Category: Internet Marketing

Get your hands on FREE fish and chips this ‘Friday’ in Brighton!

FREE fish and chips in Brighton this Friday  

A nice portion of fish and chips has always been a staple of the British seaside. Since the mid-19th century, chippies have lined the shoreline of coastal towns and cities across the UK. This is no different for Brighton, where the shingle and stone-covered shore is packed with hundreds of thousands of tourists every summer, many of whom watch the sunset with fish and chips, the city’s much-loved dish. 

There are plenty of chippie hotspots to explore in the colourful and bustling city, including The Lanes, North Laine, and Brighton Pier – with each establishment offering a unique twist on the classic dish. However, sadly many chip shops along the Brighton coast are struggling to stay open, with rising operational costs forcing many establishments to shut their doors for good. Many are family run, having been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years. 

That’s why Sarson’s, together with the National Federation of Fish Friers, has identified that by visiting your local chippy just twice more per year, the nation could help stem the tide of chippie closures in just 12 months. Now, they have created an extra saucy incentive to get Brighton backing their local. 

On the 28th July, Sarson’s will be popping up at Brighton’s famous chippie, Little Jack Fullers, handing out free chips between 12pm and 2pm. To help save your chippie, all you need to do is turn up, support your local and claim your fresh chips.  

It won’t just be this Friday, either. Sarson’s are giving people across the county to get their hands on a free Friday night chippy tea throughout the year. In fact, the famous malt vinegar brand has pledged to give away one tonne of free fish and chips. That’s a whopping 50 meals available to be claimed every single week, all year long! 

This year so far, Sarson’s have already provided over 500 portions of fish and chip to foodies nationwide – and they don’t plan on stopping any time soon! 

So, if you are in Brighton, the surrounding areas or just fancy a trip down south to the seaside this Friday, make sure you stop by Little Jack Fullers to claim your free portion of chips. There’s no limit, so you won’t miss out – but the offer will only stand from 12pm – 2pm on 28th July. Whether you’re a salt and pepper lover, like them plain or slather on the Sarson’s vinegar – enjoy! 

David Roberts, Owner of Little Jack Fullers, said:

“The fish and chip industry has survived countless challenges since its inception in the 1860’s – including two World Wars, recessions, and the pandemic,  but these last few years have been extremely hard from an operational perspective.   

“It’s alarming to see the industry in such decline and initiatives like Sarson’s Fryday really shine a light on the challenges myself and other operators across the city, and across the country are facing. We are delighted to be taking part in the Sarson’s Fryday campaign and look forward to welcoming customers old and new to join Sarson’s Fryday at Little Jack Fullers”. 

Katy Holder, Brand Manager, Mizkan Euro adds;

“Now in its second year, Sarson’s Fryday has one aim; to support the Fish & Chip shop industry during unequivocally challenging operational conditions – a result of which has seen many operators having to shut their doors and switch off their fryers in droves. 

“So far, we’ve reimbursed hundreds of free meals to households who are feeling the pinch themselves, whilst putting money directly into the tills of the hard-working Chippy operators who keep this iconic British culinary institution alive. 

“This summer, we plan to go one step further, by giving away one tonne of free chips to the nation. From Brighton, to Blackpool, Newquay to Newcastle, however Brits plan to slosh on the Sarson’s, we urge them to visit their local chippy…with the added incentive that their chippy tea, might just be free! Together we can batter this crisis, one chip at a time”. 

The post Get your hands on FREE fish and chips this ‘Friday’ in Brighton! appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Original source: https://www.moneymagpie.com/make-money/get-your-hands-on-free-fish-and-chips-this-friday-in-brighton

Are you owed a vehicle tax rebate?

Are you owed a vehicle tax rebate? 

Motoring experts are warning UK drivers to take the necessary steps after selling their cars, after it was revealed millions of Brits could be missing out on money owed from the government in vehicle tax. 

After people sell their cars, they are not claiming back vehicle tax, according to LeaseCar and LeaseElectricCar. Vehicle tax payments can range from £0 for fully electric vehicles to a staggering £2,605 annually, depending on the vehicle model. 

Last year the most popular selling used car was the Ford Fiesta. The 2020 model has vehicle tax costing £155 per year – meaning motorists could be missing out on hundreds, or even thousands of pounds owed to them in tax refunds. Now, more than ever, claiming back money you are rightfully owed is important as the cost of living continues to bite. 

