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.
They're all sheep and have bought into the big AI lie. Looking at recent news I see Amazon and Google formed a partnership for what they call multicloud, Nvidia invested $2 billion in Synopsys, Analysts are predicting a major deal between Intel and Apple, etc. All these Big Tech companies are taking billions of investment dollars and tax subsidies to spread among each other while the rest of the economy is falling apart. Karma will eventually catch up with them all including their enablers (Government). I'm seeing the shift in party power occur on a local level with a predominantly Republican city having lost two GOP seats on city council to Democrats. Same for my County which also lost another GOP seat. I predict a 2026 midterm bloodbath for Republicans.
It's over. It is a complete waste of time checking the rankings or expecting traffic. It's just not there. GPT is getting in the shopping business and others will follow. Nobody is going to use Google to search for something to buy. To be honest, I am sick of it too. I used to enjoy writing. But not I just have resentment. How many years do you work for almost free before you start hating it all?
These poor guys think Google takes "feedback" seriously. They are going to soon realize like us that once they are not needed, their feedback won't matter either
<a href="https://x.com/kimmonismus/status/1995054844789588281">https://x.com/kimmonismus/status/1995054844789588281</a>
<blockquote>Before 2020, I used to wake up excited to see how we could grow the business, what we could do.</blockquote>Hard to believe, but 2020 was a great year compared to 2025. Imagine how much worse it will get in 2026 with Google finding new and creative ways to ruin it by draining the well dry. With Google's Project Suncatcher, we all may wake up in the morning to no sun in a few years because of Google blocking it with their solar shit. I'm sure Spamdar will find a way to spam space and maybe show AI Overlords and ads in the sky. Maybe he'll include some worthless People Also Ask boxes too.
When I finally close all my sites down, and I think it will happen within the next 12 months, I won't miss all the nonsense we all have had to tolerate from Google. Like getting up every day and realize traffic is the lowest. Before 2020, I used to wake up excited to see how we could grow the business, what we could do. Even before May 2022, there was hope. After ... it's shuffling. One day you get a 20% boost, next you get 40% less traffic.
I don't think Google cares about any lawsuit. They have the government in their backpocket. I just think Google sees no need for any websites anymore. They don't need us. Already trained their AI with our data. Already training their AI on YouTube videos and anything else you upload or use
Microsoft just produced a 2,000 word article arguing AI search should be measured in "visibility" not ROI - its ont here blog. The problem is advertisers want ROI now or they won't spend.
And it's already happening. Organic click-through rates for PPC alone dropped 54.6% year-over-year. Advertisers are pulling back budgets. YouTube has gone from 2-3 ads per video to 5-7 as google trying to use youtube to offset, and half of youtube users now use ad blockers, and more and more people are starting to just block the ads and actively go find an adblocker. What you made me realise John is they control everything - governments, content, regulations and that wont change - but what they can't control is the purchase. I think we will see massive change after xmas, if not then sept 26 when the apple deal is back on the table.
@John made me realise something simple.
None of it really matters. What you typed above does not matter. Not the lobbying, not the legislation, not the hype. Because at the end of the day, they don’t control the advertiser’s purse.
And they don’t control the public’s either. That’s the end of the chain, the buyer and the spender.
If there’s no clean flow between those two, the whole system breaks. And that’s exactly what we’re watching happen, an AI strategy failure, and it will be interesting to see what will be done if anything - maybe the whole thing will just implode.
Thank you John. You have made me put it all in perspective. you're totally right. They can control governments, steal content, threaten tariffs, but they can't control the one thing that matters: the advertiser's purse ROI is ROI. If the money doesn't come back, the money stops going in. And you're right about OpenAI. They're burning billions and that guy that runs it is so fake and people are starting to ask questions like when when are you going to ROIand he was speaking about creating videos using sora in the corn market lol. Datadonkey said that the public is subsidising AI through their energy bills without knowing it. When people all know that the backlash will be bad.
The whole thing is built on the assumption that someone else will pay. Advertisers will pay for no clicks. The public will pay for energy. Publishers will give content for free.
