Top FAQs from Our Obituary Spam Webinar
The recent webinar we hosted with Connecting Directors, "Obituary Spam: What It Is and How to Protect Your Business and Your Families," has gotten a lot of feedback.
So, how can funeral homes protect against obituary spam? You have questions, and we have answers.
What is obituary spam?
Those from outside the funeral profession are taking advantage of the immense amount of website traffic that obituaries generate. They will create “spam” content to manipulate Google’s algorithms to outrank local funeral homes in searches. They also create obituaries that aren't real because every click has the potential to generate ad revenue.
Why does somebody want to spam a funeral home?
In short, eyeballs on a website are worth money. Every time a display ad pops up on a website, money can be made.
What methods are spammers using?
Generative AI makes it very easy to create and manipulate an obituary to take advantage of Google's algorithm. When the content contains localized information, even if it’s not real, it makes the website much more likely to rank (and beat a funeral home) in searches.
How is obituary scraping legal?
Aggregators and scammers are good at skirting copyright laws by changing the content just enough to call it original.
Tribute Technology’s Chief Customer Officer Courtney Gould Miller was recently quoted in The Verge talking about obituary spam. Why is this topic gaining so much traction right now?
The Verge is holding power brokers accountable. Funeral searches and obituary searches across the entire Internet get a massive amount of traffic. Industry watchdogs are worried that generative AI is going to make spreading spam like this across the Internet even easier and faster. You can read the entire article here.
Can funeral homes build generative AI into their site to produce a website to outrank bad actors?
Yes – and it starts with the AI obituary writer. There are methods to write an obituary that help firms understand the Google algorithm. Funeral homes need to be aware of this when posting and writing obituaries, along with being aware of SEO best practices.
What’s your best advice on how to push down spammers and aggregators?
Number one: Be the first to post original content. Number two: To the extent you're comfortable, share obituaries on every single social account you have. Number three: Have a fast website.
What can you say to families who are upset about their obituary getting scraped?
Be transparent about the fact that you don’t sponsor or do business with the scrapers. You might also consider sharing resources, such as The Verge article mentioned above.
How important is local traffic on an obituary posted on a funeral home website?
As a funeral home, your obituary traffic is your most valuable asset. Every single person you lose to a spammer is going to see something else, which might be a preneed ad at another local funeral home.
Does reporting scraped obituaries to Google make a difference?
Yes – especially when they’re reported repeatedly. This helps notify Google and its algorithm that the content being produced by this specific domain is less valuable to those searching for information. Eventually, this will make an impact.
Have more questions? Feel free to reach out to us here or reach out to any Tribute Technology team member.
