Bristol-based communications and marketing firm Purplefish has become employee owned. Joanna Randall, who formed the award-winning business in 2012. has sold 100% of shares to the new trust.
The Living Wage business, located in Bristol’s creative business community at Paintworks, was awarded B Corporation certification two years ago and becomes the first PR agency in Bristol to make the transition to employee ownership.
As part of the transition, a new board has been appointed and Joanna Randall will remain an active executive board director of the business which sees associate director Lucy McKerron promoted to the role of managing director. They are joined by two employee trustee directors, senior account manager Jonathan Adams and account manager Zoë Fawcett.
Working across technology, property and leisure sectors across the South West, nationally and internationally, the business joins the ranks of a growing number of UK businesses making the move to employee ownership.
As an employee-owned business, the team will have greater input into the running of the business and its future, benefiting from a share of the profits.
The company is also celebrating a clutch of new client wins in recent months including experience business Yuup and agency collective firm Istoria.
The move is celebrated with a new website for the business which reflects the value of harnessing emerging and generative AI technologies while maintaining a human-centric approach to communications and marketing.
Commenting on the move, Randall said: “This is a really exciting time for the business. As a sole owner and shareholder it can often be an isolated role so I’m really looking forward to being part of the new management team in defining our future direction.
“I believe our traditional business structures are becoming outdated where companies are run for the sole benefit of owners and shareholders – employee ownership offers a more authentic way of running a business where commercial growth is still a focus but the benefits can be shared more equitably.”
New managing director Lucy McKerron said of her new role and the future direction for Purplefish: “I’m incredibly excited to be stepping into the role of Managing Director here a Purplefish, an agency I’ve come to know so well and love in the last two years since joining the team. The business is perfectly aligned with my personal values of integrity, creativity, and compassion, providing rewarding work for both myself and the wider team – something which will only be emphasised as we move into our EOT model.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to innovate as a business, both for our existing and new clients as we grow and evolve. We’re committed to leaning into the opportunities emerging technologies can bring while maintaining our human-centric approach to creativity, our connection to the issues that matter, while continuing to help our clients stand out and thrive.”
The human touch has returned as a top prospecting priority due to digital lead generation marketing automation overload, a major new survey of UK new business and agency leaders has revealed.
The seventh annual UK New Business Barometer by specialist new business consultancy jfdi and strategic insight agency Opinium found that 88% of respondents used management connections to prospect, with 44% citing this a top strategy.
Another 68% said they asked clients for referrals and 67% formed alliances and partnerships. The report said the change is likely driven by email overload and an explosion of pushed content in an over-supplied agency market.
Camilla Honey, CEO at jfdi, said:
“In our challenging new business market, competitive edge is everything and it’s interesting to see the human touch is overriding overwhelming digitally-based automated approaches. AI watch out!”
The survey, which included responses by several Bristol Creative Industries members, also found that ideas that deliver, are practical and affordable are winning pitches. Ir revealed that in the current difficult economic environment, the proportion of respondents saying they commonly win projects because of ideas that are deliverable, practical and affordable rose eight points to 33%.
Another trend highlighted by the study was that only around 50% of the ideas and recommendations presented in pitches are executed, which jfdi said confirmed winning pitches requires more than answering the brief.
When asked about the reasons for winning pitches, 73% said relevant and expertise was important, a figure that was 6% up on last year. Another 69% said it was due to good chemistry.
For unsuccessful pitches, more than two fifths (43%) of respondents reported client withdrawal of budget as the most common reason for not winning a pitch. This was up up 10% on the 2023 study despite having been broadly stable for the past six years.
Other reasons include “rarely given a reason” (41%), “economic uncertainty”, (33%); “ideas not deemed affordable” (20%), and “agencies failed to demonstrate relevant expertise/capability” (18%).
The cost of losing pitches escalates exponentially by size of agency, the study revealed, with every agency spends more annually on losing pitches than they do on winning ones.
The report showed small agencies are spending on average £86,000, medium agencies spending £350,000, and large agencies are spending £1.4m on losing pitches.
“This shows how a marginal gain in conversion can feed down to the bottom line with more budget available to spend elsewhere in the business,” the study said.
