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What is Non-Commodity Content? Meet The New Helpful Content

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The Google Algorithm Update Correction Hypothesis (Shaun Anderson, Hobo)
The Google Algorithm Update Correction Hypothesis (Shaun Anderson, Hobo).

This is how you cover a conference and pick up links, via JC Chouinard.

Non-Commodity Content, in short, is the new Helpful Content benchmark from Google – at least, what they are talking about on stage. It is clear that Google want to leave helpful content terminology out this time around, at least on stage. I wonder, would this advice have clarified things for Helpful Content Update victims at the time?

Anyway, quality content is now framed as “non-commodity content” and “helpful” content is now non-commodity content”. Helpful content versus unhelpful content.

You get the picture.

Helpful Content 2.0.

Commodity Content vs Non-Commodity Content

See example: What is Commodity Content?

What is Good Non-Commodity Content?

Good Non-Commodity content is

  • Unique: Brings a viewpoint, information or has content that others lack or can’t easily replicate

  • Specific: Talks about a specific instance, situation or thing, not general rules, steps or generic information

  • Authentic: Demonstrates first-hand knowledge or experience

Using AI To Create Content

Do you need to focus on Conversational Keywords?

  • No need to focus on “conversational keywords” or capture every possible synonym.

    • “Don’t worry if you don’t anticipate every variation of how someone might seek your content. Google’s language matching systems are sophisticated and can understand how your page relates to many queries, even if you don’t explicitly use the exact terms in them”.

  • JavaScript OK if Google can access as a human does.

Do you need to Chunk Your Content?

  • No need to “chunk” content into pieces just for AI; organise and write for a good, human reading experience

    • “The text is easy-to-read and well organised.”

  • Use headers (H1, H2) in ways to help human readers – don’t worry it has to be super precise for AI

    • “The web in general is not valid HTML, so Google Search can rarely depend on semantic meanings hidden in the HTML specification”

Notes from the Google SEO Starter Guide.

Tips For AI Search Success

So, What To Do?

Traditional Search AI Search
Content Prioritize non-commodity content
Page experience Remains foundational for success
SEO fundamentals Audit for any gaps
Structured data
Shopping SEO Review for new opportunities
Local SEO
Video SEO
Image SEO
Agentic Stay tuned & review for new opportunities

JC has lots more on his blog. I was interested in this part.

This push for non-commodity content was just one piece of the puzzle discussed at the Google Search Central Live Toronto event. Here are the other major technical takeaways of interest to SEOs…:

Indexing & Content Quality

  • AI has lowered the content creation barrier, prompting Google to raise its quality bar for what actually gets indexed.

  • The “Crawled – Currently not indexed” status is typically a quality signal indicating Google didn’t find the content valuable, rather than a technical error.

  • Traffic drops on AI-generated sites are often triggered by Google’s algorithm for scaled content abuse rather than the mere presence of AI content.

AI Overviews & Agentic Search

  • Google shapes the Gemini model differently for search than it does for the standalone app, meaning AI Overview results will not mirror app outputs.

  • Blocking the Google-Extended bot does not remove your site from AI Overviews because Google can still use your already-indexed data for “fanouts.”

  • Using the data-nosnippet attribute remains the only definitive way to stop your specific content from being used to generate AI answers.

Technical SEO & Markup

  • Converting your website content to Markdown provides absolutely no SEO or LLM benefits.

  • Creating an llms.txt file offers zero SEO advantages for your website.

  • The Rich Results Testing tool is more accurate than the generic schema app because it plugs directly into Google’s internal indexing stack.

  • SEOs should actively explore new use cases for Structured Data, particularly within the e-commerce space.

What’s actually going on here

Official Google Documentation:

People often ask how to make content that’s “what Google wants”. Our answer is that Google wants to show content that fulfills peoples’ needs. Focus on making unique, non-commodity content that visitors from Search and your own readers will find helpful and satisfying. John Mueller, Google, May 21, 2025

The recent thread stems from Danny Sullivan (Google) speaking at the Toronto Search Central event in April 2026, where he distinguished commodity content (generic, replicable stuff like basic event summaries, listicles, or surface-level overviews that anyone could churn out) from non-commodity content (unique, experience-driven, proprietary, or deeply insightful material that readers genuinely value and that competitors can’t easily duplicate).
Google isn’t outright banning commodity content – it is a natural part of traditional content strategy – but it’s a weak play for earning search clicks or visibility, especially in an era of AI summaries and tighter quality filters. As you can also see, that’s over a year now they have been pushing the phrase, commodity content.

