Google’s AI Overviews: The Plagiarism Concern

Google’s latest feature, AI Overviews, has raised concerns among search marketers and content creators. The feature provides long-form answers to users’ questions, but it has been accused of being a form of plagiarism. In this article, we will explore the issue and what it means for content creators.

What are AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are a new feature from Google that provides users with detailed answers to their questions. The feature uses artificial intelligence to synthesize information from various sources and provide a comprehensive answer. However, the problem lies in how this information is presented. Instead of providing a summary or an excerpt, AI Overviews often rewrite the original content, removing the incentive for users to click on the original source.

The Plagiarism Concern

The issue with AI Overviews is that it repurposes published content without adding any originality or value. This is a concern because it goes against Google’s own guidelines, which advise against scraped content. In fact, Google’s documentation states that content should be original and provide value to the user. However, AI Overviews seem to do the opposite, rewriting content without adding any unique insights or analysis.

Example of Rewritten Content

A recent example of this issue was highlighted by Lily Ray, who published an article on LinkedIn about spam in Google’s AI Overviews. To her surprise, she found that Google had rewritten her entire article and was providing an answer that was almost as long as her original post. This raises questions about the value of creating original content if it can be easily rewritten by Google’s AI.

How AI Overviews Work

To understand how AI Overviews work, it’s essential to look at the algorithm behind it. The algorithm analyzes content to determine what questions it answers and annotates it accordingly. This allows Google to match a query to a web page easily. However, this also means that AI Overviews can rewrite content without adding any value, making it a form of plagiarism.

Comparison of AI Overviews and Original Content

A comparison of Lily Ray’s article and the AI Overviews answer shows that both answer similar questions. In fact, both articles answer five similar questions, including the spam problem in AI Overviews, manipulation and exploitation of AI Overviews, and concerns about accuracy and hallucination. However, the AI Overviews answer also includes answers to additional questions that are derived from another web page, giving the appearance of synthesizing or plagiarizing from multiple sources.

Takeaways

The issue with AI Overviews is clear. The feature repurposes web content to create long-form answers that lack originality or added value. This deviates from Google’s own quality standards and may be considered a form of plagiarism. The fact that AI Overviews provide essay-length answers also removes the incentive for users to click on the original source, which can lead to a decline in traffic for content creators.

Concerns about Quality and Trustworthiness

The quality and trustworthiness of AI Overviews responses are also a concern. Since AI lacks experience and there is no mechanism for fact-checking, the responses may not reach the quality levels set by Google’s principles of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This can lead to a decline in the overall quality of search results and make it harder for users to find reliable information.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Google’s AI Overviews have raised concerns among search marketers and content creators. The feature repurposes published content without adding any originality or value, which can be considered a form of plagiarism. The issue is not only about the quality of the responses but also about the impact it has on content creators, who may see a decline in traffic due to the lack of incentive for users to click on the original source. Google needs to address these concerns and find a way to provide high-quality, original content that adds value to the user.