The study warned of a “ticking stress bomb”, with 70% of new business practitioners reporting their role becoming more stressful over the last 12 months. The report said “this worrying trend signals the need to ensure mental health welfare and wellbeing in this space”.
Josh Glendinning, research director and partner at Opinium, said:
“The New Business Barometer’s unparalleled insight shows how the pressures of a tough economic environment are cascading through the marketing industry. Clients are demanding more than ever during the pitch process but finding it more difficult to provide concrete assurances to agencies that work will be commissioned.”
Additional findings in the report included:
For a full summary of the report, email [email protected]
Don’t lose sight of your new business pipeline
10 top tips for getting the pitch over the line
How to prospect for new business without losing your soul
How creative businesses can write the perfect positioning statement
Mental health in the workplace: Why we need a culture change
Podcast: Wellbeing tips for small agency owners
Mental health for agency owners
Greetings from the mysterious world of search engine optimisation (SEO), where achieving online presence might resemble trying to find a needle in a digital haystack. But do not worry! With the help of my beginner-friendly SEO copywriting ideas, your website will rise in the search results faster than you can say “Google it.”
If you believe that SEO is merely a fancy Silicon Valley acronym, let’s take a closer look. Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the process of making your website as appealing to search engines (such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo) as well as to actual customers who are actually looking for your services. In this sense, copywriting refers to crafting content for your website that not only educates visitors but also persuades them and helps it rank well. Putting the two together? You’ve just turned into a copywriting pro at SEO.
You must first familiarise yourself with keywords. Your potential clients are typing these little jewels into search engines. Keywords are the road map to your wealth of material, regardless of whether your audience is searching for SEO experts or the greatest vegan restaurant in Bristol (hint, hint). However, it goes beyond simply packing them across your website like candy. The secret to drawing both humans and Google bots to your writing is to skillfully include them into your text.
Do some study on keywords before you go out. Determine the terms and expressions that best describe your company’s offerings and the queries of your target market. To choose your perfect keywords, use resources such as Google Keyword Planner or ask yours truly on a discovery call.
Your writing should sound human (which it should), but it should also have the technical polish that attracts the attention of search engines. This entails producing interesting, pertinent, and educational content that seamlessly integrates your keywords. Don’t fill your text with keywords; this isn’t 2005.
Consider the structure of your website as the backbone that holds everything together. Not only do headings and subheadings (H1s, H2s, H3s, oh my!) help readers easily scan your content, but they also serve as indicators to search engines regarding the order in which your information is presented. Your headline gig is your main heading; it should be attention-grabbing and contain your core keyword.
Make thoughtful use of headers to help readers and search engines navigate your material. Every heading ought to be pertinent and contain keywords without being repetitive. The secret is to get search bots and readers both to stay on your page for the duration of the presentation.
Let’s use some linking strategies to take your company to new heights next. Similar to your website’s hidden passageways and trapdoors, internal and external links direct users to helpful material and demonstrate to search engines that you are a well-respected authority in your industry.
Maintaining visitor engagement and building authority are two benefits of a strong linking strategy. In order to maintain readers’ interest for longer, provide internal links throughout your text and link to reliable websites (hey, credibility!).
Stale bread? No thanks. The content of your website is no different. Maintain it current, unique, and new. Both search engines and people enjoy fresh content. Thus, you can maintain a healthy and strong rating by periodically updating your blog or sprinkling case studies across it.
Similar to your favourite soap opera, regular publishing will keep viewers interested. To make sure you’re always offering up the tastiest, most delicious digital material, create a content schedule.
Nobody wants to converse into a void on a digital device. You’re having a conversation rather than just crawling into the void when you use SEO copywriting. Thus, become an expert in SEO-friendly copywriting by making sure your material is readable, valuable to your audience, and scannable. Bold writing, bullet points, and brief paragraphs can draw attention to your pearls of wisdom.
Now that you have the map, it’s time to set off on your journey to reach Search Mountain’s summit. When creating a blog article highlighting the best Bristolian jewels or a ‘About’ page that extols your virtues, keep in mind to carefully consider the keywords you use and the structure you develop. If you are in need of a specialist to guide the way and unlock the infinite possibilities of your website, a discovery call is just a click away. Forward and upward to the highest point in sight!
We initially developed our own Abandoned Cart module back in 2019 after researching and testing various that were available. From our tests the modules lacked certain features or didn’t work how our clients would want the module to, and also how we expect the module to work.
