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Move over Fox News and Newsmax as Google is quickly becoming the internet’s top source for misinformation. When the company dropped seven figures to help fund Trump’s inaugural, many SEOs saw it as a calculated move tied to its ongoing antitrust troubles. Now, we wonder if this wasn’t part of a broader content, political bias, and editorial shift within Google. The latest signal following the fatal Air India Express accident, isn’t just another AI flub. It’s a warning sign that Google’s grip on quality, trust, and editorial responsibility is slipping fast. As they say on Reddit: “Google is pissing away its credibility”.
Following a fatal Air India Express crash in Kerala this week, which tragically killed so many, Google’s AI Overview (or what some now call SOT: Slop On Top) surfaced a wildly inappropriate response. Instead of summarizing reliable news coverage or aviation insights, it attempted to cover the tragedy by parroting an absurd Reddit hot-take speculation about “Indian pilots having a habit of landing too fast.”
The problem wasn’t just the wording. It was the source – a trashy anon message buried in a conspiracy theory laden anon thread, with no credibility, no verification, no journalistic merit, and simply put: <i>no common decency</i>. In other words, the kind of content Google once buried in the name of quality. Now? It floats this junk to the top of the most vaulted pages in internet history, the Google Serps.
Why This Even Matters for SEOs
- Erosion of trust in SERP accuracy continues unabated: If AI Overviews can serve up Reddit garbage hot takes in the wake of massive human tragedy, what’s stopping it from misrepresenting your niche content, product reviews, or medical advice? How are they covering the ongoing protests? ICE Coverage?
- Disgusting Zero-click hell is real: Once again, users see the AI Slop first – and never click. Except now, what they see is less authoritative and sometimes dangerously wrong info.
- Ranking volatility gets worse: Publishers are screwed. Those that are investing in fact-checked journalism, thoughtful analysis, or nuanced content now face an ecosystem where a bot-generated Google garbage blurb based on the most crawled, not the most correct, floats to the top of the slop.
- Loss of context kills nuance: AI Overviews can’t tell the difference between data, speculation, and satire – especially when it’s trained to stitch together misc sentences from scattered sources with no editorial oversight.
For the rare cases when users do click beyond the AI blurb, it’s often via a highlighted snippet fragment – one of the few remaining signs that your page actually got a visit.”
The nickname “SOT: Slop On Top” is more than snark – it’s a warning. When accuracy, attribution, and accountability are sacrificed for speed and convenience, everyone loses. And when search is AI-first, it needs human-first safeguards.
Google tells Ars it has manually removed this response from AI Overviews. Here is the company’s full statement.
“As with all Search features, we rigorously make improvements and use examples like this to update our systems. This response is no longer showing. We maintain a high quality bar with all Search features, and the accuracy rate for AI Overviews is on par with other features like Featured Snippets.”
As Google barrels forward with AI Overviews and loses ” target=”_blank”>its ability to drive traffic to websites, and in despite mounting backlash, SEOs are once again forced to rethink strategy. Do we optimize for AI hallucinations? Or keep building for actual users and hope the tide turns?
Setting that aside, Reddit hosts a considerable volume of low-quality and controversial content, including conspiracy theories and explicit material, often in close proximity. Due to its decentralized moderation structure and cultural resistance to content removal, Reddit remains largely immune to traditional accountability and decency measures. It is questionable whether such a platform should be treated as a reliable or authoritative source of information. Google’s decision to not only index but elevate Reddit content—particularly in sensitive contexts – suggests a concerning departure from its longstanding principles of quality, credibility, and editorial responsibility. This shift raises broader concerns about the company’s strategic direction and content governance. Google is rudderless and unmoored.
A famous snake handler once said, “you step into the ring with snakes, you are eventually going to get bitten.” The only question left is, when and not if Google will get bitten like Elon did?
Move over Fox News, Google is coming for your crown.
Google is showing It was an Airbus aircraft that crushed today in India. how is this being allowed?
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As the CEO and founder of Pubcon Inc., Brett Tabke has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of online marketing and search engine optimization. His journey in the computer industry has spanned over three decades and has made him a pioneering force behind digital evolution. Full Bio
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