Of course, the amount that can be claimed back depends on what car they have sold – age, make, model, and how long ago. After informing the DVLA that the car has been sold, drivers need to apply for a tax rebate as soon as they can to get the maximum of cashback possible. Only full months’ worth of tax can be claimed – so time is of the essence. 

In 2022, almost seven million vehicles changed hands in the UK. Ford Fiesta topped the chart for the most sold used model of car. With automotive trade and creation restricted due to the pandemic and associated global lockdowns, the used car market has soared in recent years.  

As a result of increased demand for second-hand cars, however, the price of used cars has increased. The shortage of new cars over the Covid-19 years meant people were looking to buy from others. In fact, in July 2022, the average sale price of a used car in the UK was up almost 20% on the previous year – sitting at a cool £17,173. 

Tim Alcock from LeaseCar says: 

“Any driver who has recently sold their car after paying road tax will be eligible for a refund from the government. If you’ve paid your road tax for a whole year yet sell the car after a couple of months – you will be eligible to receive most of the tax back into your bank account. 

“It’s important to note that the DVLA tax refund only applies for full months, so it’s best to apply for your refund straight away to avoid missing out on any cash. After selling your car, drivers should inform the DVLA as soon as possible to ensure they get as much money back as possible. 

“Before selling a vehicle, the logbook (V5C) should also be updated to reflect any change of name, address or modifications made to the car. Any details which are incorrect may prevent motorists from getting a tax rebate. 

“Also, ensure to tell the DVLA that you’ve sold your car, and provide the full name and address of the buyer. Failing to do so may also stop you getting any money back.” 

The post Are you owed a vehicle tax rebate? appeared first on MoneyMagpie.

Original source: https://www.moneymagpie.com/make-money/are-you-owed-a-vehicle-tax-rebate

Twitter is now brand X

Twitter is the past. X is the future.

The iconic blue bird icon has been removed from the desktop version of Twitter – replaced by a stark, monochromatic letter X. The same change will shortly be made on the mobile version, the company confirmed.

The change is also said to signal an evolution for the brand beyond social media, to an “everything app” best compared to WeChat:

  • “It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square,” tweeted Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino – or rather “x’ed” Yaccarino, as we must learn to say.
  • “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”

Why we care. For users of X, the rebranding will indeed require sweeping changes to familiar vocabulary. People will “x” rather “tweet.” Presumably, on the mobile device, we will now see a list of users who recently “x’ed.” TweetDeck will surely become XDeck, although that has yet to be confirmed.

For marketers and advertisers, the change will underline questions already raised about brand safety. Last year, many sources noted a significant rise in hate speech on the platform. While Meta’s Zuckerberg has spoken about X competitor Threads as being “friendly,” the aesthetic of X inevitably comes across as minimalist, even brutalist — for example when the new logo is projected on the exterior of their headquarters like a sinister version of the Bat-signal.

Gone, advertisers, gone. Many big-spending advertisers abandoned or reduced spending on the platform since Musk bought it, resulting in an estimated 59% drop in Twitter’s U.S. ad revenue.

X. X.com now points to twitter.com, as Musk tweeted.

Musk has a long history with the letter X. He’s clearly fond of it; it remains to be seen whether a wider audience will find the name and logo relatable.

Breaking Twitter? Lots of speculation among the SEOs that this change could result in embedded tweets breaking – among other SEO impacts. Whether these things will actually happen remains to be seen. But here are a few embedded tweets (we’re living dangerously) discussing how Twitter/X may soon break (or not):

The post Twitter is now brand X appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/twitter-is-now-brand-x-429760

TikTok launches text posts

TikTok is rolling out text posts for the first time.

Historically, brands and influencers have been able to create content across a variety of formats such as live videos, photos, Duets, Stitch and more – but text was never an option.

Now, creators have that additional resource to connect with their audiences, enabling them to spread their messages through poems, lyrics and any other written content on TikTok.

Why we care. Providing brands with the ability to share text posts is another method in which they can reach and engage their audience. While some TikTok users may be responsive to live videos, others are more likely to connect with text posts. Giving marketers this additional resource is helping them to draw in an audience that may have previously been untapped. The bigger the audience a brand is able to reach and engage with, the higher the possible ROI.