The first version of the website was developed and installed on a number of our clients websites, generating them additional revenue that would have been lost without the module.
As the OpenCart platform has progressed and new versions launched we finally switched to using the latest most stable version of 3.0 in 2022 for our ecommerce web design projects, with the new version also included a new code structure which meant our bespoke abandoned cart module would no longer work with any new website that we built.
So, as we continue to upgrade existing ecommerce web design clients and provide ecommerce websites to new web design clients we set about upgrading our abandoned cart module to work with the newer version of OpenCart. The upgraded version was a good opportunity to simplify, streamline and improve the module to benefit our own clients and a wider audience.
Continue reading this article at https://www.eckhomedia.com/our-abandoned-cart-module-upgraded-for-opencart-version-3/
Independent brand consultancy Mr B & Friends is officially open for business in London. The new location in the capital is the company’s second site as it eyes further growth this year.
Founded by CEO Simon Barbato in 2006, Mr B & Friends specialise in three core competencies: brand strategy, brand communications and employee experience. Today the agency works globally with clients including The LEGO Group, InterContinental Hotels Group, Convatec and Britvic, as well as UK based brands including OVO Energy, Persimmon Homes, Canada Life and Principality Building Society
Following a period of sustained growth that included the acquisition of SME focused branding studio FutureKings, Mr B & Friends London is a natural extension of the agency proposition. Headed up by Simon, and Executive Creative Director, Steve Anderson, the first client for the London office has been signed.
Steve joined the Mr B & Friends team after his agency FutureKings was acquired. Prior to that, he previously held the role of Group Creative Director at Smith & Milton, transforming brands including AXA, L&G and Warburtons. Earlier in his career Steve worked on global brands alongside Simon at Light & Coley.
Client Director, Rachel Dean, and Associate Strategy Director, Liam Smith will join in spearheading Mr B & Friends London, delivering brand expertise and outstanding client service across the business.
With more than 15 years’ agency experience, Rachel has successfully managed the delivery of numerous brand, comms and digital projects. Ranging from global leaders, such as GSK and Lloyds Bank, to start up challengers, such as The Evewell and Snaffling Pig, Rachel is skilled in working with clients in both B2B and B2C markets.
Liam joined Mr B & Friends in Bristol in 2016. He’s adept at brand development, campaign planning and employee experience strategy. With over a decade under his belt, Liam has worked with a variety of brands including Microsoft, IHG and Canada Life.
To mark the opening of the London office, the agency is hosting a sold out Employee Experience Masterclass at The Groucho Club in Soho on 29th February.
Steve says, “Mr B & Friends has already achieved an impressive reputation for delivering value for clients in all sectors through creative excellence and solid client relationships. I’m excited to be continuing to build that ambition further with our new, London-based office. We have an incredibly strong team and will be pooling our collective expertise to grow the agency’s capability on a wider scale.”
Simon says, “We’re delighted to be opening Mr B & Friends London. We’ve seen continued growth for the agency family over the last few years and with an increasing number of enquiries from organisations based around the capital it makes sense for us to continue our expansion here. The London team will be ensuring we deliver the same high level of brand strategy expertise and extraordinary creative that our clients have come to expect.”
With London up and running the agency will continue to pursue plans to open a US base in late 2024.
In order to comply with new legislation surrounding rising expectations with user privacy, Google is now moving towards degrading cookies and shifting measurement and tracking to aggregation models instead. To support this shift to cookieless tracking, Google is now rolling out Consent Mode V2, offering more granular control of data tracking to businesses.
Consent Mode V2 is a feature that enables Google to model for gaps in conversions when people decline cookies on a site. It works by communicating the consent status of a user and automatically updating Google Tags accordingly.
Google has recently revealed that on average, Consent Mode V2 recovers around 50% of ad-click-to-conversion journeys lost due to users declining cookie requests on websites.
If you are primarily using Google ads, you must have the new consent mode implemented to allow for lost conversion modelling and compliance simplification. If you do not have Consent Mode V2 implemented by March 6th 2024, your Ads may no longer be eligible to show in the EEA.
