Recent Comments on Search Engine Roundtable

Piece of Bread commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

This! AI bots have been going mad at my site since Saturday, crawling even in areas that don't exist. Absolutely, insanely annoying.

Comment ID #6836197993 02/10/2026 02:34 pm

Dan commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Every second day, new reports of volatility arrive. Just ridiculous at this point. It's never going to end until every single publisher is crushed.

Comment ID #6836184011 02/10/2026 02:05 pm

John A. User commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Absolutely disgusting...

Comment ID #6836172726 02/10/2026 01:41 pm

John A. User commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

A perfect illustration of whats going on. If anyone complains, they'll call a politician to tarrif them...

Comment ID #6836168450 02/10/2026 01:33 pm

John A. User commented on OpenAI ChatGPT Ads Now Live With User Controls

Ofc, they say they won't but it seems when one person doesn't, the others get amnesia and copy.

Comment ID #6836167337 02/10/2026 01:30 pm

Mark commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

If you're a true industry expert within your niche, theres an easy solution. Cast some spells, make some potions, do your rituals? They work for paying customers so it must work for you surely?

Comment ID #6836139966 02/10/2026 12:31 pm

2026 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Google Search Ranking Volatility Gets Heated Again February 10th - as if it matters

Comment ID #6836130121 02/10/2026 12:10 pm

Surfer Boy Pizza commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

i'm basically just bleeding out. site isn't even in discover (lost that years ago) and this update is killing us. we don't have self serving listicles either. always something. such a waste to do anything anymore. cancelled semrush and all tools. why bother looking at them or working on the site or publishing new content? been holding on to a couple employees, although they haven't worked any hours in over a year, but left them attached hoping i'd give them some good news that we are resuming work. today, i will officially let them go. i've lost all hope that this will ever recover. hopefully karma strikes those who deserve it.

Comment ID #6836125331 02/10/2026 11:59 am

UncleKrusty commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Like muriatic acid poured on an open wound. Google earns record profits, by stealing content from publishers, and their tax bill drops by 35%. <b>Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet report plunging tax bills thanks to AI investment and new rules in Washington</b> <blockquote>The annual report from Alphabet, meanwhile, reported a tally that combined US federal and state tax totals and showed a drop from about $21.1 billion in 2024 to $13.8 billion in 2025.</blockquote><blockquote>"Tax cuts pushed through by the Trump administration last year and in 2017 have made it possible for the fastest-growing companies in the world to pay record-low federal income tax rates on their income," the group wrote. “This is likely just the tip of the iceberg with the vast majority of the nation's largest corporations yet to disclose their 2025 tax payments."</blockquote>Full story: <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-meta-and-alphabet-report-plunging-tax-bills-thanks-to-ai-investment-and-new-rules-in-washington-161229652.html">https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-meta-and-alphabet-report-plunging-tax-bills-thanks-to-ai-investment-and-new-rules-in-washington-161229652.html</a>

Comment ID #6836118227 02/10/2026 11:44 am

Claire commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

i just had a dream... i woke up and check my stats... omg, so many leads!!! i was so happy... i faster come here to seroundtable and everyone was happily sharing their traffic stats and we're all getting our traffic and sales back. we were all congratulating each other. i was hopping around like a little girl in tears... never felt so happy after so long. then i woke up. FUCK!

Comment ID #6836114284 02/10/2026 11:35 am

Lisa Sicard commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Barry, I would agree with what I'm seeing. I blocked some bots recently as well. Let's hope those stop botting around.

Comment ID #6836105643 02/10/2026 11:15 am

Dimitris Abrazis commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Barry, about a couple of months ago I sent you a message saying that google at a roundtable told to publishers to forget traffic from Google. It seems that this is it...

Comment ID #6836101342 02/10/2026 11:05 am

No Couch Potato commented on OpenAI ChatGPT Ads Now Live With User Controls

The real motivation behind AI. Google will do the same.

Comment ID #6836095486 02/10/2026 10:52 am

The Cone of Silence commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Dead-clean flat on our site. No ups, no downs.

Comment ID #6836071798 02/10/2026 09:58 am

Helga commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Oh dear. Maybe my dementia is getting worse. Every story now about Google search feels like deja vu.

Comment ID #6836067187 02/10/2026 09:48 am

ddddd15 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

I thought that's what had happened. I felt it yesterday with the traffic.

Comment ID #6836044921 02/10/2026 08:56 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility February 10th

Traffic from Google is so dead their algo/AI needs a defibrillator. In following past trends, I expect this volatility to continue mowing down publishers by stealing more of our content/traffic. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9731611d53a350d66be7c04e340a234ced827434b509d43b21c6fe0fbb3262e0.jpg

Comment ID #6836039216 02/10/2026 08:41 am

Sam commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

The choice screen includes LLMs and the CMA see LLMs and search as the same thing.