New features. To make text posts as engaging as possible, TikTok has also launched a number of features for content creators to experiment with when posting text, including:

  • Stickers: TikTok has a range of stickers that creators can use to enhance their text posts.
  • Tags and hashtags: In the same way that you can with video and photo posts, tags and hashtags can also be used with text posts.
  • Background colors: Content creators can choose a color to layer behind their text to make their message pop.
  • Sound: TikTok has stressed that sound is a vital part of the user experience, so it has given brands the option to add sound to their text posts.
  • Draft and discard: If a creator doesn’t want to publish a text post they’ve been working on, they can save it in drafts to return to later, or discard it.

How it works. TikTok has rolled out the new text post feature to simplify the content creation process. Simply follow these steps to publish your first text post:

  • Create a text post: Go to your camera page and you’ll be greeted with three options; photo, video and text. Choose text and you’ll be taken to the text creation page where you can start typing.
  • Enhance your text post: After writing out your text post, enhance it by using some of the features mentioned earlier, such as stickers, hashtags and sound, to make it as engaging for the user as possible.
  • Publish: Once you’re happy with your end product, share your message with your followers.

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What has TikTok said? TikTok announced its text post expansion via a statement published in its newsroom. A spokesperson said: 

  • “We’re thrilled to announce the expansion of text posts on TikTok, a new format for creating text-based content that broadens options for creators to share their ideas and express their creativity.” 
  • “With text posts, we’re expanding the boundaries of content creation for everyone on TikTok, giving the written creativity we’ve seen in comments, captions, and videos a dedicated space to shine.”
  • “We’re excited to see what our community will create with text posts, a new way to express and share your creativity on TikTok.”

The post TikTok launches text posts appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/tiktok-launches-text-posts-429765

Ensuring Compliance with Japan’s Drug Master File Process

Home Business Magazine Online

Navigating through the complexities of the global pharmaceutical industry necessitates a deep understanding of diverse regulatory schemas, especially in countries with rigorous processes like Japan. Notably, the Japan DMFs (Drug Master File) process, known for its rigorous standards, demands a careful approach. This article provides you with an insightful journey through the prerequisites of the Japan DMF process, elucidating potential challenges and exploring practical solutions.

Deciphering Japan’s Drug Master File (DMF) Process

At the heart of Japanese pharmaceutical registration lies the Drug Master File (DMF) process. It is a confidential dossier that provides detailed information about the manufacturing facilities, processes, or raw materials used in the manufacturing, processing, packaging, and storing of an API, excipient, or drug packaging material. It plays a critical role in maintaining the quality and safety standards of drugs being sold in Japan. Central to this process is the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), a regulatory body responsible for ensuring pharmaceutical and medical devices’ safety and efficacy.

The journey to registering drugs in Japan starts with understanding the prerequisites of the DMF process. The requirements are multifaceted, ranging from comprehensive and accurate DMF documentation to a clear understanding of the regulatory nature of Japanese DMFs. Every aspect of the drug, from production to storage, must be meticulously documented, and this information must be accurately represented to the PMDA. Therein lies the challenge — meeting these stringent requirements, coupled with the nuanced language and cultural factors, can prove to be a labyrinthine endeavor for many international pharmaceutical companies.

Challenges Encountered in Complying with Japan’s DMF Process

Decoding the Regulatory Schema

The complexity of the Japanese pharmaceutical regulations often serves as a roadblock for companies unfamiliar with the terrain. The Japan drug master file process requires comprehensive knowledge of the guidelines set forth by the PMDA for APIs, excipients, and drug packaging materials. These regulations, which cover every facet of the drug manufacturing process, are designed to uphold high safety standards, but their complexity can be a significant hurdle for international drug companies unfamiliar with the Japanese landscape.

Navigating Language and Cultural Barriers

An often-overlooked aspect of the Japan DMF process is the language and cultural differences. These can create a series of misunderstandings, resulting in miscommunication or misinterpretation of critical aspects of the DMF process. The linguistic differences can pose challenges in comprehending the intricacies of the regulatory documentation, while cultural differences may impede effective interaction with Japanese regulatory bodies.

Practical Approaches to Surpass the Obstacles

Understanding Local Regulations

Understanding local Japanese regulations forms the bedrock of successful navigation through the Japan DMF process. This involves gaining comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory guidelines and staying updated with the frequent changes introduced by the PMDA. It’s advisable to invest time and resources in understanding these DMF regulations in depth. This might involve attending regulatory workshops, participating in webinars, or consulting with experts in Japanese pharmaceutical regulations.

