I was in middle school in Helena, Montana, our teacher took us to the library computer lab and introduced us to Google Search.
You could say, I was formally raised on Google.
I have probably 10+ search engine apps on my phone right now. WWF Panda Search and Ecosia are a couple of my underground favorites, but I default to Google. It’s also 95% of my focus while doing SEO.
When I report on GA4 source-medium data for clients’ organic traffic, it’s predominantly Google. When I dig into which search engines sales come from in Shopify marketing reports, it’s primarily Google.
Other organic traffic sources can be lucrative, for sure. It’s also helpful to analyze Bing, DuckDuckGo, and other search engines’ results so as not to lose perspective, in my opinion.
However, we as SEOs optimize for our clients’ users, and most users prefer Google.
Then there’s my wife, Dania, who uses Bing.
Everyday, while she’s working, she has Bing open on her laptop.
How come? Well, her workplace uses a lot of Microsoft products, the default browser was Edge, and so, according to her, most people she works with also use Bing.
“It makes it easier to reference results with other people.”
She also doesn’t like to use Copilot in Bing, preferring normal search results, instead.
Is it a question of familiarity? Well no. She’s tech savvy, studied computer science in Saudi Arabia, and uses Google on her iPhone and Macbook.
But for work, Bing is what’s convenient.
Meanwhile, having grown up on Google, it’s what comes natural to me. I can use and understand Google’s results easier than other search engines.
But what about young people today?
They haven’t grown up on anything yet.
They might default to TikTok or Perplexity AI simply because it’s the first way they learned to search.
And 5, 10, or 15 years from now, when Gen Z are adult consumers, professionals, and business owners, their search engine choices will impact SEO priorities.
But who’s to say they’ll know Perplexity exists? Google is everywhere!
True, Google is the default search engine across iOS and Android smartphones and browsers like Safari or Firefox, not to mention how widely Chrome is used, along with other Google apps and properties with web access.
We also know Google pays for its default search privilege, including around $18 billion to Apple and upwards of $26 billion total in 2021.
As SEOs, we also know about Google’s search ranking systems and their evolution, and what impact it can have on the quality or relevance of results. That all helps and influences usage rates, but so does being a default search engine.
That’s why my ears perked up (pun intended) when I caught this post on X the other day:
Many of us watched the Rabbit R1 keynote, which I included in Hamsterdam Part 40.
Some said R1 is probably superfluous, given we already have smartphones that may soon do most or all of the same things.
That said, the R1 sold out its initial run of 10,000 units the first day it was available, so who’s to say how big its demand actually is?
It may particularly be useful for people who maybe don’t like smartphones, can’t afford or use one easily, or just want to be different.
How many young people might be raised on using a device like the Rabbit R1, who are now going to be introduced to Perplexity AI (or maybe another search engine or LLM) as a default source of information?
Of course, Google innovates constantly as well. We saw a couple of new ways to Search that dropped this week (mentioned below), as well as the coming integration of Bard into Google Assistant, which Marie Haynes has been writing about.
While we humans are creatures of habit, we’re also always in the market for convenience and value.
As technologies like the Rabbit R1 with Perplexity AI get adopted, and players like Google continue to evolve, the world of SEO will be even more of “an entangled state” of user journeys.
This world goes far beyond keyword rankings and traditional web results. It is and will be perplexing, for sure. Yet, it’ll also be fun to respond (and, hopefully, be proactive) as we deliver to users the experiences and information they need on behalf of clients or businesses.
Thanks for hanging around for the introduction and your support of Hamsterdam!
Buckle up for a full week’s recap, and enjoy the vibes:
Summary of the week’s SEO news and content
- A recent study analyzed if the quality of Google’s search results is getting better or worse, specifically related to spam.
- Google Search unveiled two new ways to search, including a Circle to Search capability on Android phones and a multisearch experience that gives AI-powered insights for multimodal searches with images and text.
- Perplexity AI (an LLM-driven answer engine looking to compete with Google) announced a partnership with Rabbit R1.
- There were some great tips and articles shared about structured data and entities for search.
- We got more data and tips about SGE and how to account for it in SEO strategies.
- There was also a nice mix of local SEO, technical, and content tips shared.
- Plus much more!
But don’t just take my word for it! All of this and more is below in the recap.
Missed last week? Don’t worry, I got you! Read Part 40 to catch up.
Thank you for supporting Hamsterdam and helping make SEO fun and accessible to all! 🙂
Ok, time for (home)work.
Jump to a section of this week’s recap
- Top posts
- News, Google updates, & SERP tests
- SEO tips & tidbits
- Fundamentals & resources
- Articles, videos & case studies
- Local SEO
- Technical SEO
- Content marketing
- SEO tools, AI & reporting
- Humor section
- Miscellaneous & general posts
Enjoy the recap below! And please support content you find valuable with likes or follows. 🙂
Top posts
These are highlights of news items, tips, or other content for the week. Great for when you just want a quick recap!
SEO news, Google updates, & SERP tests
These are newsworthy events in the SEO world, search engine updates, or SERP tests to be aware of from the last week.
SEO tips & tidbits
This section has actionable tips, cool tidbits, and other findings and observations that can be teaching moments.
SEO fundamentals & resources
If you’re new to SEO, this section is for you and includes essential information, concepts, or resources to learn more.
Articles, videos, case studies & more
These are longer-form content pieces shared on social and elsewhere.
Google Knowledge Graph Algorithm Updates and Volatility – Isabel Cabatingan, Kalicube
Different Types of Neural Networks in Deep Learning – Kavya Niju, KritiKal Solutions
Local SEO
If you’re into local Search, this section is for you!
Technical SEO
Everything from basics to advanced techniques.
Content marketing
What’d SEO be without helpful content?
Tools, AI & reporting
Here’s a recap of AI news, SEO tool updates, new tools, along with tips for reporting on data.
Building generative AI with copyright in mind – Dana Rao, Decoder with Nilay Patel
Humor
Humor is subjective; these are funny!
General Marketing & Miscellaneous
This is for great content that isn’t necessarily SEO or marketing-specific. PPC, PR, dev, design, and social friends, check it out!
Great job making it to the end. You rock!
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