Recent Comments on Search Engine Roundtable

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

At least some more publishers want to go after the Google Crime Syndicate. News from Roosters: <b>Publishers seek to join lawsuit against Google over AI training</b> - <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/publishers-seek-join-lawsuit-against-google-over-ai-training-2026-01-15/">https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/publishers-seek-join-lawsuit-against-google-over-ai-training-2026-01-15/</a> <blockquote>Publishers Hachette Book Group and Cengage Group (CNGO.PK) asked a California federal court on Thursday for permission to intervene in a proposed class action lawsuit against Google (GOOGL.O) over the alleged misuse of copyrighted material used to train its artificial intelligence systems. The publishers said in their proposed complaint that the tech company "engaged in one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history" to build its AI capabilities, copying content from Hachette books and Cengage textbooks without permission.</blockquote>

Comment ID #6824175708 01/15/2026 04:34 pm

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Long before Google's AI was stealing intellectual property was Amazon who profited from Chinese knockoffs destroying legitimate brands. So it's good to see Amazon get a dose of what worthless feels like. <b>Amazon threatens ‘drastic’ action after Saks bankruptcy, says $475M stake is now worthless</b> - <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/15/amazon-says-saks-investment-is-worthless-after-bankruptcy.html">https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/15/amazon-says-saks-investment-is-worthless-after-bankruptcy.html</a> <blockquote>When Saks acquired Neiman Marcus for $2.7 billion in December 2024, Amazon invested $475 million into the venture on the grounds the retailer would start selling its products on Amazon’s website and the tech company would offer technology and logistics expertise. “That equity investment is now presumptively worthless,” Amazon’s attorneys wrote in a Wednesday filing, hours after Saks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. “Saks continuously failed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, and ran up additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners.”</blockquote>

Comment ID #6824171933 01/15/2026 04:26 pm

Ted (or Big T) commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Today more spam websites in Discover. Spam websites are very OLD, registred yesterday :D

Comment ID #6824126865 01/15/2026 02:55 pm

Dimitris Abrazis commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

That's True. Ezoic has a CDN that skyrockets Core Web Vitals maxing out the website's performance. But they don't pay as much...

Comment ID #6824120468 01/15/2026 02:43 pm

Rowan commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Come on, guys, do you really think the sharp drop in ad revenue is a “bug”? You all should know by now that Google can be fucking evil, and they are willing to do ‘tests’ even when people’s income is at stake. Remember the DOJ reports of how they deliberately dumbed down the search results or moved elements around in the search results just to see if it would increase ad revenue? Or those “bugs” when posts would suddenly deindex or not get indexed/crawled at all during crucial shopping periods. I wouldn’t be surprised they’re either trying to collect data to see how much revenue they would get if they reduce revenue payout to publishers, or, like Sam said, to compensate for the drop in ad revenue. And I can guarantee you there won’t be any “compensation” for the lost ad revenue. You know it. I know it. We all know it.

Comment ID #6824109200 01/15/2026 02:20 pm

2026 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

So True I've started despising that tremendous AI fake shit

Comment ID #6824100877 01/15/2026 02:04 pm

2026 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Rpm Down 70% cpc down 80% earnings down 90%

Comment ID #6824100336 01/15/2026 02:03 pm

2026 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

I'm surprised how the lines of my "complaint" are already written here by someone

Comment ID #6824099924 01/15/2026 02:02 pm

2026 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

💯

Comment ID #6824099448 01/15/2026 02:01 pm

2026 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Amen

Comment ID #6824098431 01/15/2026 01:59 pm

ddddd15 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Thank you for posting this.

Comment ID #6824060515 01/15/2026 12:48 pm

UncleKrusty commented on Google Says Universal Commerce Protocol Won't Kill SEO

Any AI transactions that circumvent our detailed instructions/terms, for products covered under safety standards, is unwanted. An opt-out feature is needed, but if required we will disable our product feeds.

Comment ID #6824055224 01/15/2026 12:37 pm

UncleKrusty commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Definitely agree with you that nothing, including third party reports should be trusted. I just know how it works - Google extracts more money and product/service pricing goes up to match or exceed Google's cut. I'm not saying Google's ad revenue won't go down, just not yet. However, I believe their wealth will increase even as their revenue goes down only because everyone else will have less money.

Comment ID #6824053686 01/15/2026 12:35 pm

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

It is very sad. Like you I started in 1999 ditto and don't forget SEO Chat. I am not as well off as you and still have a mortgage and I am too old and ill to start over. I hope I touched someone in all those people I reached but as things go on I don't think the internet will even exist anymore. I have not written anything for a few months now, what is the point of human content anymore, for it to just be stolen by AI. Very sad time John Mueller.