Formulating a Robust Compliance Strategy

Once you have familiarized yourself with the local regulations, the next step involves developing a robust compliance strategy. A successful strategy should not only align with the Japanese DMF process requirements but also be flexible enough to adapt to any potential changes in regulations. It’s vital to prioritize areas that require immediate attention, such as maintaining DMF documentation and ensuring compliance with manufacturing and storage guidelines.

Promoting Efficient Communication with Japanese Regulatory Bodies

Fostering a good relationship with Japanese regulatory bodies, such as the PMDA, is another crucial aspect of navigating through the DMF registration process. This involves establishing clear communication lines, providing timely responses to inquiries, and demonstrating respect for the Japanese work culture. By doing so, you’ll promote a cooperative and constructive relationship with the regulatory bodies, smoothing your pathway through the DMF registration process.

The Rewards of Partnering with Local Resources

Incorporating local Japanese resources into your strategy can make the journey through the Japan DMF process smoother and more rewarding. Local Japanese regulatory resources can provide invaluable insights into the local regulatory environment, assist with language translation, and offer advice on the intricacies of Japanese work culture. In addition, their proximity to the PMDA and understanding of the DMF process can expedite the registration process, saving you both time and resources.

Prioritizing Aspects for Compliance with the DMF Process in Japan

Knowing what to prioritize is key to ensuring effective compliance with the DMF registration process in Japan. The areas of focus should include:

  • Mastery of Local Regulations: An understanding of the Japanese regulatory landscape will provide a solid foundation for your DMF process.
  • Creating a Robust Compliance Strategy: A well-crafted strategy, tailored to your company’s needs, will help you manage resources and responsibilities effectively.
  • Comprehensive DMF Documentation: Meticulous record-keeping will ensure you meet the strict documentation requirements set by the PMDA.
  • Efficient Communication with Regulatory Bodies: Building good relationships with the Japanese regulatory bodies can facilitate a smoother approval process.

The road to successful compliance with Japan’s Drug Master File (DMF) process may seem challenging. But, armed with a deep understanding of the local regulations, a robust compliance strategy, comprehensive documentation, and a respectful relationship with regulatory bodies, you can transform this challenge into an opportunity. Remember, embracing the assistance of local Japanese regulatory resources can help bridge gaps and streamline your journey. By considering these factors, you can chart your course successfully through the regulatory landscape of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry.

The post Ensuring Compliance with Japan’s Drug Master File Process appeared first on Home Business Magazine.

Original source: https://homebusinessmag.com/management/legalese/ensuring-compliance-japan-drug-master-file-process/

Contact Center Software: All You Should Know About It

Home Business Magazine Online

Contact center software is one of the most important business tools ever, because it is difficult to imagine business without a customer service department, isn’t it? And such a customer service department is a call center that is running thanks to contact center software.

But, as contact center software is a huge investment even for large companies, it is vital to choose it thoughtfully, based on your real needs and requirements. Bad choice of contact center software may generate big problems in the future, so pick it properly, and we will tell you how to do it.

What is contact center software?

Contact center software is a software tool that provides features and capabilities of VoIP telephony to service customer calls, both inbound and outbound, do workforce management, set tasks, communicate with team members, integrate other business processes and tools, and process other contact center operations.

In fact, contact center software is an all-in-one tool that gives you all features and functionalities to communicate with customers, provide customer service, collect customer feedback, and manage customer journeys. Surely, it also has some features for sales if you need them, and it relates to cold calling.

What is the difference between contact center software and call center software?

The main and most important difference between these two software platforms is that call center software is developed to handle customer calls only. This means that no other communication channels are available to use with this software.

The primary advantage of contact center software over call center solutions is that it can offer all available communication channels to use for inbound and outbound communication. It includes emails, web chats, messengers, social media, chatbots, video conferencing, and so on. In fact, you can interact with customers where they prefer to communicate, and clients can also switch between channels during the interaction without losing the progress of the conversation. This makes contact center software much more client-oriented and modern than call center software, and all studies prove that customers prefer some text channels over phone calls as the main customer support contact channel.

Also, contact center software offers much more self-service options than call center software. It relates to such tools as smart IVR systems, chatbots, external knowledge bases, social platforms, and so on. Self-service is one of the most important trends of the last years in the contact center industry, so the more self-service channels you offer, the higher customer satisfaction levels are.

