Google discusses the use of AI images on webpages
In a recent Search off the Record podcast, Google’s Lizzi Sassman and John Mueller discussed the use of AI generated images on websites.
Some of their opinions might seem surprising given how AI generated text content is treated by Google.
John Mueller highlighted inherent limitations in the AI image generator technology.
Automatically Generated Content
Automatically generated text content is prohibited for Google search within the limited context of the use of it for manipulating the search results.
Google’s guidelines on autogenerated content states:
In cases where it’s intended to manipulate search rankings and not help users, Google may take actions on such content.
Google’s John Mueller is also on record stating that AI generated text content is considered spam:
For us these would, essentially, still fall into the category of automatically generated content which is something we’ve had in the Webmaster Guidelines since almost the beginning.
My suspicion is maybe the quality of content is a little bit better than the really old school tools, but for us it’s still automatically generated content, and that means for us it’s still against the Webmaster Guidelines. So we would consider that to be spam.
…But for us, if we see that something is automatically generated, then the webspam team can definitely take action on that.
And perhaps in a sign of the fast pace of technological evolution, there are gray areas within Google’s prohibitions on auto-gen content.
For example, using automatic text translation to generate content is against the guidelines except in cases where a human reviews and curates the content.
In the above cited guideline on autogenerated content, auto translated content is prohibited with the following statement:
Text translated by an automated tool without human review or curation before publishing.
Google also allows automatic generation of meta descriptions, presumably because meta descriptions are not used for ranking purposes.
For larger database-driven sites, like product aggregators, hand-written descriptions can be impossible. …programmatic generation of the descriptions can be appropriate and are encouraged.
So, Google doesn’t ban AI content across the board, just in certain situations.
AI Generated Images
Given that AI generated content might qualify for ranking in Google Images, one would think that AI generated images are also prohibited.
But apparently, that’s not the case.
AI Images Currently, Okay?
Apparently, the use of AI images within a website is okay.
Although autogenerated text content is prohibited/limited for ranking in Google Search, surprisingly there was no similar prohibition or caveat discussed about AI generated images and ranking in Google Images.
Citation
Listen to the Search Off the Record Podcast
The part about using AI Images begins at about the 34 second mark.
Content Source: searchenginejournal.com
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