Picked up via Glenn Gabe on X.

Further Reading on Helpful Content & Google’s Core Systems

If you want to dive deeper into how Google evaluates quality and why a truly customer-first approach to content is the only sustainable path forward, here are some essential deep dives:

  • HCU & 2026 Relevance: The Helpful Content system is no longer a periodic update; it is baked continuously into Google’s core algorithm. A primary reason sites fail to recover from drops is a lack of “Entity Trust” – meaning Google cannot verify who owns the site or why it exists. Recovery requires long-term brand transparency, not just content tweaks. https://www.hobo-web.co.uk/the-google-helpful-content-update-and-its-relevance-in-2026/

  • The Content Effort Signal: Internal Google data leaks revealed the contentEffort attribute, an AI-driven estimation of the actual human labour and resources invested in a page. The era of high-volume, low-cost content is over; survival requires building high-effort, unreplicable assets like original research and expert insights. https://www.hobo-web.co.uk/what-is-googles-content-effort-signal/

  • LLMs, Gemini, and E-E-A-T Attributes: A technical breakdown of how Google uses Large Language Models to combat scaled AI spam. E-E-A-T isn’t a single metric, but an emergent property of dozens of granular system attributes (like contentEffort, siteAuthority, and siteFocusScore) that mathematically assesses a domain’s overall expertise and replicability. https://www.hobo-web.co.uk/the-contenteffort-attribute-the-helpful-content-system-and-e-e-a-t-is-gemini-behind-the-hcu/

  • Helpfulness as a Function of Trust: You cannot have “helpful” content if you fail basic algorithmic trust signals. Aligning with Section 2.5.2 of Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines—by clearly defining site ownership, editorial responsibility, and legal compliance—is a non-negotiable prerequisite before the algorithm even cares about your on-page text. https://www.hobo-web.co.uk/the-google-hcu-helpful-content-update-helpfulness/

Beginner SEO: Your First Step on Solid Ground

  • Who It’s For: Aspiring SEOs, small business owners, marketing students, and anyone who needs to understand the fundamentals of modern search without getting lost in the technical weeds.
  • What It Does: This guide translates the most complex new realities of SEO – concepts like Navboost and site-level Quality Scores – into simple, powerful ideas. It provides a clear, actionable framework that focuses on creating helpful, “people-first” content and building a trustworthy brand, ensuring your first steps in SEO are on a path to long-term success.

Get the ebook Hobo: Beginner SEO (free to download).

This article was written by Shaun Anderson. The images used in this article were taken and posted by Jean-Christophe (JC) Chouinard.

About Jean-Christophe (JC) Chouinard

Jean-Christophe Chouinard is a Canadian SEO strategist and writer specialising in semantic and technical SEO. Born and raised in Quebec City and a graduate of Sherbrooke University, he is passionate about information retrieval, machine learning, Python, and web development.

Professional Background & Contributions:

  • Current Role: Senior SEO Strategist at Tripadvisor.

  • Previous Experience: Senior SEO Specialist at SEEK.com.au (Melbourne, Australia) and SEO Specialist at Jobillico.com (Quebec, Canada).

  • Industry Presence: Owner of the jcchouinard.com blog and a regular guest author for major industry publications including Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land, and OnCrawl.

  • Speaking Engagements: Spoke at SEOIRL, Canada’s largest SEO conference, in Toronto in 2025.

SEO Philosophy:

Chouinard embraces the fast-paced nature of the SEO industry by relying on and contributing to the community. Rather than offering generic advice, he focuses on teaching SEO professionals the technical tools they need to succeed and organises large-scale training workshops for businesses ranging from SMEs to enterprises.

Update: More coverage at SeRoundtable.

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