Main contact center software features

  1. Call transfers – agents can switch a call to other agents in case of need. This happens when an agent isn’t qualified enough to deal with customer issues, or when a customer made the wrong choice in the auto attendant or IVR menu, which led him to the wrong department.
  2. Call hold – agents can put calls on hold. This is when the customer listens to that backstage music — in purpose to find some information regarding the customer request, contact another specialist to get some information or assistance, or for any other reason.
  3. Call routing – contact center software offers numerous call routing (call forwarding) options. Call routing is the process of connecting an inbound caller to an agent with the use of an ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) system based on pre-set rules, for instance, you can set up call routing to minimize agent idling time.
  4. Call logging – this is the feature that allows you to collect data about the call to transform it into real-time reports with all the statistical information you have to know about contact center performance.
  5. IVR system – one of the most important systems in the contact center by far. First of all, the IVR system is a powerful self-service tool that allows clients to deal with their issues on their own. Secondly, IVR collects data to enhance call routing efficiency, which means that without it you can’t set up intelligent call routing. Also, IVR can be used as an automated calling tool for customer feedback collection and as a call queue management tool to offer IVR callback.
  6. Third-party software integrations – you can integrate third-party tools with contact center software and boost your performance even more. Such tools as CRM systems, help desk software, payment systems, and so on are important parts of your business, and it is a perfect solution for you to integrate all these tools into an all-in-one interface to optimize your time management.
  7. Call monitoring and recording – you can listen to real-time calls in three different modes to deal with any issue. You can advise agents, listen to calls incognito, or even connect to a call as the third party of the call. Also, all calls are automatically recorded and stored, so you can listen to those recordings anytime you need.
  8. Intelligent analytics – you can check your contact center KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and key call center metrics on real-time dashboards which are automatically generated and provided by the system. They can be also customized to include metrics you need to track, but even basic configuration provides you with all the needed information for further analysis and decision-making.
  9. Outbound calling – you can do massive cold calls, up to 100 calls per hour, to enhance your telemarketing performance and boost conversion rates. Also, the system automates follow-up calls and allows you to provide agents with around 80% of the occupancy rate.

Also, there are many other features, including call scripting, multichannel communication, omnichannel routing, virtual phone numbers, SIP trunking, and many more.

Conclusion

As you can see, contact center software is a complete solution for providing customer service and building your own customer support department. It has some unique features which differentiate it from call center software. These features include multichannel communication and numerous self-service features.

Check this link if you want to learn more about call center software: https://voiptimecloud.com/call-center

The post Contact Center Software: All You Should Know About It appeared first on Home Business Magazine.

Original source: https://homebusinessmag.com/home-office/computers-and-software/contact-center-software-know/

28 growth strategies from 12 leading agencies by Digital Marketing Depot

Business Finance

Agency owners and employees face significant challenges in managing clients, projects, and attracting new business. Without a clear guide, it can be overwhelming to navigate these tasks. In addition, rising costs and labor shortages make it crucial to prioritize growth while maintaining sustainability and profitability.

In this guide, Vendasta has brought together the best of the best. It features insights from 12 industry-leading agencies with extensive experience. Within its pages, these market leaders share their top 28 strategies for achieving sustainable growth and maximizing profitability.

With a focus on managing high-performing teams, addressing current economic challenges, and identifying a successful growth trajectory, this guide equips agency owners with the necessary tools to drive growth and profitability.

Don’t miss out on this chance to gain insights from key industry players and accelerate your agency’s growth. Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download 28 growth strategies from 12 leading agencies.

The post 28 growth strategies from 12 leading agencies appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/28-growth-strategies-from-12-leading-agencies-429628

Washington Post shares SEO and web performance guidelines

The Washington Post has published a document outlining its internal SEO and web performance best practices that anybody in news SEO will want to read.

The document, Web Performance and SEO Best Practices and Guidelines, outlines what the Post calls “proven strategies and guidelines for optimizing web performance and search engine optimization (SEO).”

SEO and web performance best practices. The Post’s document breaks down all of its guidelines into what is essentially a checklist, consisting of four buckets: on-page SEO, content optimization, technical SEO and off-page SEO.

The web performance guidelines focus on loading, rendering and responsiveness. It also shares many of the tools it uses to monitor performance – including Lighthouse, WebPageTest, Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

The purpose of the guidelines. The Post wants to make sure it:

  • Provides a positive user experience.
  • Increases website visibility.
  • Drives organic traffic.
  • Improves the site’s overall success.

