In 2024, it's past time to stop relying on Google and build a brand! What step can you take today to boost your brand reputation? Here’s the link to that article: www.wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-killed-google/

If Google isn’t careful, they will end up like Yahoo. I remember when people left Yahoo because it was cluttered with ads. They moved to Google because it was so clean and efficient.

That's frustrating to hear! I actually mentioned a while back (over 6 months ago) that I disagreed with your perspective and mentioned "follow the money." I can definitely relate. I run a legitimate tour operator with a successful KZfaq channel (over 100,000 subscribers!). We have the best, most up-to-date information on our website, but still get buried by Google's algorithms. It's disheartening to see big corporations influencing the online landscape in a way that doesn't benefit the user and crush businesses.

Dude what a coincidence!! I just started using bing last week for the first time after 15 years. I have a background in physics so I care about scientific relevance. I ran some tests last week and I COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW BAD GOOGLE Is! I might make a video about it, it's mind blowing!!! Love you bro!

In Sweden we have a saying that goes something like The first generation creates it, the next manages it and the third destroys it. But in today's tech world, things go fast

In other words, Niche Site SEO is dead unless you're Reddit, Forbes etc. Even if you were to craft the highest quality article known to mankind as a startup brand, you're never gonna rank well on Google anymore

No baby chicks were harmed during the making of this video...because Google hasn't gotten around to that yet.

Until 2019, my blog was growing steadily in terms of traffic. After 2019, it went downhill and I couldn't stop that trend, no matter what. Now I can see why.

Your audience have been screaming this for months. You were never blamed for these updates, not by me anyway, but your lack of acknowledgment of this was infuriating. I'm so glad you've done this video now though. Looking forward to your chat with Alex at WP Eagle later.

Lesson number 1: Google does not give a crap about YOU. Lesson number 2: Never forget lesson number 1. Diversify ones source of traffic, and never be reliant on Google traffic solely. Lesson learned back in 2012.

Thanks for acknowledging and addressing this! I was looking forward to a video like this.

When corporations get big enough, you can always count on them to do the wrong thing. Google's mantra of "Do No Harm" hasn't been true for a very long time, and it started when short-term cash grabs started becoming their top priority.

I know Jim's not part of Income School anymore, but a one off vid with him would be AWESOME

I’ve known this for 15 plus years. Everyone Google says “don’t do something” and you do it, you rank.

They are just trying to destroy small business and this is how they sort them out.

This is the first time in awhile where I feel like Blogging is 100% dead. It might be fine if you already have a presence established in the search results, but for new folks who think that you will be able to rank in the search results, think again. Or if you do rank, the rank isn't going to stick very long. The blogging dream is pretty much over. It had a good run though. Time to jump on the AI train and find other ways to make money.

Google 2010: You HAVE to make our Adsense Ads STAND OUT or you will be banned. Visitors need to know they are ads and make it easy to know! Google 2024: We sneaking in ads where we can and trying to steal your content lulz we don't care anymore. Also gl with your websites, we already scraped your content so if you fail we will just rehash it in our AI Gen hahaha THAT is why we have to fight against monopolies

The only time I ever click on an ad in the SERPs is when I specifically searched for a company, i.e. "leather shoes amazon", and see an ad pop up for that company. I think to myself: "Really? You're running ads for that search query? I was already determined to find your company specifically... but if you're stupid enough to run that ad, then I'm going to make you pay for my traffic... *Clicks on ad*

It's remind me of old search engines pre Google. Lots of rubbish or low quality content and tons of ads.

The answer is to stop using Google. If enough people do it something else will prosper. Google has actually been losing relevance for a couple of years. I know a number of local businesses for instance who get by despite not having a website, they rely on Facebook and word of mouth.

The day my website was approved to run ads was the day I lost 90% of traffic...Now I am unsure whether to continue or not.Spent so much money on hosting, not to mention the hardwork I put into it for two years...I'm done!!!

To Google: if you spam me an ads for 1000 times, that product will be in my blacklist.

Yet another example of "don't put all your eggs in one basket." It is a lot of work, but as entrepreneurs, business owners, or marketers, we have to be efficient in several channels at the same time and have some fluency in SEO, Paid Ads, Direct Marketing, Funnels, Social Media, Email Marketing, Webinars, SMS... We must think very carefully about our strategy so as not to depend heavily on only 1 or 2 channels. Similar thing happened with Amazon cutting affiliate commissions, Google Plus disappearing, Google Ads implementing the Consent Mode in Europe, Social Media Algorithms prioritizing promoted posts in feeds...etc

Great video. It needed to be said. Everything has changed, and I'm looking forward to talking to you about it tomorrow.