If you’re primarily using Google Analytics for conversion tracking, Consent Mode will still simplify compliance for optional GA4 functions (like remarketing) prior to consent. If requiring consent for Analytics, Consent Mode will allow modelling for lost conversions and pre-enable customers for GA cookieless mode.
In order for the Consent Mode V2 to know what data to send to Google, you need a cookie banner on your site. A cookie banner is also needed to comply with GDPR regulations requiring you to share how you use, handle and process user data on your site.
Besides, a cookie banner is a great way to build trust with your website visitors – by improving user experience, protecting user privacy, and ensuring compliance with global privacy regulations, all while maintaining the ability to collect valuable data – which can help increase your website’s performance.
In order to stay compliant when serving ads, and to ensure that their ads remain eligible, You need to integrate a Consent Management Platform (CMP) into your site.
Step 1: Update Your Google Tag Management Setup
If you’re using GTM, you’ll need to update your container to include the Consent Mode API. This involves adding a new tag configuration for Consent Mode that sets the default consent state for analytics and ads (e.g., analytics_storage: ‘denied’, ad_storage: ‘denied’).
Update your Consent Management Platform (CMP):
You must be using a Google certified CMP. A list of approved CMPs can be found here.
Not using Google Tag Manager or need support in implementing Enhanced Consent Mode V2?
Varn is here to support you if needed. Get in touch today to see how we can support your change over to the new system. Implement the change now to ensure your ads stay live.
Summary
Google Consent Mode v2 is designed with the future in mind, offering a framework that is adaptable to evolving privacy laws and regulations. By allowing businesses to easily adjust their data collection strategies as new laws come into effect, Google provides a proactive tool for maintaining compliance and protecting user privacy. Implementing Google Consent Mode is a proactive step towards respecting user privacy while maintaining legislative compliance.
Talisman Sparro have completed the rebrand of Vertree, a global carbon finance consultancy. Vertree work with corporates, institutions, investors, governments and project developers to provide access to carbon markets and make impactful investments that deliver value and contribute to global climate and sustainability goals.
The programme of work involved extensive stakeholder engagement, strategy, messaging development and a new visual identity. The new positioning sets Vertree up for sustained growth, aligning the internal team behind a clear strategy whilst the new identity provides a broader, more flexible suite of assets giving the brand an authentic but distinctive look and feel.
Welcome to the not-so-mysterious world of search engine optimisation, where your site’s visibility determines whether it is the needle or the haystack in the huge online landscape. To make sense of it all, small business owners and inexperienced webmasters may feel as though they must possess the skills of an enigma codebreaker. But do not worry! I’m here to guide you through the confusing world of SEO audits and make sense of the technical SEO language.
Determining how well your website is optimised for search engines is the essence of an SEO audit. Think of it like a MOT for your car: it checks a variety of components to make sure everything is in working order and maximises the likelihood that Google and its friends will find your website.
Technical SEO: This refers to the specific backend aspects of SEO, such as website security, mobile friendliness, and speed (HTTPS is your friend in this situation).
On-page SEO: Content reigns supreme here. To make sure the material is as appetising as a Sunday roast for the Google crawlers, we’re talking about keywords, meta tags, and appropriate header usage.
Off-page SEO: Although they are less visible, off-page elements like social media signals and backlinks can offer your website the credibility it needs to be among the cool kids in search engine rankings.
By doing this assessment, you can get a detailed breakdown of what you’re doing well and what needs some extra work. The final objective? To improve the SEO score of your website and move up the search results page.
Your website’s credit rating for search engines is comparable to your SEO score. It’s a ranking that indicates how optimised your website is out of 100. The better your site is optimised and the more probable it is that you will appear on Google’s first page—the promised land—the higher your score.
It’s important to keep in mind that this score is merely a general indication offered by SEO tools to help you with your optimisation efforts; it is not an official Google grade. Better visibility and a respectable score go hand in hand, so what is our recommendation? Consider your score and adjust as necessary!
Are you prepared for a basic introduction to SEO success? Let’s get started. The SEO audit is the first thing to do. You may find a lot of tools to help you with this, ranging from more in-depth solutions that can get to the specifics of your website’s SEO health to freemium options like Google’s own Search Console.
After receiving your audit, it’s time to put those suggestions into practice. Make sure your website loads quickly, fix any broken links, and make sure it looks great on mobile devices. Not sure where to begin? BrisTechTonic can help in situations when a little expert elbow grease might be exactly what’s needed.
