Last year, we published a series about what Google had done to the web, capped off by a feature about search engine optimization titled “The People Who Ruined the Internet.” It made more than a few SEO experts upset (which was tremendously fun for me because I love watching people yell at Nilay on various social platforms).
But a year has passed, and we’ve had a change of heart. Maybe search engine optimization is actually a good thing. Maybe appeasing the search algorithm is not only a sustainable strategy for building a loyal audience, but also a strategic way to plan and produce content. What are journalists, if not content creators?
Anyway, SEO community, consider this our apology. And what better way to say “our bad, your industry is not a cesspool of AI slop but a brilliant vision of what a useful internet could look like” than collecting all the things we’ve learned in one handy print magazine? Which is why I’m proud to introduce The Verge Guide to Search Engine Optimization: All the Tips, Tricks, Hints, Schemes, and Techniques for Promoting High-Quality Content!
Just kidding! (You weren’t fooled for a second, were you?)
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