Google's major search algorithm updates this past year have left many smaller websites with no other choice than to lay off staff. The inter

Google Search Changes Are Killing Websites in an Age of AI Spam

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2024-12-23 18:30:44

Google's major search algorithm updates this past year have left many smaller websites with no other choice than to lay off staff. The internet is worse for it.

Like an ant scrambling to rebuild its home after being stepped on, a small website trying to grab Google's attention after falling off the company's search algorithm can feel helpless.

That's how Brandon Saltalamacchia, owner of handheld gaming website Retro Dodo, has been feeling since last September. That's when Google issued a major update that once again shifted the balance of how people find information online, a system that's always been somewhat precarious. The "helpful content update," as Google calls it, was meant to elevate articles written by humans for humans, weeding out AI-generated articles and spam websites.

Saltalamacchia's site is one of many smaller websites whose traffic dried up after the update, with some larger outlets seeming to be the major beneficiaries.