Now, armed with an SEO audit, let’s discuss essential tips for improving your SEO score. Focus on the following:
Keywords: Use appropriate terms to draw in the right kind of traffic. Not a word that would baffle your grandmother!
High-quality content: Provide content that responds to the inquiries of your users. Visitors are encouraged to stay longer on websites with helpful and engaging content, which lowers the dreaded bounce rate.
Meta descriptions: These brief summaries have the power to entice visitors to visit your website. Consider them the chat-up lines for your website; make them succinct and pertinent.
Backlinks: The foundation of off-page SEO are backlinks. Search engines will view your website as more reliable and trustworthy the more respectable websites that link to it.
Each of these elements forms part of a holistic strategy to start climbing search engine rankings today. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint – SEO benefits build up over time.
I hope that this has been a lovely, relaxing kayak in the shallow end of SEO for those of you who are just starting started. But I can guide you through the depths of this ocean that exists out there. Let’s schedule a discovery call to discuss how SEO may help you realise the full potential of your website. Together, we’ll make sure your website is running smoothly and prepared to win the race for visibility. With BrisTechTonic by your side at every turn, the road to SEO mastery begins here. Thus, why do you delay?
We are excited to share the news that Aimee Talbot will be taking on the newly created role at Varn, Head of Innovation.
As we start to see AI technologies transforming how we all live and work, it’s vital to acknowledge that the landscape of search and SEO will be impacted and will constantly be evolving. We wanted to ensure that Varn remains at the forefront of what’s ahead for our industry and for our clients. This new in-house role is designed to help us and our clients to stay ahead of the AI & innovation curve.
We asked Aimee a few questions, so that we can share what her new role will focus on, and to explore how this will help Varn to shape the future success of our clients. From understanding what’s next, as well as the need to adopt new tools, techniques & processes in order to have visibility online, Aimee shares her thoughts as Varn’s new Head of Innovation…
Absolutely! I’m so excited by my new role, which came about as a result of the many recent developments in search. I’ve been working at Varn heading up the Technical SEO team for over a decade now, during which time SEO has evolved considerably. Some of the more significant transformations in SEO have taken place over the past three or four years, necessitating extensive research and ongoing training in order to stay abreast of industry developments. With the emergence of Google SGE, and an increasing focus being placed on AI, a role dedicated to this innovation in search became imperative. With almost 15 years of experience in Technical SEO and a passion for all things Varn, I was thrilled to be offered this new responsibility.
The role of Head of Innovation at Varn aligns with a fundamental objective outlined in the Varn Vision Statement, emphasising our commitment to spearheading advancements in search technology and leading search innovation. Alongside the introduction of this pivotal role and ongoing efforts to build an internal team dedicated to innovation, we are strategically directing our resources towards four key pillars within this workspace, steadfastly maintaining our focus on these aspects throughout 2024. These main pillars of innovation include the following:
1. Search Innovation: The face of search is ever-developing and has been for many years – but with AI becoming a key driver behind search algorithms and generative search results starting to appear, we’re expecting to see many more changes throughout Search Engine Results Pages in the coming months. Our commitment lies in staying ahead of these forthcoming changes to SERPs. By gaining a profound understanding of these developments, we can strategically assess their potential impact on Google search results and, consequently, on our clients. This proactive approach enables us to align client websites with the latest search advancements and critical ranking factors, ensuring their compliance and optimising their performance in the evolving digital landscape.
2. Technical SEO Innovation: A vital part of our innovation initiative involves the enhancement of our Technical SEO service offerings, internal tools, and the ongoing development of our incredibly talented Tech SEO team. For instance, our commitment to excellence is exemplified through our tailored SEO audits. These audits are meticulously crafted to form a comprehensive search strategy for each of our clients. In alignment with the latest trends in SEO, we consistently refine and expand these audits, allowing us to remain abreast of the latest developments, and promptly adapt to any changes in the dynamic landscape of search engine optimisation – for instance, we have recently added sections to these audits for AI, web accessibility, and more.
