Smart Consumer Institute Director Filip Kužma joined a webinar organised by our partner organisation, the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE), to discuss parasite SEO practices.

Search engines play a central role in how Europeans access information, compare products, and navigate online services. Yet growing concerns around so-called “parasite SEO” – third-party commercial content placed on reputable websites to benefit from their search authority – have triggered an important policy debate about quality, fairness, and responsibility in search rankings.

The webinar presented new survey evidence from Central and Eastern Europe exploring how consumers view the role of search engines in protecting them from low-quality, misleading, or opportunistic content. The findings suggest strong expectations for active quality curation, a clear preference for safety over strict neutrality, and scepticism toward regulatory approaches that may unintentionally prioritise publisher revenue models over user experience.

Panelists:

• Filip Kužma, Director, Smart Consumer Institute.
• Lukas Adomavičius, Privacy and Data Policy Manager, Centre for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL).
• Daniel Friedlaender, Senior Vice President & Head of Office, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe).
• Maria Teresa Stecher, Senior Policy Manager, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe).
• Kayvan Hazemi-Jebelli, Senior Director for Europe, Chamber of Progress.

Moderator: Matthias Bauer, Director, European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE)

You can watch the webinar highlights below:

The full recording is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cogYvRNgGY.

The accompanying article is available here: https://ecipe.org/events/ecipe-webinar-consumer-attitudes-toward-parasite-seo/.