Impact of AI in the Recent Updates for iGaming SEO (James Dooley Interviews Kushal Arora)

James Dooley: The impact of AI in recent updates. There's been so many different updates within Google algorithm. And today I'm joined with Kushal, and the other week was in Turkey together at Koray's event. And obviously it's always like this. It's always like a roller coaster. There's good days and there's bad days. There's days where you wake up and all your inventory of sites have been penalised, and then the good days are brilliant. But how, how is it at present with regards to the impact of what AI is doing for your sites specifically, Kushal?

Kushal: I would say the last update, the September one, was extremely bad for us. Like we lost couple of our assets, the good ones as well. Honestly speaking, we don't have any answers for that. Like the websites were good, they were clean. There was no spam attached. They were EMD websites with clean links, clean content. Yes, the content was AI, but now anybody stating that they do 100% non-AI content is extremely hard to believe. So, yeah, this, this was not a very good update for us. But yes, regardless of we losing couple of assets, we definitely got a lot of our assets back as well. You know, the assets that got lost traffic in June-July update, they were... They are back again, very strong and very prominent in the SERPs. And also the SERP got a cleanup. You don't see aged domains in a lot of big markets at the moment. So, yeah, like the update has been, like, bad as well as I would say mixed in some aspects. Rest, I don't know about other industries. So, for us it was not so great.

James Dooley: And is there anything on the winners that came back? Is there anything that you could see on there or is it literally just so random with what's been happening with regards to the updates?

Kushal: Honestly, with most SERPs, uh, it's very random. And the winners that I see are old listicle websites, uh, and the branded ones, which were big brands back in those days, but they got lost since the day aged domains came into play. So, yeah, but one thing I know for sure is that, uh, with seeing all these updates come and go, this is a temporary shift. The spammers, the aged domains, they will be back very soon, and the SERPs are not going to have a clean time anytime soon again. So, this is just temporary and people would come back, uh, very fast.

James Dooley: And then, how do you think people are going to come back fast? Do you think Google are going to try to detect it or is it... How's Parasite SEO working? Is that working in today's algorithms?

Kushal: Yeah, Parasite SEO is still working. Uh, as I mentioned, brand websites got, uh, an uphill for most of the keywords. So, Parasite SEO stays unaffected since for the past six months it has been working very stable for us for the past six months. Uh, there has been no major hit for site reputation abuse or the sites we do. There was couple, uh, recently, but the sites, uh, they were able to recover it by moving it to other folders or things like that. And, uh, regarding, uh, you know, how do we see... Because, you know, with what we have seen over the years or over the months, people like us push so much with what we want, uh, Google to show that Google becomes dependent for us for the latest results or the best results. So, there, you know, time comes that Google believes that, okay, this is the right one and not what we are ranking is the right one. Like the manipulation thing, you know. So, I believe that because people will start pushing again so harder on those keywords that Google will ultimately believe that, okay, this is the truth and not what we are ranking is the truth. So, I've seen it in the case... So, for, like, almost two years now, like we have been seeing this constant pattern of aged domains getting wiped out when, when an update comes and when it finishes, but they come back again soon after the update cools down and the SERPs are normal.

James Dooley: And then what about with regards to as AI Overviews start to come in? I believe in certain markets AI Overviews are starting to come in now.

Kushal: Uh, honestly, like we still don't have any measurements of how much market share or how much traffic are we going to lose because we have already lost, you know, a couple of our market share already from those markets. But what I know and what I have been listening up from the people that are, you know, working together with us, that, you know, it does not have a big, you know, cut down on the clicks that we usually have on the SERPs. So, let's see how does it hold up because, again, Google started to clear up AI Overviews for a lot of keywords as well. Like they were showing, but then they stopped showing again. Or when they show up for some other keywords, they, they are recommending something else. So, for users, that is not what users are trying to find. So, I'm not sure or I'm not an expert on this to comment on at the moment. But for me, we still have sites ranking in. We still have clicks coming in from Google. So, for us, it, it stays not affected to that level.