3. Market Innovation: Another key focus for the innovation team lies within the wider digital marketing landscape. As an example, we are currently researching and developing new PPC scripts to help our Paid Search team surface additional data from PMAX campaigns. We are also researching and training in new market developments pertaining to automation, AI, machine learning(ML), natural language processing, LLMs and generative AI, to name just a few areas.
4. Ways of Working Innovation: We are continuing to develop our own Python scripts and GPTs here at Varn, in order to streamline and automate internal processes – and not just for small sites that are relatively easy to crawl, we also work with clients whose websites contain 100,000+ pages. This strategic automation empowers our team to allocate more time to SEO tasks demanding a nuanced, manual approach. Simultaneously, we are crafting a suite of internal tools that conduct automated reviews of key SEO elements. These tools are meticulously designed upon a bespoke knowledge base, granting us full control over their analytical processes and scoring mechanisms. Leveraging our extensive expertise, we can evaluate critical SEO factors, expediting data collection without compromising on the quality and depth of insights. This dual approach ensures efficiency without impacting the integrity and inherent value of our insights and experiences.
Remaining at the forefront of industry trends and embracing state-of-the-art technologies is imperative in the world of SEO, particularly in light of recent advancements. With global internet access reaching unprecedented levels, it is prudent to capitalise on this expansive audience potential by leveraging the opportunities presented through search. According to DemandSage, there are currently over 5.3 billion internet users throughout the world (more than 65% of the world’s population) – this number is expected to reach 6.54 billion by 2025. Therefore, expanding your outreach to encompass online users presents a significant opportunity for substantial growth in your potential audience. Remaining at the forefront of search innovation is crucial in unlocking access to this audience, as it plays a pivotal role in sustaining and optimising online rankings and visibility, and is a key part of outperforming your competition.
At Varn, we are passionate about the work that we do, and about delivering results for our clients. By consistently staying ahead of the curve and staying abreast of evolving search trends and patterns, we can expertly craft customised SEO strategies for our clients, ensuring successful and measurable outcomes.
One of the main updates our innovation team are currently focusing on is the development of Google SGE. We have been researching and testing SGE since mid-2023, in order to understand how it works, and how it might impact search results. SGE has been in beta testing since May 2023 and has been live in the U.S. since last August. It isn’t yet live in the UK, although it is expected to be launched here at some point in 2024. This is something we’re really going to be spending a lot of time looking into, and a development that we recommend all clients monitor, as this will undoubtedly change the face of search.
SGE is poised not only to significantly influence the visual landscape of SERPs but also to revolutionise the approach to content creation and optimisation for SEO. The emergence of AI-generated results seems to be pushing traditional organic rankings down these results pages, occupying more prominent space and thereby impacting organic impressions and click-through rates. Acknowledging the transformative impact of SGE, we are investing significant time and effort to fully understand its implications for both current and future clients. Our primary objective is to tailor and adjust our SEO strategies, ensuring clients can optimise their visibility within the dynamic and evolving SGE landscape.
There are a number of key SEO areas related to SGE that I would recommend placing focus on this year, in order to help you stay ahead of the curve. Here’s a sneak peak into the areas I would suggest prioritising over the coming months:
Aside from SGE, AI in general is another key area we all need to monitor throughout 2024. I posted a blog back in November about AI and the future of search, which is worth a read. We are also expecting to see key developments this year in Sustainability, and even more demand on GPTs – Not only out of the box GPTs such as Bard and Chat GPT, but also custom GPTs built on a bespoke knowledge base.
As part of our innovation goals and research efforts, we plan to keep clients and followers in the loop in regards to our latest discoveries. You can keep up to date with our latest innovation developments and find out more about what we’re working on by checking out the Varn Insights and by signing up to our monthly newsletter.
If you have any questions or concerns about innovation developments, or have a topic you think we should dive into as part of our innovation efforts, we would love to hear from you.
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) transforms users’ search experience through generative AI. SGE enables users to ask more detailed questions in search, receive concise summaries of their queries, and have the option to engage in conversational follow-up queries. Currently, SGE is still in Beta and is being rolled out in multiple countries through Google Search Labs.
This article will look at how SGE is trained, focusing mainly on Google’s “Generative Summaries for Search Results” patent. This patent appears to describe the underpinning of SGE and provides insights into how it works.
