iGaming Daily, supported by Optimove, delves back into the world of SEO with the show’s resident expert Ivana Flynn.

Joining Ivanna on the podcast is Maria Sayapina, Director of Casino at Game Lounge and Jeanette Micallef, SEO Lead at Xtended Gaming, to discuss AI and its use in marketing and SEO.

In May, the European Union (EU) council approved the AI Act which is expected to be in place by the end of the year.

Part of the legislation addresses the use of manipulative and deceptive practices and systems that are designed to manipulate behaviour or decisions in a way that individuals wouldn’t otherwise make.

The trio provide their thoughts on the new legislation and how this could impact marketing and SEO efforts.

Maria said: “A big chunk of marketing is making sure that people are making informed decisions. So now how you showcase that information is really up to you. Omitting information has never been good for marketing and especially when it comes to the igaming and gambling world, I think here we have to be as transparent as possible.”

“I agree with the legislation. When the decision is manipulated I think that’s not a very good job done by any marketeer because you want them to make a conscious decision based because of how you lay that information in front of them rather than by omitting or manipulating it”

Jeanette adds that it is important for AI content to be checked manually before it is used as “if the AI tool gives you garbage then you don’t want to produce garbage”.

As well as governing bodies, private companies have also implemented their own AI policies. Google has introduced an AI scanner to evaluate whether webpage content has been used by AI.

As part of this process, webpages have been handed manual penalties from Google for including AI-generated content and Ivana speaks about the potential pitfalls in Google’s tool if manual intervention is required. 

Maria counters by suggesting that due to the rapid rise of AI Google hasn’t been able to properly train its AI detection algorithm and manual intervention is needed to do so.

She added: “This is where I think Google needs to train the algorithm. So to make a difference whether AI is being overused to the point where it’s just spamming the web or whether this is AI but in a good way that still brings value, generates users, and so on.”

“This is the bridge that they’re trying to gap right now because Google has been saying all the time that yes you can use AI, but make sure it brings value to the people.”

To end the episode, the trio discuss some of the latest trends in SEO and marketing which has seen search engines include more video content near the top of search results as video platforms like Youtube and TikTok continue to rise in popularity.

“I’m seeing a lot of YouTube videos coming up in the search results because that’s what people want to see,” explained Jeanette. “They want to experience something through someone else who has already experienced it. 

“So even when related to gaming. If you look for how to play Blackjack the first few results that come up are four YouTube videos or more. And that’s something to consider even when you’re doing your strategy. If you have an opportunity to do videos, do video, because that’s something that we’ll be seeing more and more in 2024.”