What they’re saying. The document was officially announced today, although it appears the document was published May 31. The Post said it is publicly sharing its guidelines and tools to help others ensure their “own site practices are optimal”:

  • “We identified a need for a Web Performance and SEO engineering team to build technical solutions that support the discovery of our journalism, as the majority of news consumers today read the news digitally. Without proper SEO and web performance, our stories aren’t as accessible to our readers,” according to Arturo Silva, engineering lead.

Read the document. Web Performance and SEO Best Practices and Guidelines

The post Washington Post shares SEO and web performance guidelines appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/washington-post-seo-web-performance-guidelines-429658

Why using AI to create YMYL experts is a REALLY bad idea

Last year something odd happened.

I was working on a project for a client and needed some expert insight from a sports science expert. 

I put out a request on Response Source, a popular platform where journalists and PRs seek out expert comments to add to their stories and campaigns (a bit like a premium version of HARO).

The idea is that this is a win-win for both parties. Those working on the story or campaign get access to valuable expert insight, and the experts get a plug (or, better yet, a link) to their business.

I hoped I would get some comments from a nutritionist, coach, personal trainer, or someone with similar qualifications. 

Often underqualified people would send quotes, but getting someone overqualified is rare. This is why it was a surprise when one of the responses was from a doctor, a British general practitioner (GP) working in London. 

The responses to the question themselves about how athletes cope in high temperatures were unremarkable:

“Risks of Heat Stress Disorders among players High temperature invokes physiological responses in the body that hinder the players’ health and performance. The players may suffer from the heat-stress disorder. The condition is characterized by heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat strokes.”

Neither too vague nor too salesy, and would’ve fit quite nicely in the campaign – an adequate pitch, in other words. 

I thought it was quite odd that a GP had taken the time to respond, though. Perhaps she was trying to promote a private practice?

I clicked the link in her profile and it did not lead to a home page for a private GP practice. 

Instead, it was the About Us page of an ecommerce website selling… sex toys. 

Reverse image search - headshot

Doctor who?

A quick Google search led me to her name on half a dozen websites selling everything from CBD oils to vapes, gummies and vitamins. 

I did a reverse image search of the (suspiciously AI-looking) headshot she had supplied and it came up on a website exposing female romance scammers and the aforementioned CBD websites. 

In all likelihood, the image had been taken from someone’s Tumblr account once upon a time and was now being used by the dregs of the internet for fraud. 

UK General Medicine Council

In the UK, all practicing GPs must be on the General Medical Council’s GP Registry. It is publicly searchable, and her name was not listed.

Impersonating a doctor is not the first thing that comes to mind as a winning SEO strategy, so why is this happening?

First and foremost: links. They hold significant value in SEO. This is what keeps digital PR professionals like me working. 

They can be especially important trust signals for “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) websites, including those selling, for example, vitamins or CBD oils. 

And unfortunately, in the very limited scope of link acquisition, it seems to be working.

The fake doctor has landed a handful of mentions and links in some national British publications talking about, among other things, leukemia.

Fake ddoctor - mentions
Fake ddoctor - mentions

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The ethics of E-E-A-T for YMYL

This entirely fictional GP is now advising readers on how they can check themselves for early signs of leukemia. 

This strikes me as a genuine YMYL concern. Morally, it’s not a good idea to advise leukemia patients unless you’re medically trained.

“High E-A-T medical advice should be written or produced by people or organizations with appropriate medical expertise or accreditation. High E-A-T medical advice or information should be written or produced in a professional style and should be edited, reviewed, and updated on a regular basis.”

You see, this isn’t just about links, it is also about expertise, experience, authority and trust.. 

When it comes to YMYL sites, Google expects the very highest standard of E-E-A-T.

You want it to be clear on an About Us page who your experts are, why they are an expert and what part they play within the company, brand or website. 

If all this is present on the page, then offsite trust signals are the next obvious step. 

If you have a medical expert on your website, one who is also quoted in multiple publications and other reputable websites, this is one of the best things you can do to build the E-E-A-T required to rank your YMYL website. 

Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines state that: 

“For YMYL informational topics, the reputation of a website or content creator should be judged by what experts in the field have to say. Recommendations from expert sources, such as professional societies, are strong evidence of a very positive reputation.”

