Cyrus Shepard initiated a discussion regarding the term “Information Gain” (IG) and its significance within the SEO community, along with questioning whether Google incentivizes it.
Here are the diverse perspectives and conclusions offered by SEO experts:
- Katie Berry proposed that information gain involves generating original content, often appropriated by domains with higher authority, subsequently surpassing the original creator’s ranking.
- Andrew Holland differentiated between two applications of IG: in machine learning and information foraging theory, suggesting a greater focus on the latter for SEO practitioners.
- Gael Breton raised doubts about how algorithms distinguish “IG” from inaccurate or fabricated information.
- Marie Haynes cited a specific Google patent to elucidate information gain as a method of presenting documents to users based on the potential IG derived from those documents.
- Gareth Boyd equated IG with added value.
- Google Search Honesty humorously suggested that IG might encompass presenting outdated content as top search results.
- Peter Mindenhall described it as introducing new information to Google’s index, initially possibly rewarded but potentially leading to penalties, especially in industries like travel.
- Ryan Jones highlighted the term’s specific meanings in statistics and programming, distinct from its SEO application.
- Darth Autocrat criticized the misapplication of the term in SEO, tracing its origins to AI and NLP, and explored its potential impact on content assessment based on entities and semantic relationships.
- SEO Renegade defined information gain as introducing originality to search results, though expressing doubts about its efficacy in improving search rankings.
- Andrew Boyd emphasized the significance of first-party data not readily accessible elsewhere.
- Digital Marketing Lane suggested that IG in SEO involves adding valuable content or links to enhance a site’s usefulness and relevance.
- Terry Van Horne stressed the importance of unique perspectives or original thoughts, supplemented by personal experiences supported by facts.
- Kristine Schachinger interpreted it as Google seeking documents that expand the breadth of online information based on entity comparisons.
- Sebastian heard that content similarity is now viewed negatively, suggesting that IG entails providing unique content.
- OliB referenced a patent related to IG, believing Google rewards documents that contribute original value within a set of similar documents.
- Colin Newcomer cynically remarked that creating original research might only benefit creators temporarily before larger sites appropriate and surpass them in rankings.
- KazaamSEO asserted that information gain leads to improved site optimization and higher rankings, believing Google rewards it.
- Edan Mizrahi introduced the concept of ‘information need‘ versus a query, highlighting users’ desire to learn more about a topic.
- Florian Kluge likened it to the skyscraper technique but noted its frequent use by AI tools to identify and replicate high-ranking content.
- Optimyzed described IG as providing more valuable or unique information to users, hoping for recognition from Google for such efforts.
For those interested, the article by Bill Slawski can be found here: https://gofishdigital.com/blog/information-gain-scores/