Recent Comments on Search Engine Roundtable

UHC commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Glad to see you after a long time. I was also not active for a long time. The same HCU hit one from the 2023 batch. Lost almost 70% traffic with HCU, and later in August 2025, the site got fully wiped out. I remember from that time, you were saying all these things, and many, including me, were also unable to fully accept them. Because of the passion, we came back to our site again and again, even if it was failing. Now I am also confident that nothing will happen and this is completely a dead business. However, luck still matters, and some will have a good time due to pure luck only. On the other side, blackhatters will definitely gain.

Comment ID #6828200164 01/24/2026 10:36 am

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

AI is tiny tiny all blow out of all proportion. Just like Google + that failed. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e07ed53c194f8df95b1478970d3cd220985a79ae137f643adf4f1e908e58ccf5.png

Comment ID #6828195322 01/24/2026 10:25 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Probably because Barry has the dj in a list of keywords to auto delete as spam. The post I made that Disgust took down was about a newer campaign against AI theft, probably because I put the page url in it to the story and also referenced the official campaign's domain url which is stealingisntinnovation then add the com. Honestly I just don't feel like posting much anyway. With Google it's just the same shit with Shitdar grinding out another turd under the full protection of the US Government. I'm ticked at them all, and we're all powerless except to sit by and accept getting screwed harder and harder.

Comment ID #6828188634 01/24/2026 10:08 am

Sensei commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

I noticed an uptick with that false spam removal happening with Disgust too. The other day it happened when someone replied back to a comment and mentioned the scissoring SEO DJ by name.

Comment ID #6828185412 01/24/2026 09:59 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

What gives with Disgust removing posts as spam? Is it using Google's GerminInEye AI turd now to classify posts? I mean like wtf is wrong with that Disgust shit being so dumb it doesn't know who regular posters are? LOL In other news it looks like Trump's Green New Deal to seize Greenland may be to also help big techies. Can't provide story link because Disgust or the Barry Bot doesn't like me, but it's in the news. The proposed datacenter in Greenland would be 3X more powerful than any datacenter currently in the world. <blockquote>A former official of U.S. President Donald Trump’s first administration is planning a multi-billion-dollar data center project in a remote corner of Greenland, as hyperscalers scramble to build out capacity across the globe to keep up with the AI rollout. The data center is aiming to be operational at 300 megawatts (MW) by mid-2027, before further expansion would see it hit 1.5 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2028.</blockquote>

Comment ID #6828166796 01/24/2026 09:09 am

DataDonkey commented on Google Falls Back To Featured Snippets When AI Overviews Do Not Generate

Yes, Google's AI is dumb. See the story: <b>Google’s AI Insists That Next Year Is Not 2027</b> - <a href="https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/google-ai-overview-year">https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/google-ai-overview-year</a> <blockquote>Either the tech industry’s top models are all secretly operating as part of some vast but amazingly stupid hive mind, or the large language model architecture that underpins them is wonky junk that struggles to keep up with predictable changes like a new year. We’d expect Google’s AI Overviews to screw up such a softball question, given its storied history that includes recommending you put glue on pizza, and its documented susceptibility to inventing meanings for made-up idioms, such as “you can’t lick a badger twice.” But you might expect just a teensy bit better from flagship chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude, which are supposed to represent the best the industry’s got.</blockquote>

Comment ID #6828162463 01/24/2026 08:56 am

Sensei commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

All true. Glad you're still alive and dropped in.

Comment ID #6828158618 01/24/2026 08:44 am

Mark commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

<blockquote>So, I'd say that being a barrista at starbucks is more lucrative than sites, blogs, youtube channels, tik toking.</blockquote> There's a lot of people unwilling/unable to accept this applies to them, some of the comments (and websites posted) in here are beyond embarrassing, with zero chance of success. At least in a min wage job you haven't worked all week for free lol

Comment ID #6828153554 01/24/2026 08:27 am

Rodrigo Calvo commented on Google Falls Back To Featured Snippets When AI Overviews Do Not Generate

Not gonna lie, I'm over all the scraping too, but it kinda feels like Google is admitting its AI isn't there yet. When it blanks, it falls back on good old‑fashioned snippets — nice reminder that classic SEO still matters.

