GEO-Detox services soon?

John Mueller from Google mocked the idea that, after offering billable GEO (Google Experience Optimization) services, SEO agencies might next year offer “GEO-Detox” services to correct the negative effects of these optimizations, in the same vein as “link building detox” services or removal of excessive content that followed mass link-building campaigns or mass content creation.

This remark was made in response to a post by Ian Lurie, an SEO specialist, who criticizes the excessive enthusiasm around GEO, pointing out that the tactics promoted are often basic (creating detailed content, pages intended only for AI bots) and sometimes irrelevant, which leads him to joke about the need for an SEO “detox.”

Source: Search Engine Roundtable

The world of SEO is an endless cycle. With every new major trend (whether fleeting or not), there are always excesses and short-term strategies that can do more harm than good. Even if John Mueller’s comment is intentionally a bit provocative, it’s probably not as absurd as it sounds.

Goossip #2

Site polluted by low-quality AI: it's better to start over from scratch

For a site in “poor condition” following the massive use of low-quality AI content, John Mueller advises to completely rethink the site’s purpose rather than simply rewriting the pages in a human way. Indeed, rewriting AI-generated content with human authors is not sufficient to restore the site’s value and authenticity. Google is mainly looking for added value and the purpose behind online content.

John Mueller recommends treating a recovery as a fresh start, beginning from scratch in substance, rather than proceeding page by page or doing a large superficial cleanup. He even notes that starting from a non-domain "polluted" by old useless content can be faster than trying to fix an existing SEO reputation, which can take a long time to recover.

Source: Search Engine Journal

The method recommended by John Mueller may seem radical, but it mainly adds an important nuance to the "100% human rewrite" approach that might be the first reflex when a site is affected. If returning to human writing can be a significant change, you still need to take the time to think about the relevance of the revised content. That is the whole point of the approach!

Goossip #3

A background video does not have a particular impact on SEO

John Mueller explains that a large background video file, even 100 MB, generally has no notable SEO impact. as long as the main content and images load quickly firstThe key idea is that Google mainly relies on user experience and the Core Web Vitals. So if the page is already readable and stable before the video loads, the SEO risk remains low.

Source: Search Engine Journal

In theory yes. In practice, however, it is recommended to use preload="none" on the video tag to avoid unnecessary preloading and to rely on a poster attribute to display an image while the video loads in the background. For autoplay videos, Google recommends lazy-loading approaches (for example using Intersection Observer) so that loading only actually starts when the video enters the viewport, which preserves performance while keeping the visual effect.