I've been noticing really rubbish Google search results lately, but couldn't figure out why! I'm an information professional; what hope do layman have? Thanks for this video.

Conclusion: Google doesn’t care about readers, Google care about how to make more money from ads. It’s time to diversify website traffic. Please, make videos on how to get traffic from social media platforms.

recently I dropped Chrome the amount of ads was unbearable and went to Edge and Opera

Most of my traffic comes from Pinterest. This video explained so much for me about why I keep finding reddit posts when I am searching for my own personal inquiries. Even though I started my website first and it was monitized first, my youtube channel is doing much better. The website for me became secondary. I believe you just answered why.

Awesome piece Ricky. Thats whats been happening. Due to one search engine monopolizing search industry. Glad you raised your voice against this action.

Now I see why the last videos get frustrating comments. Its hard to hear this from Ricky knowing its truly game over!! Not that I wasnt aware a long time but its more concrete when it comes from people who get actual results in the industry. My site died since September, 2023.

Ricky, I’ve followed Income School, you, and your team for years. I appreciate this video, however, it kinda feels like, “it’s true now that it’s happening to us.” Some of the more recent videos have felt a little tone deaf, in my opinion. So many great content creators have been affected, myself included, and now it kinda sounds like you’re saying the same thing that many in your audience have been saying for a while now. I hate it for all of us but we have to adapt.

So sorry Ricky, I've been hearing this for awhile now and seeing it for myself, you are such a great mentor for blogging. Thanks for sharing this info.

I hope they're not consolidating traffic away from independent websites as some kind of master plan to pick and choose winners and losers. Thanks Ricky!

Great discussion! Great response!

"Things are happening right now that are out of our control, it's part of a business, it's part of life", a very wise and motivating phrase...

Well crap! I’m a new Project24 member. And have already invested a ton of time, energy, and money in this program. But whats the point of writing another 87 articles if they aren’t even gonna be seen? KZfaq is fine and Dandy for the personality types who are comfortable with that. CRAP!!!

Thank you, that was excellent information, so great that I've subscribed. Looking forward to your upcoming content

I haven't touched my site for 6 months or more. Indeed I haven't even looked at the site but maybe once a month. I did notice a giant loss of traffic a month or two ago. I just thought it was because Google thought my site was inactive and once I went back to writing here in a few months it would go back up. But now that you mention all this, I'm not so sure. Guess I'll investigate here in a few months, when I go back to writing.

Finally, the first step to solving an issue is acknowledgement.

Good points. Liked and subbed. Started a Google Search boycott myself recently for similar reasons. Good luck with your business!

I am trying to start two new blog websites and have seen these changes. Very frustrated as all I want to do is help but these changes are very high friction-if I had known this was on the roadmap, I would not considered. I did pivot to a newsletter. Thank you for your guidance. I will make further changes. Five star video - appreciate the transparency.

Good evening, I am an Italian social media manager, and I have purchased and watched your "Project 24" course. First of all, congratulations, you've helped me understand so much more. I have a question: "I follow an osteopath's profile. Initially, they weren't sure what to specialize in, so we posted quite diverse videos, some on orthopedics, some on pediatrics, and some on visceral topics. Given that there are videos going viral in all these areas, should we continue to post on all these broad topics or specialize in just the visceral aspect? Initially, I thought that in the long term, it wouldn't be advisable to post videos on all the broad areas because the audience we would attract might not be interested in all the areas, but only in one specific area (for example, the audience interested in an orthopedic disorder might not engage with pediatric content, so it would be counterproductive). So, I initially thought it would be better to specialize in just one area (visceral) and, perhaps, if we wanted to make videos on other topics, we should consider bringing a theme and a way of speaking that would engage the respective audiences (for example, a video that talks about how a stomach disorder can also lead to cervical problems), thinking that if we made a video only on cervical issues, it would attract people interested in orthopedic disorders and not those interested in visceral ones. Then I remembered how you switched the topic of your "Income School" channel to cater to an audience of content creators, who are not just interested in blogging, and so I ask you: "By bringing in videos that deal with KZfaq, for example, won't you attract an audience only interested in the KZfaq topic? Which then might hold back your videos on other topics, like blogging or SEO?"