Comment ID #6828151698 01/24/2026 08:21 am

John A. User commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

I get so many bot traffic, its hard to really tell if its good or not. My AdSense was 500% up from the previous Friday. Might sound spectacular but its only a tiny amount though....

Comment ID #6828113160 01/24/2026 05:37 am

John A. User commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

The shareholders are only interested in the total revenue, and that is increasing. The fact that it is dropping from Adsense adverts is of no concern to them, which, if it weren't Scumdar, would be under pressure to increase website visitors. General population users of AI are probably not aware of the damage that AI does with increases in energy costs, jobs lost etc until they are actually directly affected. Google has been showing contempt for websites since Feb 2013 when they did image search. They just ratcheted up over the years. As AI is being thrown down our throats with little choice, I expect it to be a long fad. Well, actually, there is a small small choice but not many people know about it. People are lazy, they trust AI even when its wrong because they can't be bothered to check the information in the main.

Comment ID #6828108430 01/24/2026 05:09 am

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

AI overviews only show 1 in 25k views - and advertisors will leave if they push ads into these overviews because they can't define ROI through AI. The lost ad revenue from our websites is being lost....forever. Googles cut of that ad revenue is also gone. It is the most insane strategy I have ever encountered in my life, and all because of AI fad, they literally ruined their business.

Comment ID #6828092014 01/24/2026 03:38 am

Bolat Sabikhan commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

I feel like my life is driven by bots too. If you cheat, they punish you, and if you’re too honest, they punish you as well.

Comment ID #6828087384 01/24/2026 03:08 am

The291IQ_Equalizer commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

sup fellas? remember me? those who know who I am know who I am - 2023 OG time for some updates - dis won't make any sense if you don't remember me from 2023-2024 you remember I was working in wood mills, then switch to part time office job, then full time office job - same chit that's how I dealth with HCU - destructo I am seeing that the comment section here has many new people, but some OGs what happened ? of course nothing it was 2023, we were waiting for one update, then the second, then the third Many people on here burned through their savings The brutal reality is that making money as a content creation is now total garbage. Just for referemce. I needed 2 years to build my last site, to get on mediavine so that I it earns 1-1.5k Then it earned money for about 2 years and got killed. In other words, I worked for free for 2 years to earn moeny for 2 years and then to die. Working any other job for the whole 4 years would have earned me more. But money isn't all there is. We did it for the freedom, right? No schedule. No nagging boss or homoerotic coworkers tellin'us about the TPS reports But that is still not worth it IMO due to the insecurity. At my job now, my employers pays my insurances and if they fire me - they are obligated by law to give me 2 months notice. Not a lot - but it's something. Also, I am not responsible for the phucking business. I do my thing like a drone. Pretend I care (like all) I started earning on DAY 1 .I didn't have to spend 2 phucking ears to earn a penny. So, I'd say that being a barrista at starbucks is more lucrative than sites, blogs, youtube channels, tik toking. Internet content is now like onlyfans - 1% of whorrres earn trillions, but most women are simply there to show their titssess for pennies. If you don't have an angle, leverage....tons of money - phuck it. The era of self-made millionaire in mom's basement is over (if it ever was not). Lots of people on here were coping (incl me) that it will get better, but deep down we knew , this shit is permanent we would follow lillian ray, and the other gleb guy or whoever da phuck he was, and pray that some minor tweaks would do it dat guy googlisajoke would post his bipolar shit with yet another site that barely gets 330 click and can potentially earn like 100 bucks on mediavine. it's alll GG Income school.....all the blog school are DEAD closed doors. My only regret is that in 2023 I didn't abandon all of that sooner. 3 years later googles still looks like chit AI is till at the same place (constantly ready to take over the world, but really not there) Blogging is deader than dead.

Comment ID #6828085335 01/24/2026 02:55 am

TheFlighter commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

I think this may have been done intentionally, as people will search for something, find nothing (or spam websites), and then decide to just stay with the AI Overview box up top and / or go straight to Gemini. This means any advertising dollars are going direct to Google rather than split with publishers.

