Google Says Web 3.0 Won’t Kill SEO

All the craze right now is Web3 or Web 3.0, the new iteration of the World Wide Web based on the blockchain, which incorporates concepts including decentralization and token-based economics. And some are concerned it will kill SEO, that Web 3.0 will be the final nail in the coffin for SEO.

Well, it won’t. Don’t believe me, ask Google’s John Mueller who also said no, it won’t on Reddit. Don’t trust John? Go look at the other comments on that thread, mostly all saying it is fear mongering…

The question posed in the thread was “Will web 3.0 kill the SEO? Just a fear of mine that soon I’ll be jobless.”

The response from John Mueller was a simple “no.” But here are some of the other responses:

No, because search engines will still be used on Web 3.0. Anything that is used on the internet now, will be on Web 3.0. This is because there is no replacement for search engines yet. People will still be using Youtube in the metaverse same as Google.

Web 3.0 isn’t yet what it plans to be. But I don’t expect it will impact SEO much, if at all, for some time to come.

I look at web 3.0 like voice search – it’s going to be nice to have, but no real impact on SEO – at least not initially.

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I have been in the same technical field for a long time. I no longer list anything specific on my resume for the first 10 years or so. Very general statements. Because its all obsolete. My point is the technical things you do will evolve but the general aim of SEO will remain and will have new tools and processes.

I think you might not understand what some claim the web3.0 is, and I don’t blame you – this is not a criticism.

The best way to sum what is being pushed as the web3, in my opinion: it’s a way to store, access and transfer some types of information, by using “public databases”.

SEO, as you know, is about making some information (like content, or product listings) more accessible and easy to find online.

The web as you know it won’t change. You’ll still have search engines, marketplaces, social networks, e-commerce, etc.

As long as there are search engines there’ll be seen need for seo.

Enlighten me, why would web 3 mean that people no longer use the internet to search for information? Are there Web 3.0 specific search engines that may topple Google’s dominance? If there are can they be games or optimised for?

TL;DR: If Web 3 means people will search for information differently then SEO will most likely evolve to find a way to capitalise on that behaviour.

There was a story from Bloomberg yesterday named Facebook and Google’s Ad Addiction Can’t Last Forever Facebook and Google are the least diversified of the tech giants, relying on ads for 98% and 81% of revenue, respectively, hinting at potential future issues. “Technologists, for one, are also talking about a radical shift to Web3, where large online platforms will be replaced by systems underpinned by blockchain, a move that would require rethinking the companies’ revenue model. Regulators, meanwhile, are targeting Google and Facebook’s dominance of the digital ad space; and young people’s gravitation to gaming, messaging and TikTok has already threatened Facebook’s all-important engagement metrics with advertisers.”

There are more responses – but it seems like we are all safe, for now – at least until Web 4.0…

Forum discussion at Reddit.