Will Google’s new artificial intelligence operated search results happen, or is this just Google trying something out to see how it is received? Many people are saying that SEO is dead, so now we need to learn about Google’s SGE, the new Search Generative Experience. Numerous seminars, webinars, articles, and RSS feeds are all about the new SGE, but there is still the question of whether it will happen. After all, this would be a complete overhaul of Google’s search engine.
Google SGE Patent Approved
We had heard that Google had applied for a patent on “Generative summaries for search results.” After checking with the US Patent Public Search, we found that Google did apply for a patent. It was approved on 9/26/23 with Patent No. US-11769017-B1. It is a 34-page document, and I’ve attached a screen grab of page 1.
SGE is coming soon to a website near you.
In May, we were able to sign up to access the SGE lab to see how the new search results would work. This lab was set to close at the end of December, so the speculation was that Google will be rolling out this new search process live very soon. Well, the late has not closed.
Why do businesses care? In the SGE lab, we tested different searches and discovered that some websites that were on page 1 with the normal search of keywords were no longer on page 1 through the test labs. Also, companies previously on pages 4 or 5 were shown on page 1.
For over 15 years, Google has used human website SEO “raters’ qualifying websites. In January 2023, Google had a number of laid off 12,000 workers, about 5% of its workforce. In January 2024 Google announced it was not renewing it’s contract as of March 19, 2024 with Appen, a third party human search engine quality rater company which amounts to thousands of humans.
Between the patent, lab the closing date, and layoffs, we feel there is a real chance SGE is going to happen.
Good reference articles:
The New Microsoft Features
By Neal Hettinger
Is SEO Dead in 2023?
By Matthew Woodward