Comment ID #6828068100 01/24/2026 12:35 am

DramaShout143 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Hi sir Dimitris. This is just my guess why your website is having visibility issues so I hope you will not view this as negative feedback. Probably, one of the issues is that there are two other techmaniacs (com and net). I am from Philippines, and the com one is on the top when I searched.

Comment ID #6828063038 01/23/2026 11:58 pm

DramaShout143 commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

It seems Google further switched on a wrong switch this time. In the Philippines, government websites (hacked and redirect casino spam) resurfaces in the first page of search results for most keywords. This is a recipe for total gambling disaster, ruining Filipinos lives. GOOGLE LOVES SPAM in this January 2026 unconfirmed update more than ever.

Comment ID #6828061342 01/23/2026 11:47 pm

AlaskaTraveller54 commented on Google Deleting Local Reviews More Than Ever

Cool

Comment ID #6828058770 01/23/2026 11:31 pm

snuffy commented on OpenAI To Charge For ChatGPT Ads On Ad View Impressions, Not Clicks

When I am using ChatGPT I am focused on the content being produced and the ad would have to slap my face to even get my attention, much less a click. If ChatGPT has any confidence in these ads they should charge based upon the conversions.

Comment ID #6827992671 01/23/2026 07:20 pm

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Googles AI Strategy = * Black Hats celebrating with record profits of $25k a month. * White Hats homeless looking for jobs. Thanks Google

Comment ID #6827929326 01/23/2026 04:18 pm

Sam commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Black hat are celebrating. White hat are looking for jobs.

Comment ID #6827916255 01/23/2026 03:48 pm

Dan commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Yes, been removed from Discover since December 12 after aveaging 30,000 to 60,000 a day on there for years.

Comment ID #6827889750 01/23/2026 02:50 pm

Dark Red Owl commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Don't waste your time and money on the Google Ponzi scheme. Get a real job.

Comment ID #6827832490 01/23/2026 12:50 pm

FokGoogle commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Me too but it is bot/zombie traffic for me.

Comment ID #6827813544 01/23/2026 12:11 pm

Bender G commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

You're so lucky, mine keeps going down :(

Comment ID #6827795771 01/23/2026 11:35 am

Sensei commented on Google Falls Back To Featured Snippets When AI Overviews Do Not Generate

💯

Comment ID #6827780776 01/23/2026 11:04 am

Mark commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

I'm getting super frustrated with Youtube as a user. Its so frustrating as the good content is there... its just very hard to find at times. I'm teaching myself to play chess properly, Youtube has some amazing channels for this. But the shorts are just a joke... totally fake AI vids of games that simply didnt happen, or some indian ran channel with an AI voice reading out spelling mistakes in a script etc. Or outright stolen content with a new script that again doesn't make any sense. Im doing up a ruin in my garden into a new house too, again Youtube is full of amazing content (if you can find it). This morning I've watched multiple nonsensevideos of how to build an indoor pool.... including one where a crane appears through the house roof to drop the pool in place. Just fuckin useless and no way to know if a vid is BS or not before I click on it. Youtube are going to need to seriously crack down on this garbage. I think anyone trying to move from seo to YouTube spam is gonna be in for a rough 2026. These AI tools are only getting better/easier to use/more people have access to them. The 3rd world turds are going to do to Youtube, what they done to seo. Their spam and bullshit is going to ruin it for everyone else. If India didn't have internet I bet we wouldn't have had to have a helpful content update.

Comment ID #6827762166 01/23/2026 10:24 am

Sarah B. commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

Semrush sensor even higher today :/ Seeing so many blog posts from ~2023 jump up and knocking out established landing pages. It's really odd.

Comment ID #6827744801 01/23/2026 09:45 am

Barry Schwartz commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

My analytics software did some sort of update this morning and my traffic is now being reported at 3X the normal traffic. :) yay - lol

Comment ID #6827743998 01/23/2026 09:43 am

Golden Phoenix commented on Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up Again January 21

I honestly don't even check anymore. What is the point. Revenue is down across the board and it's not coming back with any of these updates. Not going to be a gamechanger

Comment ID #6827743556 01/23/2026 09:42 am

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