Comment ID #6824032202 01/15/2026 11:55 am

Mr Bob commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Google runs AdSense as an after thought, website is unusable on mobile and in all honesty they have never seemed to care about their AdSense partners compared to every other AdTech company.

Comment ID #6823991913 01/15/2026 10:38 am

Matt Foster commented on Google AI Mode Ads - Explore Guides and Articles

Looks like Performance Max is the route to get there?

Comment ID #6823958472 01/15/2026 09:32 am

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a4bf40ae565ceb9a89bbecea850fbfca38ff3cab67a9a1b3d3b6fc442fb2e857.png

Comment ID #6823930417 01/15/2026 08:32 am

Mumuu commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

sums up exactly what is going on!

Comment ID #6823930181 01/15/2026 08:32 am

Golden Phoenix commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

YouTube ads seem to work fine. It's just website ads that are getting close to 0.

Comment ID #6823927699 01/15/2026 08:26 am

Golden Phoenix commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

the internet is dying. they are pushing AI videos. You can get 10m views for babies dancing or things of that, all fake of course. Real content is getting buried.

Comment ID #6823927471 01/15/2026 08:25 am

Fat&Fifty commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

I had a good 26 years in SEO started in 99 when WebmasterWorld was more or less the only place to hang out online for webmasters . My brother said at the time nothing lasts forever, he gave it 5 to 10 years at the time. Well it lasted longer and I'm truly grateful. It was always about links and content and you could always recover after a beating.. I guess it is still but with a zero click internet and Ai traffic is not what it was. The game has changed and I don't have time for it. The internet used to be fun back in the day but now the gatekeepers want to take every last dollar of the table. Whether that is Google Facebook Amazon booking etc. we are living in techno feudalism where you have to live in their platforms to survive and it truly sucks. I have retired comfortably thanks to my online career but I do keep one eye on the serps and every time I look at it I have no inclination to come back. Who knows something better might emerge in a year but it's not going to happen under Trump's watch with the tech bros in his pocket.

Comment ID #6823919890 01/15/2026 08:05 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Turning off ranking improvements, more PAA type boxes and generally enshitifying the search results has been on Google's radar for years as that court document shows. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/69cd9bee66550499535a6412176dfbe1239c627b1d34fdf35991fe7fd491c607.gif

Comment ID #6823917838 01/15/2026 07:59 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Soaking the bunions is always soothing.

Comment ID #6823912625 01/15/2026 07:44 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

<blockquote>Propoganda, just like google said "the web is thriving" when we all lost 80% of traffic. Don't believe the reports.</blockquote>Your prediction "I predict, advertising is down by 70% for Google" is also a form of false hope. We all want the Google Crime Syndicate to pay the price for what they've done, but wanting it doesn't make it true. We're all losing money because Google is taking it for themselves, not because the advertising market is collapsing. If Google were losing money, then we would see them raise minimum bid requirements and take other extreme actions to boost revenue because there's nobody to stop them. Not trying to be mean, just real. Most publishers should be looking for an off-ramp to part from their online businesses instead of clinging onto false hopes.

Comment ID #6823912186 01/15/2026 07:43 am

MrSEO commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

May is when they switched off topical authroity and the parasite seo started popping up everywhere. With a flick of a switch every intern at any media group was now an expert in almost everything + the flood of low quality AI content and it's never been fixed. now its just a flood of garbage.

Comment ID #6823909048 01/15/2026 07:34 am

Mr Bob commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Esp when/if you pay for premium! I have YouTube 63K subs side gig and wont entertain sponsor's for this reason! Sadly YT pays poorly creators who want to make a full time living off it have little choice!

Comment ID #6823908518 01/15/2026 07:33 am

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

RPM down 33% CPC down 50%

Comment ID #6823908113 01/15/2026 07:31 am

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Propoganda, just like google said "the web is thriving" when we all lost 80% of traffic. Don't believe the reports.

Comment ID #6823903542 01/15/2026 07:17 am

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Were stuffed RIP websites

Comment ID #6823903054 01/15/2026 07:16 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Around January 12

Definitely could be a bug or an excuse to thieve more money away from publishers. Hard to tell which it is since they're both incompetent and corrupt. If it is a bug, taking so long to report it to what's left of the community also shows how out of touch they are with what's going on.

Comment ID #6823900188 01/15/2026 07:06 am

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