The reality is that most viewers skip the ads unfortunately. So even though there are more ads for viewers . Viewers watch fewer ads. It's a good idea to watch at least 1 to 2 ads all the way for every hour you're watching content, especially if you enjoy the content creator. It helps 😁

To sum it up SEO for infomational content is basically dead, at this point you will only feed their ai.

Do you think I should rewrite my blog post on quora and reddit?

Hmmm I just quit my blogs and sites. GOOGLE doesn't care abouts quality, just about generating revenue at our expense.

I remember a time when our politicians actually enforced the no monopoly policy meant to protect consumers, the electorate, smaller businesses and the economy.

Interesting insights, thanks!

Good stuff. This channel has always been really good. Intelligent guys, keeping it real. Thanks brother!

I still think that we as creators need to band together and work to support each other in actual business.

Creating meaningful and good content will always be the best long-term strategy. Even huge platforms like Google will decline at some point, and then your content will be still relevant for whatever the next platforms look for. For me, Pinterest has been a huge traffic source for years, now I get more from Google. It will shift eventually. The most important part is to spread content in multiple ways, and one will always perform. KZfaq has been a slow burn for me, but I get people who are much more interested in my stuff than on any other platform.

Great stuff Ricky! this is the video most of us at Income School were waiting for. Very brave of you to have done it. Many of us believe that the only way to survive is to disregard google and get traffic from social media and email marketing. But can it be sustainable?

So, basically: what people said in response to your last video on that topic is true now? Just asking.

Respect for admiting this. Google has failed us but I think they've succeeded in their goal. They have decimated the quality of search in the pursuit of profit. I came to this conclusion early this year and shut down my website.

Great video, thanks for sharing. You've given me a ton of ideas for my own business

A way to counterattack this loss of quality, would be to have bots clicking automatically on ads (promotions) on Google results. As advertisers will pay more and more, their ROI for advertising with Google will go down. Ultimately, companies paying Google will ask it to go back in serving few, useful ads that look like ads. And when who pays ask, Google listens.

Ricky, I've been working online since 1997. Most of the modern day 'seo' people I have seen ARE trying to game the system. They're not writing for users, they are writing for search engines. They just don't seem to get it. Now, with the advent of AI, there has been a massive increase in BS and spam sites. Its got to a point where user generated content on forums is more likely to give you a straight answer than having to read through an 1800 word article. No wonder they're putting a huge emphasis on user metric like engagement time. I'm not endorsing everything Google does, but the days of programmatic content and AI driven sites that we are in now is destroying user experience.

great work --- I am going to follow you on that

Rand's insights highlight an essential shift in SEO strategy. As Google's algorithms evolve, content creators need to adapt by understanding how different types of content are being prioritized and explore diverse platforms to ensure visibility. 👍

Traffic from google is actually very small part of your idea audiences for free. Keep that in mind and you will not care. I'm sure google can see something is happening that you and me can't. The old world has gone!

I've watched your videos from the very beginning, Ricky, tuning in from time to time. This was one of the best ones yet. You're right about it-since 2019, they've thrown us (the good content creators) under the bus. Horrible! We could be in agony, and they wouldn't care. They told us to keep creating, yet they rewarded garbage websites.

I so think the same with your 'aside' comments around the 12 minute mark. It saddens me, as I'm a stock market guy; but the way it works (at least at the larger end of town) drives me as crazy as you.

I remember seeing ads to create your own search engine for like $5.

It's ALWAYS about money 🤑. They actually put sponsored people FIRST! I remember the AD mark and noticed when it was changed too!

ed's article is a must-read! I like you wanted to optimistic...I can no longer be about the future of google search tho!

Theres no link in the description

I love this guy. Don't even know his name. Just passed him on KZfaq a heap of times. When I see his face, I just feel happy and want to listen. *because listening is always a good experience.

Good information. Thank you

I’ve seen couple gurus close there courses for time being til they figure stuff out again it’s wild

I wonder if Google's current business focus is related to falling Ad rates. We look to be either in recession, or heading there soon. As rates will be one of the first revenue sources to tank in a recession, so maybe Google is sacrificing search quality to plug losses. Hopefully, on the other side of the recession, search quality will again become a priority.

