When ChatGPT was unveiled, this was what I wrote, in December 2022, on the competition it would bring to Google Search: “People, Google Search has a challenge ahead. In this technology [ChatGPT], you do not need to be checking links for answers. Yes, ChatGPT gives you an answer. And the most fascinating aspect, the answers vary on the sentence structure if you repeat the same question. If they continue this playbook, Google may have a real problem to deal with. They just need to provide this summary and offer more links where people can go and learn more.”
To overcome that challenge, Google has now unveiled AI Overviews: “Google’s revamped, AI-infused search is making businesses that depend on web search results anxious, and news publishers are already warning it could have “catastrophic” effects on the industry. Why? Google’s newly announced AI Overviews, set to launch this week in the U.S., synthesizes answers to users’ queries, and even though it will probably contain links, information from “know-it-all AI tools” could be thorough enough that users decide not to click through. News sites, whose audiences have already taken a hit from their content being downranked on social media, are bracing for further erosion from Google’s AI update.”
Yes, if your web traffic depends on doing everything to rank well on Google, now is the time to open a new playbook because that traffic will get a hit. Simply, many people, after reading the Google AI summaries, may not even bother to click to visit any website.It is a risk to Google revenue but a greater risk to websites built around Google SEO.
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When Facebook changed its algorithm, many businesses which depended on organic (non-paid) Facebook traffic went bankrupt, as people could not see their updates. Are we going to expect the same result for Google SEO-anchored companies? It is too early to know, but there will be consequential impacts on many online businesses.
Update your playbook so that people can naturally visit your website, by typing your domain on browsers, instead of expecting Google to send you traffic.
When ChatGPT was unveiled, this was what I wrote, in December 2022, on the competition it would bring to Google Search: “People, Google Search has a challenge ahead. In this technology [ChatGPT], you do not need to be checking links for answers. Yes, ChatGPT gives you an answer.… pic.twitter.com/63EK7FnAzy
— Ndubuisi Ekekwe (@ndekekwe) May 16, 2024
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The things we thought were free weren’t necessarily free. The platforms marketed to us, we came, they used us to build both massive user base and credibility, and then they changed the rules, and now want to kick us out if we don’t comply…
Depending on how it plays out, Amazon might end up amassing higher ads revenue than Google. It seems like what makes Google special is about to be decoupled.
By the time the entire web space is flooded with bots, and bots will be marketing to bots and sending bots as traffic, it will finally hit home. All our supposed intelligence and smartness will soon turn 360° and then reveal how foolish we really are. We will end up returning to the same spots we thought we left decades ago.
Word of mouth to the rescue.