4 ms·

Google is getting even worse for independent sites

84 points by colinprince 2y ago

bwb 2y ago
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-desperate https://build.shepherd.com/p/hi-google-please-stop-the-bed-a...
ChrisArchitect 2y ago
Misleading, article from May; Some discussion about the HouseFresh case at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40239811 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40239811
nextworddev 2y ago
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
nicbou 2y ago
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.
- meowster 2y ago
  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.
  - nicbou 2y ago
    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.
wkat4242 2y ago
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.
- bwb 2y ago
  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.
  - wkat4242 2y ago
    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.
    - bwb 2y ago
      I did a quick Kagi search: https://www.reddit.com/r/HouseFresh/comments/1d1ptnd/what_premium_air_purifier_should_we_review_next/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HouseFresh/comments/1d1ptnd/what_pr... Looks like 3 months ago someone requested that as well so maybe they are working on it. Or maybe with Google changes they can't do as much, not sure. They are super open to ideas on twitter btw: https://twitter.com/ThisHouseFresh https://twitter.com/ThisHouseFresh
      - evilmusic 2y ago
        The video review just went live https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg
- evilmusic 2y ago
  Here you go https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg
wkat4242 2y ago
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 ..
poulpy123 2y ago
I'm complaining for years that google search is giving less and less relevant answers to the point I almost exclusively add "reddit" to the query, or even started to use AI for getting a first overview of technical questions I may have. It went shit before chatgpt but it's worse and worse now
freediver 2y ago
The web wasn't meant to be like this. We're watching the slow death of independent thoought and expertise, replaced by content farms optimized for ad revenue. When genuine experts who actually test products get buried beneath 64 shopping listings and recycled "best of" posts from mega publishers, we've lost our way. The tragic irony is that this system actively punishes quality while rewarding mediocrity at scale. This isn't just about traffic or revenue - it's about the fundamental promise of the web as a democratizing force for knowledge sharing. And this isn't a technology problem. It's a business model problem. When search prioritizes ad revenue over quality, we shouldn't be surprised when quality dies. The solution isn't complex, but it requires us to rethink our relationship with "free" services.

84 points by colinprince 2y ago

bwb 2y ago

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-desperate https://build.shepherd.com/p/hi-google-please-stop-the-bed-a...

ChrisArchitect 2y ago

Misleading, article from May; Some discussion about the HouseFresh case at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40239811 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40239811

nextworddev 2y ago

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

nicbou 2y ago

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.

meowster 2y ago
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.
- nicbou 2y ago
  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.

wkat4242 2y ago

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.

bwb 2y ago
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.
- wkat4242 2y ago
  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.
  - bwb 2y ago
    I did a quick Kagi search: https://www.reddit.com/r/HouseFresh/comments/1d1ptnd/what_premium_air_purifier_should_we_review_next/ https://www.reddit.com/r/HouseFresh/comments/1d1ptnd/what_pr... Looks like 3 months ago someone requested that as well so maybe they are working on it. Or maybe with Google changes they can't do as much, not sure. They are super open to ideas on twitter btw: https://twitter.com/ThisHouseFresh https://twitter.com/ThisHouseFresh
    - evilmusic 2y ago
      The video review just went live https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg
evilmusic 2y ago
Here you go https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg https://youtu.be/Qc1D1-mkcIg

wkat4242 2y ago

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 ..

poulpy123 2y ago

I'm complaining for years that google search is giving less and less relevant answers to the point I almost exclusively add "reddit" to the query, or even started to use AI for getting a first overview of technical questions I may have. It went shit before chatgpt but it's worse and worse now

freediver 2y ago

The web wasn't meant to be like this. We're watching the slow death of independent thoought and expertise, replaced by content farms optimized for ad revenue. When genuine experts who actually test products get buried beneath 64 shopping listings and recycled "best of" posts from mega publishers, we've lost our way. The tragic irony is that this system actively punishes quality while rewarding mediocrity at scale. This isn't just about traffic or revenue - it's about the fundamental promise of the web as a democratizing force for knowledge sharing. And this isn't a technology problem. It's a business model problem. When search prioritizes ad revenue over quality, we shouldn't be surprised when quality dies. The solution isn't complex, but it requires us to rethink our relationship with "free" services.