“Today’s Wordle Answer” is Everything That's Wrong With Media Today
Clickbait has evolved into SEO-spam and there is no future for it online.
Wordle is a delightful, low-lift time killer and I am as addicted as anyone. My family has an annoying habit of sharing scores on a WhatsApp group every day, and I have gotten used to getting alerts before 8am every morning. Just a week ago I was troubleshooting my Android phone and thought it would be fine to clear my cache and cookies, thereby ending a 48-day Wordle streak. I was heartbroken. Wordle was the only cookie I cared about. Wordle success as a game is curious, because it is super easy to cheat.
All you have to do is Google “Today’s Wordle Answer” and the result is there. Go ahead and try it - if you haven't already - the results reveal much more about our media landscape than today’s answer.
The Web is very good at answering questions and lots of people want to know Today’s Wordle answer. Since the game launched, Search volume for “Wordle” itself has soared, although seems to be trailing off a bit. This is data from Google Trends:
When playing Wordle, if you haven’t guessed the answer in three tries, temptation sets in to search for the answer via Google. It is VERY closely correlated to Wordle’s popularity:
As a 20-year veteran of an SEO-focused, service-oriented website, I understand the siren call of Search traffic. Even so, the sheer volume and variety of sites trying to answer this basic question every day is stunning. It reminds me of the old days of the Google Doodle when a 200-word puff piece on Google’s art treatment could cause a traffic boom. Who has jumped on the “Today’s Wordle Answer” bandwagon? It is not an elite list.
The winner of the SEO lottery every day is usually Tom’s Guide, a site I considered a strong competitor when I was at PCMag. And even now, I am jealous of that ranking. Like most sites, they have added some hints, some tactics, and a little background on Wordle. Longer stories add key terms to the article and improve page ranking.
But why? Isn’t Tom’s a tech review site? Not if it can get traffic for something else.
Here is what the Search Engine Results Page looks like below Tom’s results.
Mashable? Forbes? RockPaperShotgun? What are these sites about and why are they the best resource for Today’s Wordle Answer? Websites that play this game reveal that they are actually about nothing, except driving clicks. None of them are adding unique value, and therefore none of them are building a real audience. If anything, they are diluting their brand by doing whatever it takes to drive traffic.
The good news is that this will not last, for three reasons:
First, these are empty calories. Tom’s may have the top spot right now, but the quality of the story is the same as all the rest. This ranking will not last. And the site is competing with literally every other site on the Web, from local news stations to tech review sites.
Second, Wordle itself will pass. These fads don't last, and the charts above show the decline has already begun. In time, Wordle will become the next Words with Friends. (Although I will confess I still have Pokemon GO loaded on my phone.)
Finally, Google will eat this functionality. Google has made it clear - if a question can be answered quickly and easily, it will do it itself. If it can’t, it will go to another site, scrape the answer, and present it at the top of the SERP page. There is no reason for users to click through for more information.
The “Today’s Wordle Answer” economy is a glitch in the system - one that I’m sure Google’s Engineers are actively working to eliminate. Once its AI engines rate these pages for their real quality, the traffic will dry up. But that won’t fix the underlying short-term thinking that dominates most media companies today. The Slap. Johnny Depp. Aquaman.
If everyone online is repeating the same thing, no one is really saying anything.
Today’s Bits
![Twitter avatar for @toddbishop](https://substackcdn.com/image/twitter_name/w_96/toddbishop.jpg)
Inside an Amazon robotic sortation center: How automation is changing the ‘middle mile’
The Spectacular Promise Of 3D-Printed Rockets
To make up for the slight Mashable dig above, I’m including a video piece produced and narrated by the Mashable’s talented Emmett Smith. (Full disclosure: I used to work for Ziff Davis, which owns Mashable. Also, Emmet is my stepson.)
Google Claims Text-to-Image AI Delivers 'UInprecedented photorealism'
The Government Finally Figured Out What Hackers Are the Good Guys
Nvidia Details Plans to Transform Data Centers Into AI Factories
https://www.nytwordletoday.org/