James Dooley: And then do you ever look at Bing Search or is it too small for you to even bother about?

Kushal: We do a lot of Bing, but the problem with Bing is Bing is even random than Google. None, none of these strategies like aged domains, 301s, Parasite SEO works and not works. Like, it's, it's, it's very random. But it does not work as good as it works in Google. So, in Bing, in most cases only EMD and PMD or bigger brands that lost traffic in Google tend to perform the best. So, yes, we do Bing, to answer your question. Is it small for us? No. But is it extremely volume game overall? Also, no. You can be ranking, like we still have a lot of sites ranking number one, but we don't get that many amount of clicks that we would get staying in number three in Google for the same keyword.

James Dooley: And then what about ChatGPT or anything like that? Do you ever look at anything to do with...

Kushal: Nothing. Like, we haven't tested anything or tracked anything with any LLMs, be it ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overview, or Claude for that matter. So, I'm not the best one to, uh, have a take or answer anything on this.

James Dooley: And what do you see the future in the iGaming space? What do you see the future of iGaming is? Is it just going to be continuously testing and evolving and changing? What works today might not work tomorrow.

Kushal: Uh, yes. Uh, this, this will stay the case and this will become even harder and difficult as well because, you know, for those who are having success will test even more. Those who are not having great success will not be able to test more. So, the market will stay relevant for only very small amount of people. How do I see this is just try to, uh, mint as much as you can and start looking for alternatives already, like I'm doing as well. So, yeah, like this, this, this... The game will change definitely in the coming two, three years. And, like, 90% of the people won't be able to make the amount of money they make now after two, three years for sure.

James Dooley: And what other alternatives is it you're going to be looking to get into?

Kushal: Uh, honestly, I don't know. I'm still exploring. Uh, like, I got a couple of ideas from Koray's event. Like people were doing some, you know, local SEO, people were doing consulting, agency, all these types of things. Agency, of course not. I have done it in the past and honestly I don't like it as a concept. Uh, so I'm very uncertain of what I'll be doing. But yes, one thing for sure that I know I will be doubling down is definitely consulting and more and more of video creation.

James Dooley: And when you're doing, let's say, consulting, do you think you'll be consulting in the iGaming space or any hard niches?

Kushal: Any, any. Almost all the hard niches as well as general SEO as well.

James Dooley: And then you'll be consulting on things like to do with, like, Parasite SEO, aged domains, and whatever you need to do to try and make... So, obviously once you've done it in the iGaming space, you can just implement that into any other market. It seems so much easier to be doing it in, let's say, like law firms or finance and stuff like that.

Kushal: Exactly.

James Dooley: So if, if someone is then watching this and reaching out and thinking, "Do you know what, Kushal, you've been so successful in iGaming. You've gone through the roller coaster ride. You've had the ups, you've had the downs." And people say, "Do you know what, I'd love to get you on a consult call." What's the best way of someone being able to reach out to somebody like yourself?

Kushal: The best is honestly either you can come to me on LinkedIn or you can just drop me an email. Uh, like these are the best, uh, sources to reach me out because I'm extremely active on all... On both these things. I check my email every 15 minutes and I check my LinkedIn every 30 minutes in, in the morning. So, yeah.

James Dooley: And then with regards to you said you're going to start doing some more video, is that on YouTube specifically? And if so, what YouTube channel?

Kushal: Yes. Uh, I have gotten my own couple of YouTube channels, not just one. But yes, I will be, like, doubling down on almost all different types of channels that I have.

James Dooley: So if anyone is listening to this and they want a consultation call, check out the link in the description. Go and have a look at his channel. He's doing a lot of great videos. Um, the email will be in there to reach out to him. He's very high level when it comes to ranking in the iGaming space, but obviously there's other markets he could be looking at that might be able to help yourself. Kushal, it's been an absolute pleasure.

Kushal: Amazing, man. Likewise.