Comment ID #6836024064 02/10/2026 07:57 am

Rowan commented on OpenAI ChatGPT Ads Now Live With User Controls

And the enshittification begins…

Comment ID #6836021266 02/10/2026 07:48 am

googleisjoke commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

how is that? how can you have thousands of clicks from google but only tens from bing, wow that's really low then it's not even worth optimizing for bing

Comment ID #6836008903 02/10/2026 07:06 am

Barry Schwartz commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Got it.

Comment ID #6835988075 02/10/2026 05:39 am

Dan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Tell me about it, haven't had a good night's sleep in months, and now I'm very scared I won't be able to keep a roof above my head. Crushed basically overnight, no recovery, no idea what happened. November, ironically, was one of my best months in terms of growth across News, Search and such and that all ended on December 12. Since then, nothing but bot traffic, no impressions, no clicks and yeh... at one pont 120,000 clicks in a day, now I am lucky if I hit 80.

Comment ID #6835967512 02/10/2026 03:52 am

Dan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Bing for comparison, not all that much traffic here if I'm being honest. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1c8bbad747cf87aaefbf412dee97971a3c1581767bad8bfa7fc05eb906447903.png

Comment ID #6835967191 02/10/2026 03:50 am

googleisjoke commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

what about bing? can you share that for comparison?

Comment ID #6835964529 02/10/2026 03:35 am

Rowan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

That's fucking heartbreaking... Jesus...

Comment ID #6835951509 02/10/2026 02:15 am

Rowan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Ugh, my reply-post got flagged. Barry?

Comment ID #6835951462 02/10/2026 02:15 am

Rowan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

You guys want to know something more wtf? It turns out that Reddit’s quarterly earnings were great. They made huge ad revenue again despite some of us reporting that Reddit’s traffic fell last November-December, according to SEO tools like Semrush. But the stock has dropped like a rock. Reason? Their user growth has slowed, and the CEO announced that they will stop disclosing logged-in vs logged out users in future financial reports. <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/maybe-wasn-t-wrong-reddit-171109326.html">https://finance.yahoo.com/news/maybe-wasn-t-wrong-reddit-171109326.html</a> I guess even the CEO knows they will have issues getting new users, especially with AI overviews and AI mode. And it is apparent that Reddit has many fake user signups. Sometimes you can see Redditors posting very weird questions that just don’t make sense. It is like karma and engagement farming. And these users feel like bots because they will either stop posting later, or their other posts feel so bot-like. I won’t be surprised if Reddit is flooding its platform with its own bots to manipulate engagement and registration numbers (that’s what Pinterest was caught doing some years back).

Comment ID #6835951272 02/10/2026 02:13 am

Rowan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Yeah, it is getting really worrisome and absolutely WTF. Last year, I remember seeing some AI edited video of Warren Buffett saying he believes Bitcoin is the future and how one can make huge fortunes out of it. What’s scary is that the AI even generated his fake voice, and it sounds so real. Like, absolutely WTF. And Big Tech aren’t doing anything about it. Google and Facebook always claim they’re clamping down on scam ads, but they never do so because it is good money. You guys should read this if you’re interested: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-is-earning-fortune-deluge-fraudulent-ads-documents-show-2025-11-06/">https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-is-earning-fortune-deluge-fraudulent-ads-documents-show-2025-11-06/</a> Oh, and another: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jbryanporter_google-allows-scam-sites-to-advertise-on-activity-7374108479508328449-OGzy">https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jbryanporter_google-allows-scam-sites-to-advertise-on-activity-7374108479508328449-OGzy</a> More than a decade ago, I remember Google didn’t allow anyone to bid a company’s name. But then, they allowed it later. The impact was almost immediate – competitors bidding each other’s brand keywords, and they were practically just stealing each other’s business. And, of course, scammers came in to create fake tech support websites. Now add this with AI, and it is a blackhatter’s galore.

Comment ID #6835950102 02/10/2026 02:05 am

John A. User commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

It's scary, AI is getting so real and with watermarks being removed, they can be used to tarnish people's reputations. Governments make these videos illegal but it won't stop and they'll be hard to disprove that they were fake once they've gone viral.

Comment ID #6835948331 02/10/2026 01:53 am

Rowan commented on Google February 2026 Discover Core Update

Many are using for propaganda purposes too. There’s just no end to it now. It is ironic that Google once detest AI generated content, but then allows it. Then they created tools to let others generate even more AI slop everywhere. But, at the same time, they’re harvesting content from everyone to ‘train’ their AI. https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTg5OGZmOWM5bHhoaWRjbHp0Zm4yN2ZrajhtempoNDIwYTRnOXoyN2dmZGxpZnRsbyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/I9ETGDiI3MN8s/giphy-downsized-small.mp4

Comment ID #6835941280 02/10/2026 01:01 am

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