But the main revenue (advertisers) are starting to say no you don't control our money, our shareholders do and if were not making ROI, bye bye
Yes, AI isn't making the returns that they want it to be; mainly, in the case of OpenAI, they're losing more money than they are making. As I think it was @codecommander:disqus , could be wrong (it could've been Uncle), he posted an article about how energy companies are building new power plants for data centres and charging the general population. If the population knew about this, they would be a substantial political backlash but the general population don't know. How OpenAI will make money eventually for answers is anyone's guess because everyone expects answers to be free. OpenAI will never make enough money to keep it free, I'm guessing. OpenAI will either be bought or go bankrupt, there'll be a huge backlash if Trump buys it for the government.
You make a great point and it got me thinking and researching, I did not realise it was Europe as well. Okay, so let's play this out. Google is protected. Governments are allowing them to scrape our content for free. So let's follow their AI strategy to its conclusion. No websites means no original content to keep training but this is minor as they can get content from other places. AI-only answers mean no clicks, remember his speech no click internet is there strategy. No clicks mean no ROI for advertisers. Advertisers stop advertising - and we're already seeing that happening even with the web still functioning. They're killing their own business model. Search advertising is worth $175 billion to them. They think they can change the ROI definition (make me laugh out loud) there is no way that can happen. No one is going to pay for answers, the internet has been free for 25 years. Yes, AI companies are offering free use for now, but they're all losing billions in the process. And most queries are basic - "what's the weather today like I said before.
In all this, it's the ad market that isn't doing what Google expected. They assumed advertisers would keep paying for placement alongside AI answers. They were wrong. Advertisers won't pay to sit next to AI slop that doesn't convert.
And AI isn't free to run. Someone has to pay for that infrastructure. YouTube is already losing big creators and viewers due to having to watch 4 minutes of ads to watch 1 minute of some dude in his bedroom. It doesn't look good for Google if advertisers keep rejecting placement beside AI-generated content that delivers no returns.
They will win the battle for control. But they may (or will) destroy the thing that made it valuable - us.
<blockquote>... those are completely other topics than AI.</blockquote>If that's the case, then why are you rambling on with BS about AI in Barry's post about search ranking volatility? Take your own advice. LOL
It has everything to do with the topics above. You said innocent till proven guilty, and Google's prior three convictions underscore Google's failure to abide by the law. Therefore Google should be prohibited from using AI. Three strike law should apply IMO - break up Google and send Spamdar Pinchya to that El Salvador prison for life for committing economic crimes against humanity.
Consultations show the evolution of the law - and you know that. By the way: There is law governing mining and copying for automated analysis under the Section 29A CDPA of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act <u><b>1988</b></u>, proving that AI training is not inherently illegal - disputes concern scope and licensing, not a statutory ban. The UK Government Copyright and AI Consultation explicitly discusses expanding rights and opt-outs, which would make <u>no sense</u> if training were already forbidden outright.
The amount of revenue and tax lost for a few AI firms across the water will mean it will be outlawed in Europe. USA big tech is not that important over here.
<blockquote>that in this life the rule is: until proven guilty.</blockquote>Google has been proven guilty three times already in the USA. Epic Games v. Google, DOJ v. Google (Judge Meathead/Search) and DOJ v. Google (Judge Brinkema/Ads). Google has also been fined billions of dollars for their evildoings around the world. So what's your point knowing it's fact that Google is a shitty convict company?
<blockquote>I am a trained barrister before I did this. So yes, they are breaking UK law (...)</blockquote>They are not - see e.g. <a href="https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/copyright-and-artificial-intelligence-impact-on-creative-industries/">https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/copyright-and-artificial-intelligence-impact-on-creative-industries/</a> .
I'm not crying because of AI. Instead I'm using our Priceifier to pass on the costs of harm AI has inflicted on us to Google's users. You're the one crying for someone here to believe your BS, and I must admit it's funny watching everyone shit on you with facts that refute your blatant lies. LOL