Google’s SGE is trained on several large language models (LLMs) and has also been specifically trained for search-related tasks. For instance, identifying high-quality web results with associated sources that confirm the information provided in the output. These models work alongside Google’s core ranking systems to deliver helpful and reliable results that are relevant to search-user queries.
LLMs are machine learning (ML) models that excel at understanding and generating human language. LLMs are something that people have now become accustomed to interacting with on a day-to-day basis. Key examples include Chat GPT and Google’s Bard, which are underpinned by powerful LLMs.
LLMs are a form of Generative AI, meaning the AI model can generate something new. They can perform numerous tasks, including summarising, translating, and rendering text.
An LLM is made up of three key components: data, architecture (a neural network transformer) and training. The transformer architecture allows the model to handle data sequences, for example, lines of code or text sentences. Training is where the model learns to predict the next word in a sentence. The model will keep iterating and improving its predictions until it is reliable for generating sentences. Fine-tuning an LLM allows the model to excel at a specific task.
LLMs learn about patterns and language from the extensive data sets they are trained on. They can then create outputs for inputs. For instance, if we give it a string of text “can’t judge a book by its”, it will predict the next word and likely output “cover”.
SGE utilises a number of LLMs, including an advanced version of Multitask Unified Model (MUM), PaLM2, LaMDA and more. All of the LLMs are trained on vast amounts of data. Google uses multiple LLMs in SGE as it enables them to fine-tune the models to users’ unique needs, enhancing the search experience.
Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) has been trained across 75 languages and has already been deployed on Google Search to improve the search experience. For instance, this model has been used to identify related topics in video content even when the topics aren’t directly mentioned.
PaLM 2 is a language model that excels in multilingualism, reasoning and coding. This is because it is trained heavily on multilingual text, large numbers of scientific pages containing mathematical expressions, and many publicly available source code datasets. Like all the others, this model is not limited to use in SGE. Google has also employed this LLM in Bard to enhance its language capabilities.
SGE is also employing Gemini to make it faster for users. Gemini was announced at the end of 2023 and is natively multimodal. Multimodal AI means it can understand and generate data across various modalities, including text, imagery and audio. Google noted they achieved a 40% reduction in latency for users in SGE.
The patent filed by Google in March 2023, named “Generative summaries for search results” was approved on the 26th of September 2023. It appears to be the patent underpinning Google’s SGE. This patent details an approach to using large language models (LLMs) to generate a natural language (NL) summary in response to a query. Meaning that the summaries are created in a way that is easy for a user to understand. The processes outlined in the patent are key to SGE. It covers not only how LLMs are utilised, but also where information could be pulled from to generate these NL summaries.
The patent also outlines how additional context will be considered for each query. This means there will be variability depending on the specific way a query is submitted or the context in which it’s asked. This explains why so many people researching and collecting data on SGE are finding so much variability in what shows up for them on different days or locations.
Additional information stated in the patent that could be utilised:
Google has stated that SGE may have knowledge gaps in certain areas and has, therefore, been designed only sometimes to produce a result if it concludes that it needs more knowledge to answer the query confidently.
Additionally, the patent describes a system where the generated summaries will be evaluated based on the probability that they are both reliable and accurate. Confidence measures will be used to assess the natural language summaries to determine whether or not to produce a summary for a specific query. For instance, Figure 2 from the patent outlines the method and illustrates how confidence measures are implemented.
Furthermore, it is essential to recognise bias when it comes to generative AI. Google has acknowledged that SGE could produce biassed results. Google have stated the following:
“The data that SGE is trained on is based on high-quality web extracted data that can exhibit narrow representations of people or potentially negative contextual associations.” – Google
Google has implemented multiple measures to try to mitigate biased results. For instance, they use adversarial testing in SGE. Adversarial testing “involves proactively trying to “break” an application by providing it with data most likely to elicit problematic output.” (Google). This aims to identify bias and safety concerns in the model and use this information to improve the model.
The SGE Google experiment is an exciting time for generative AI and SEO. At Varn we are constantly monitoring and testing the updates to SGE to ensure our clients can appear within AI generated results. We have recently looked at the overlap between SGE and organic search results and we are continuing to collect and analyse data as SGE evolves.
If you have any questions about SGE, how it works and how it appears to be impacting SEO, please get in touch with the SEO Experts at Varn. We would love to hear from you.