Below are the most recent 30 comments. I try to keep it clean of comment spam, but some times things
get through and it takes me several hours to get to it. So please excuse any of that comment spam.
I write some of the most detailed and accurate product pages in my industry. I don't allow anyone to serve as an affiliate because they will be making content in their own words - which will not be as well informed and accurate as what I would write.
Poorly worded product descriptions result in more returns, lower sales, more questions, etc. So, I would not want Google or anyone rewriting my content - even if they are going to refer every sale to me. I believe that this is beyond infringement.
There is no reason to believe Google is going to replace Websites with AI-generated landing pages. That's too far-fetched a conspiracy theory. They do already have landing pages for the business directory. Maybe they could do something with AI for that, but it would require a different process (new patent). The current patent is no big deal. That said, I and a few other people have projected that Google will unleash havoc at their next big event in a few weeks - but I don't think it has anything to do with this.
For sure with what Amazon has done to physical retail businesses.
Yeah, it's sad seeing the shells of those classic stores and then later the usual parasite shit stores that always seem to take over those buildings. Then every time you drive past that familiar building, it feels wrong like you're looking at a zombie that took over the body of a person you once knew.
Agree but also...
And what Amazon done to businesses from the past.
Where I live is a giant Toys 'R' Us, its been empty since they went bankrupt. Memories...
In February, we also saw a significant dip in our overall traffic numbers compared to Jan., specifically in referral traffic. It seems to correlate with the Discover update on Feb. 5th but now I'm thinking it's definitely the Google Search ranking volatility. Stories that would usually do really well for us (our bread and butter) saw almost nothing in Feb.
This looks just like what Google has done to most businesses online today.
<a href="https://x.com/Milajoy/status/2028354863256781218">https://x.com/Milajoy/status/2028354863256781218</a>
In February, we also saw a significant dip in our overall traffic numbers compared to Jan., specifically in referral traffic. It seems to correlate with the Discover update on Feb. 5th but also possibly the Google Search ranking volatility.
Starts with shopping then spreads elsewhere to give Google more control over the user. Now imagine Google injecting ads into those AI generated pages without the author's permission. Replicate this globally outside of shopping and Google could more than double their ad revenue without sharing a dime with publishers.
I wouldn't blow this off as no big deal because it's a very slippery slope.
I think they got paid to show the socials. Bad strategic move, they messing up their ad business. Ads will just go to socials now. Also I want to say 2 million views on social yesterday... I made $0.86 cent they are not paying creators over on socials either. Everyone moaning, lot's of big competitors of mine stopped posting in Dec due to no revenue.
Hey, brother. Your first link isn't linked.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3dc3e0152d7a8e27c9c5b486d06c87b41432baf4d3beae550c06cd1bedc618d4.png
If Google makes more money from Shopping listings by writing its own pages, what does that mean for the merchants who listed with the service? I don't work with Shopping platforms, so maybe I'm missing something, but this seems like one of Google's attempts to improve revenue to me.
They are paranoid, they change things everyday as Mueller said in an interview once. A small change can cause seismic events and vice versa, a major update and nothing is noticable.
What do you mean it means nothing? To me, it means changing people's own descriptions and could ultimately result in more wrong sales and more returns, which no commercial site wants.
When I saw the "update is over" post I wasn't so sure. Sensor was still saying 9.4 and I'm seeing bot traffic at 1am PST every day, so Google is still doing something. Rankings and traffic still swinging wildly every day. It's either not over or the next one already started lol.
I disagree with you.
As study after study, experts in the field of human behavior, etc. show that People, "generally" speaking interact with emotional content, controversial content, opinions vs. facts, influencers content (whether a Z lister or major person). When users interact with today is a lot different than 5, 10, plus years ago - even a year or 2 ago.
Look at anything on Tik Tok, FB, instagram, etc. Heck something like ~50% of Americans use social media influencer or opinions for their primary source of what they call "factual news".
IMO opinion I think google held the line as long as they could on showing people the best content, but now they just "threw in the towel" and show the lower value stuff that most people interact with.
It makes no sense as these datacenters add no value to the local economy beyond the short term jobs created from the initial construction. I don't know why any public official would sign off on any subsidy package knowing the recent antitrust violations Google has been found guilty of. Those guilty verdicts should disqualify Google from receiving any taxpayer support in any state.
Welcome to The Never Ending Story https://media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTg5OGZmOWM5OWI3dXQ4ZmVnOW0zcXNzYnp4OXJnMnA4dWVicndyNndjdzRlOGpkaCZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/Brw4Se1WJFt04/giphy-downsized-small.mp4
Pfff ive seen fatter lumps from the stars of my "600lb life" https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8ec234161ad547d5e11015dc2e426b61a41fd01c71cb6f8fd9b4c19a2fa28925.png
It's true. All the tax subsidiaries big tech is getting for data centers is causing everyone else to pay increased energy costs.
<a href="https://www.aol.com/articles/utility-bills-keep-going-everyone-075800719.html">https://www.aol.com/articles/utility-bills-keep-going-everyone-075800719.html</a>
AI is a race to the bottom and these pics and videos prove that. What's even worse is that we taxpayers are helping to fund this garbage. Late last month it was revealed Google is getting another property tax abatement (75%) for building yet another datacenter in my state. If anything, these datacenters should be in their own higher tax bracket because of all the harm they're doing.
Well, it depends on what you mean by "trash".
As right or wrong, for better or worse, in "general" people don't read stuff like news or read "factual" or "non-emotional stuff".
People read, click on, etc. what they emotionally react too, what some influencer (no matter big or small following) posts, etc.
The way people consume is entirely different than several years. I think google "threw in the towel" and lets their ranking go with those societal trends.
And really, I suspect google staff themselves don't really control or know what ranks. They probably do their systems (mostly AI know) rank what keeps people on google longer. Or rank what causes more clicks if they need the revenue for quarerly earnings, etc. Or whatever
<blockquote>Imagine all the psychological harm watching this garbage is doing to people. I know YouTube has come under fire for some of the AI garbage targeting children on their platform. I'm sure we'll see some lawsuits in the future.</blockquote>Exactly. The losers wasting their lives generating this AI shit of fatties of all things, are likely just projecting their own jerkoff fantasies on the general public so they can get off even more.
Very bad, I think this update is worst ever. My website with good SEO, good real articles and good design go down 70 percent. My competitor with old website (2000 style) go up 50 percent... Wow...