Google, ironically, is even more explicit about this in its 2019 paper on how Google fights disinformation which states: 

“For these “YMYL” pages, we assume that users expect us to operate with our strictest standards of trustworthiness and safety. As such, where our algorithms detect that a user’s query relates to a “YMYL” topic, we will give more weight in our ranking systems to factors like our understanding of the authoritativeness, expertise, or trustworthiness of the pages we present in response.”

I reached out to the journalist Mason Quah who wrote the story on leukemia, to find out more about what happened and how a fake doctor made national news: 

“Almost all of the contacts we used were via email exclusively. I was told to use response source, or a tool similar, to find leads. That is the most likely source.

I’m entirely unsurprised that an AI could fill out the responses since most of the time we knew what our story was going to be and just needed a rubber stamp from somebody who put doctor before their name.”

Fake doctor, meet fake patient

It’s not just fake experts causing problems.

The first “E” in E-E-A-T – experience also has its share of scammers.

Google now recognizes that you don’t need to be an expert in something if you have firsthand experience and understand that this may be valuable. 

Although, I don’t suspect this was the motivation behind the deeply bleak story of Insider Journalist Julia Pugachevsky being tricked into interviewing an AI-generated source. Not a fake doctor, but a fake cancer patient. 

Fake patient

This was perhaps the most immoral example of black hat link building, with little thought given to anything beyond that desired follow link. 

Pugachesky went on to write about her experience where we learn that the source contacted her via HARO. She explained:  

“In exchange for her story, she hoped I would mention her role as the founder of an online-gaming page. Ideally, I could link to them, too.”

Once Pugachevsky realized she had been scammed, she contacted HARO, which assured her that it had already banned the account. 

As for my fake GP, though, it would seem she is still out there. At the time of writing, she was last quoted in the press three weeks ago. 

Unsurprisingly for Pugachesky, the trust has been damaged.

Just as Google runs on trust signals, trust between digital PRs and journalists is crucial for digital PR to take place on platforms such as HARO and Response Source.

Pugachesky ended her piece by explaining what she would do to avoid falling victim to a similar scheme in future: 

“I put together a document about my experience for the entire Insider newsroom. We’re sharpening our protocols and becoming more vigilant than ever about researching sources in advance, insisting on phone interviews, and running email communications through a text checker.”

Those of us who contact Insider on behalf of our clients may now find that where before an email interview would have sufficed, that same journalist may now want to speak to a source directly on the phone to ensure they’ve not been AI-generated.

What can SEO and digital PR professionals do about this?

It’s important for us in the industry to call out this bad practice for what it is. This isn’t “grey hat SEO,” but outright fraud. 

It paints our industry as not just shady but rotten to the core. After all, do we really want SEO to be associated with impersonating cancer victims? 

If you’re outsourcing your link building effort, make sure you know exactly what those you’re paying to build links are doing to earn them. 

Unfortunately, when these tactics slip through the net, they may have short-term benefits, but we’ve been here before. 

It’s been over a decade ago now since Google launched the Penguin algorithm and took a firm stance on manipulative link building practices. 

According to Google’s own data, it impacted around 3% of all search results. So we know Google is more than willing to penalize inappropriate behavior when uncovered and to do this en masse.  

As Google states itself:

“Tackling the propagation of false or misleading information is core to Google’s mission and to ensuring our products remain useful to the billions of users and partners who utilize our services every day. 

“While we have always fought against malicious actors’ efforts to manipulate our systems and deceive our users, it’s never been more important to thwart them and to ensure we provide our users with information worthy of the trust they have in our services.”

In this instance, it makes far more sense to clean up our act as an industry instead of waiting for the wrath of a Penguin 2.0-style devastating Google update. 

What should publications be doing?

As for news publications and the journalists who write for them, there may be a case for ongoing education as AI evolves. I’ll leave you with this quote from Quah:

“There is a lot of value in teaching people how to conduct research that dodges AI bots or whatever the next innovation is to occupy the top slot of most Google search queries. 

“I’d say it’s something you need to actively keep on top of, it’s like how there’s a half life of medical knowledge, a doctor doesn’t just keep what they know from school but spends most of their career continuing to follow the field and staying up to date on new techniques and methods. Journalists need to keep retraining themselves as the field changes.”

The post Why using AI to create YMYL experts is a REALLY bad idea appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Original source: https://searchengineland.com/using-ai-create-ymyl-experts-bad-idea-429673