An article published in February by the air quality site HouseFresh was shocking. The article outlined how independent publishers are being gradually removed from his Google search results and replaced by major media companies. A follow-up report published by HouseFresh says that in the coming months, the situation is only going to get more dire.
In February, HouseFresh editor-in-chief Gisele Navarro called on publishers to: buzzfeed and rolling stone Despite their lack of expertise, Google gives these sites high rankings as some criminals publish content about air purifiers. As a result, search results pages are filled with his SEO-first content, designed with no purpose beyond ranking high on Google.
In an article published today, she said HouseFresh has “virtually disappeared” from search results. Search traffic has fallen by 91 percent in recent months, from about 4,000 visitors per day in October 2023 to 200 visitors per day today.
“We spend months (and sometimes months) on articles that are constantly updated and improved based on results from first-hand, in-depth testing, long-term experience with our products, and feedback from our readers. ,” Navarro wrote. “Our article [previously ranked at #2] is now buried deep beneath sponsored posts, Quora advice of 2016, best-of lists on major media sites, and 64 product listings on Google Shopping. sixty. four. “
Google did not immediately respond on the record to a request for comment.
HouseFresh's article is a fascinating dive into a part of the internet that is so widespread that we often take it for granted: product reviews. Almost every news site carries this kind of content, even if the product is not directly related to the outlet's expertise.House fresh calls forbesFor example, we published a ton of articles about cats and puppies to encourage readers to buy pet insurance.No obvious editorial need forbes To write articles like “Top 20 Largest Dog Breeds” and “What Fruits Can Dogs Eat?” — until you look at the sidebar of these articles, where you'll find lots of affiliate links for pet insurance. forbes You receive a kickback every time someone signs up.
This type of SEO-first affiliate content is relentlessly deployed on countless sites. Last year when CNET It turns out that they were using artificial intelligence tools to create dozens of articles, but their initial focus was on SEO-focused “evergreen” articles.in the case of sports illustrated and USA Today's AI content fiasco was also product reviews, which were being produced in bulk using automated tools.
Aggressive targeting at the top of Google searches by major media outlets, with or without AI, has the biggest impact on small sites like HouseFresh. Significant traffic loss for independent publishers is often enough to shut down the outlet completely.
“This decline in Google search traffic has impacted our revenue, ability to maintain our team, and future plans,” Navarro wrote. However, House Fresh seems to be underperforming. The outlet promises to “expose fraudulent products” by reviewing products recommended by major publishers in their product guides.
“And if we don't want Google to rank our reviews, we can use their own broken results to their advantage before they waste money on overpriced and over-promoted products. I’m going to delete it in front of people.”