I just ditched Google and Chrome. Using Edge and Bing now. Not that it is much better, but it's my way to protest. I also removed all Google Ads. I never click on Google Ads. Punished? No. Google are rewarding me with more traffic.

It's because the last two years, there was a study that TikTok has overtaken Google as the go to search engine among GenZ. Which likely explains their use of placing Reddit and Quora for.search results. I assume.they think that GenZ uses those platforms as well and use it to try and outdo TikTok.

This brings up a question/scenario that I'd love your take on. Worked for home services company (concrete patios, sidewalks etc) and they relied on homeadvisor and Angi list leads. Well the start of the season greatly reduced leads and worse quality. Begged them for me to start creating YT videos, original content etc. Does this change you describe with Google have any effect on that scenario. Thanks for your perspective.

High rank of reddit is actually driven by consumer request. You can see many people on social media saying that they often have to add "reddit" to the end of search queries to get the information that they are actually looking for. High rank of quora is bizarre to me. Quora mainly revolves around personal essays.

Great video. Does this make you think twice about trusting in/relying on KZfaq at all since KZfaq is owned by Google? Not that we should write off KZfaq (obviously), but I’m just curious on your feelings about possible changes to KZfaq.

Guaranteed by Google is a perfect example of what you are saying. In my local area there are 7 bogus companies that are all fed back to a company in Italy which take up the top listings in Google for local services. I've presented all my evidence to Google on 4 occasions and the only response I had back was it doesn't break any advertising guidelines. Now given in the UK an electrical company must be registered with a trade association by law something has been broken and I have submitted an FOI request and I am going to write an article that hopefully I can get circulated around trade websites and magazines in my country.

I started a Subreddit for my blog before I knew this was happening. I'm now kinda intrigued to see if it does anything for the blog. Also, did someone say Pinterest? XD

Well said...thanks! ❤❤❤❤

My website is totally 0 traffic now i dont know when google core update ends

I believe I got SIX sponsored results to a search yesterday on one sinke search. There's a reason why Google is beginning to be shunned now. They ain't what they used to be.

I've noticed the quality of Reddit posts and the major subreddits go WAY down too in the past year.. kinda interesting to see this connection.

That’s so true, I’ve been seeing that lately it’s so strange to me I never put 2 and 2 together as a regular user

We disagreed on something historically, but this is transparent. Thanks.

If Google's aim is to service their shareholders, they depend on ad revenue. If they screw up the search experience for the actual Google customer, then the customers will go elsewhere to get their search queries answered. Google are shooting themselves in both feet right now. So frustrating!

Love the sincerity. I've always counted on you to say the truth. I think this is the truth. Other top bloggers were quick to promote reddit and flipboard and whatever just to stay relevant, but you didn't. You're so mature man. You're not driven my money and fame and clicks. God bless you. It dawned on me yesterday after seeing a video with Google filling the place with ads. But the question was what do we do? I had mixed feelings about writing. But this video has just boosted me again. I can continue writing and exploring knowing I'm not alone in this. Good video man 🤝

I thought the search reasults were worst than before. Makes sense now

I have noticed the Reddit increase too!!! Thanks for calling Google out.

Are you still planning on teaching the organic content-driven business model (just less reliant on Google SERP), monetizing with ad revenue, affiliates, and info products, or are you thinking about venturing more into paid acquisition model, monetizing with physical products too?

100%! YEs, that is what we need to do... would be good to have some guidance to growing traffic from other search engines like Bing and Duck Duck Go. Social media and KZfaq also a great point. Thanks Ricky! Looking forward to more content in that direction. Also maybe about turning your blog into a real business with products or services, where buying PPC ads makes sense for another source of traffic.

Create local brands and relationships

How about making your own forum?

Thank you for always being honest and authentic.

Excellent analysis I completely agree with you...Bing is doing a far better job than google these days...their results are so polished

You just said what everyone knows, but few have courage to say. Thanks!

Also interesting seo changes and favortisim leading up to the election....🤔

Google Chrome also weakens ad blockers on YT, I had to switch MS Edge just block YT ads.

Thank You Ricky! This is the video we needed from you 👏

I wonder if Google is also avoiding blog posts because they fear that more blog posts are written by AI. Defaulting to forum answers from Reddit might mitigate that if Google thinks Reddit does a good job of keeping their forums free from AI bots/answers.

Thanks for finally addressing this. Trust regained by manny 👍

How many people use BING? Can we focus on them?