Google is getting even worse for independent sites

 (theverge.com)

71 points | by colinprince14 小时前

6 comments

  • bwb13 小时前
    It is insane how they have destroyed a wide swath of indie websites, I just wrote on this subject and how bad they hit us: https://build.shepherd.com/p/hi-google-please-stop-the-bed-a...
  • wkat42421 小时前
    One thing that's weird is that housefresh specialises in reviewing air purifiers but they have nothing on the Xiaomi series, which is what everyone I know has, at least here in Spain.
    • bwb59 分钟前
      Did you email them?

      They are USA based, not Spanish, maybe the brand is local there.

      I know them and they are good people trying to help.

      • wkat42424 分钟前
        No I didn't ask. But Xiaomi is a big worldwide brand. It's like the Apple of China.

        I was just curious how my purifier would fare in their test and was surprised not to find the brand at all. They have many physical stores here.

  • wkat42421 小时前
    I wonder if this is also punishment for their article a few months ago? Google will never own up to that of course. But still ..
  • nicbou5 小时前
    I am terrified that Google will kill the website I live from the same way. It’s a genuinely useful website that people in my area know and love. Everything is written by hand from original research. It is only a matter of time before my traffic is handed over to Reddit or some other top 50 website that happens to have user generated content on the topic.
    • meowster4 小时前
      Program some bots that use ChatGPT to answer questions by summarizing your website, and maybe 5% (or less to look less spamy) of the responses have a link to the corresponding blog post?

      Maybe create a subreddit for your niche location/topic?

      It absolutely sucks, but this might be one way to allow people to find your content.

      • nicbou3 小时前
        These things would cost the same effort but bring a tiny fraction of the traffic.

        If it comes to that, I will find other ways to earn a living. The content and website infrastructure will still be valuable to other people, so I can have my "exit". There are lots of other opportunities to make money in my little industry, but none are nearly as rewarding as helping a ton of people for free. Worst case scenario, I can always go back to web development.

        I would just find it really sad if Google killed something useful and replaced it with SEO spam.

  • nextworddev10 小时前
    Google’s strategy has always been “pay to play”. Just look at their recent deal with Reddit, now much of SERP is slop from Reddit.

    But with AI overviews, that may have been the last nail in the coffin for indie creators

  • ChrisArchitect11 小时前
    Misleading, article from May;

    Some discussion about the HouseFresh case at the time:

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40239811