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 think the 100 year bonds is a move by Google to prompt pension fund managers to buy those bonds, including government pension fund managers. Already most government pension funds, on all levels of government, are heavily invested in mag 7. Adding Google's 100 year bonds to their pension fund portfolio would increase their dependence on Google's success to pay retiree benefits. For Google to succeed, government and courts must not harm Google in any way otherwise they harm themselves. Think of too big to fail and too interconnected with government for government to hold them liable for breaking laws.
Government pension funds should have been forced to divest holdings in Google after they were found guilty of antitrust crimes. Instead, government pension fund mangers increased their holdings in Google. It's a corrupt partnership between Google and government.
The volatility lately is exhausting. It feels like we're in a constant state of "unconfirmed updates." Hard to stay hopeful when the rankings keep swinging so wildly.
As midterms get closer, and Trump's popularity continues to get worse, we may see some changes. Yesterday some House Republicans sided with Democrats to make it easier to block Trump's tariffs. The story on CNBC is titled "<i>GOP defectors help spike House measure to block tariff disapproval votes</i>"
<blockquote>Three House Republican on Tuesday voted with all Democrats to defeat a rule that would have prohibited the House from challenging tariffs issued by President Donald Trump through July 31.</blockquote>
When I was reading news after Google's earnings, with reporting about Google admitting challenges to their ad revenue, I thought of you and it giving you some vindication. Unfortunately Google controls too much of the web and has many areas to squeeze from as they work to snuff out their AI competitors. Once Google squashes competitors, which aren't showing ads now or limits them, then I think Google will load up their AI with ad spam.
In the short term I see Google trying to wring out every last cent they can from ads, which will happen by taking more or what little remains of the traffic we now have. At the same time Google will be working hard to build their subscribers to offset challenges in their ad revenue. For example, Google recently limited lyrics on Youtube to five views a day for non-paying users. Planned Gemini integration with Chrome this year is also a push for them to gain more subscribers. Google will also reduce expenses by laying off more workers. We may be seeing another round of layoffs forming with yesterday's announced exit package being offered to business unit workers who are not all in with their AI plans. No matter what Google does, we will be on the losing end.
I analyze my main competitors daily using Semrush. Since july/25, they all started to decline. I was the most affected. Something big happened in that july/25 update. I never recovered and gave up right there. It was so intense that it was a sign for me to quit as soon as possible.
Having a website on the open web today is like having a MySpace profile and expecting it to be successful.
Wake up while there's still time!
I'm not going to stop, I've got thankfully time to keep publishing and wait this out and hope for some course correction, it's just it feels like I am wasting my time. I've got nothing else though.
Yeah, I don't know my friend, it doesn't really make any sense. Very little clicks but it's never really dropped of, impressions have continued to grow over time. Oh well, it's all coming crushing down.
I just read their 10-K annual report filed with the SEC on February 4, 2026.
Quote:
"We and our competitors are constantly adjusting to meet this shift and provide new and evolving advertising formats. There is no assurance that we will adapt effectively and competitively to meet this shift, and that such advertising formats, strategies, and offerings will be successful."
And regarding device search - in regard to Apple:
"Some manufacturers may also elect not to include our products on their devices."
<a href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm">https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm
</a>
Then they raise bonds guys. This was included in the risk section for the first time this month guys. It was reported wrong by CNBC, this isn't about losing to ChatGPT which is like tiny. It's about AI Overviews stealing those clicks to us. e.g ChatGPT = 800 million weekly users vs Google's 5+ billion total users. The most bizarre platform strategy I have seen in my 30 years of doing this stuff. Why? They could have just produce AI alongside search.
I do recall but I thought it was just the testing stage rather than go live. Hopefully it'll put pressure on Google and others to follow suit however I see them as ignoring it though.
I actually broke the news a few weeks ago <a href="https://www.seroundtable.com/bing-webmaster-tools-ai-performance-report-40829.html">https://www.seroundtable.com/bing-webmaster-tools-ai-performance-report-40829.html</a>
But yes, covering the official news tomorrow.
Google is going to sell 100-year bonds just to fund its AI expansion:
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/alphabet-sells-bonds-worth-20-billion-fund-ai-spending-2026-02-10/">https://www.reuters.com/business/alphabet-sells-bonds-worth-20-billion-fund-ai-spending-2026-02-10/</a>
The last time a company would do such a thing was Motorola... And it was in 1997, prior to the dot-com bubble burst.
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.
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?
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.