Google Is Killing Small Independent Sites (Commandment of Control)

[Bence Ur]

A came across this interesting article: Google Is Killing Retro Dodo & Other Independent Sites

Retro Dodo is on the brink of collapse… because of Google.
The main source of our traffic was through Google Search.
Since September 2023, Google has hidden our site from millions of retro gamers, reducing our organic traffic and revenue by 85% and causing our business to be on the edge of going under.

We can see the "Commandment of Control" from the CENTS framework, however it's not that simple. It's true that Google has a monopoly and you can't easily replace the Google traffic. Sometimes it's very hard to fully honor the commandment of control when there are such behemoth companies like Google.

I can relate to that article, when I search for something on Google, I mostly see results from Reddit, Quora, YouTube (of course), LinkedIn, Forbes, Medium (after the many Google ads and scraped snippets). Especially Reddit and YouTube, they are everywhere.

Google still drives the majority of the internet traffic, and nowadays as a small publishers you have a slim chance against these behemoth publications. A lot of small independent sites have been even completely deindexed by Google.

 

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[Kung Fu Steve]

A came across this interesting article: Google Is Killing Retro Dodo & Other Independent Sites



We can see the "Commandment of Control" from the CENTS framework, however it's not that simple. It's true that Google has a monopoly and you can't easily replace the Google traffic. Sometimes it's very hard to fully honor the commandment of control when there are such behemoth companies like Google.

I can relate to that article, when I search for something on Google, I mostly see results from Reddit, Quora, YouTube (of course), LinkedIn, Forbes, Medium (after the many Google ads and scraped snippets). Especially Reddit and YouTube, they are everywhere.

Google still drives the majority of the internet traffic, and nowadays as a small publishers you have a slim chance against these behemoth publications. A lot of small independent sites have been even completely deindexed by Google.

I like to bash Google just as much as the next person...

But what even is this guy's business model? Affiliate sales?

Google Adsense?

I mean they literally have blog articles for kids about how to beat part of Super Mario RPG for the Super Nintendo...




Not exactly a growth industry and while there are plenty of people who CAN blame Google -- these guys certainly cannot blame anyone but their poor business model (which I'd argue doesn't even exist)

The woe-is-me blog post is dumb.

 

[Bence Ur]

But what even is this guy's business model? Affiliate sales?

Google Adsense?

They use Mediavine and affiliate links (like Amazon Associates). Mediavine is an advertising network for smaller publishers, they include services such as Google display ads, Amazon display ads, Microsoft display ads etc. So basically you earn per each page view, this is how the display ads work, and in case of affiliate links you earn commission.

This is a very common business model used by even the largest sites like Forbes or Cnet.

But don't fixate on this specific site, it was just an example. Here is the problem, quote from the original linked article:

These goliath websites can bend the rules and get away with things that smaller websites are punished for. For example, we have spent years of testing handheld devices for our “best retro handhelds” article; you can see we have tested every single one, have dedicated images showing you the product, highly produced video reviews for many of the devices that took weeks to make, and our written content proves our opinions and comparisons. Large media companies, however, can get away with simply not testing the products, adding stock images, adding a bit of text, and directing you to their affiliate links as you can see here by an article that outranks us by GameRant.

Again, don't focus on this specific example, it is a widespread problem. Google favors these behemoth authority sites, even if their content is not the best, just because their are big authority sites. Eventually these small publishers will stop publishing great, original content, and then only the AI-generated crap will remain on the internet. But you need this expert-written human content in order to train the AI.

And a practical problem for all of us: let's say you start a new website today, like an e-commerce store, blog, local business site etc. Good luck for ranking on Google... You will be outranked by these big sites like YouTube, Reddit, Quora, Amazon, Forbes, LinkedIn, Medium etc. Google still drives the majority web traffic, so it's a big problem for us small businesses.

Google can't filter out the AI-generated content so now they favors only a small number of big sites, this how they solved the problem of the AI-generated content.

My point is that the commandment of control is not always easy to honor when there are monopolies who control the majority of an industry.

 

[MTF]

Most publishers are now focusing their efforts on Facebook, Pinterest, or email. But inevitably these will also eventually stop working.

Publishing and content in general (at least informative one, dumb content is still doing great) is becoming a more and more terrible business model with each passing year.

 

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[Bence Ur]

Most publishers are now focusing their efforts on Facebook, Pinterest, or email. But inevitably these will also eventually stop working.

Publishing and content in general (at least informative one, dumb content is still doing great) is becoming a more and more terrible business model with each passing year.

Yes but the overall traffic level from Facebook and Pinterest is much lower than the Google organic traffic, and it doesn't convert that well.
On social media people are browsing their feeds, but on Google they search for very specific things such as "best air purifiers to buy under $200", and this targeted traffic has the best conversion rate. Of course you can buy Google Ads, but that is expensive.

If people stop publishing expert-written human content, then we can't train the AI so in the end we will see only garbage AI-generated content everywhere, including Google, Facebook, Pinterest etc...

That's the problem here, we need these small, niche websites written by genuine experts, but Google is killing them.

 

[Kevin88660]

Big Techs always have enormous control over small business owners and particularly content creators.

There is no choice but to study their rules and regulations very carefully and don't let your months if not years of effort get nuked.

Big techs are now getting their karma as they are relying on Nvidia to fight AI wars with each other. They become dependent on Nvidia.

 

[MTF]

If people stop publishing expert-written human content, then we can't train the AI so in the end we will see only garbage AI-generated content everywhere, including Google, Facebook, Pinterest etc...

That's the problem here, we need these small, niche websites written by genuine experts, but Google is killing them.

Google doesn't give a F*ck about them. Big sites can sue or write negative articles about Google while small publishers can't do anything.

One thing is clear: better NOT be a niche site owner.

A better way to approach this: how can you solve this hugely painful problem of website publishers? The smallest ones will probably give up but the bigger (but still small) ones will somehow pivot. How can you help them survive and thrive?

 

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[DoTheWork]

I've estimated that I've lost $200-400k since September from relying on Google. I was getting up to $15k per month and planned to sell my site soon, then it dropped about 90% even though my site was good and loved by my readers.

You can find all of that in my progress thread linked in my signature.

Lesson learned!

 

[heavy_industry]

What a piece of F*cking garbage.

I should have stopped reading at this point:

Retro Dodo is on the brink of collapse… because of Google.

If you believe that anyone in this world - other than yourself - is responsible for the success of your company, run the hell away from entrepreneurship - as fast as you can, and as far as you can.

You're entitled to NOTHING.

Markets change, demand changes, technology changes, and regulations change. Some of these changes will radically affect your business and might even be seen as "unfair"!

Merry Christmas!

You either are smart and adapt to reality, or you die in hell and take your company with you.

• "But I enjoy blogging"
• "But we have employees"
• "But we've been in business for X years"

NOBODY CARES about you, or your problems, or your preferences, or your hobbies, or how you would like to earn a living, or how you would prefer to run your business.

• Can you find a way to effectively reach your target audience?
• Can you adapt to and circumvent obstacles? (e.g. algorithm change)
• Can you deliver massive amounts of value to your audience?
• Can you monetize your business in a smart way to ensure long-term growth in an ever-changing economy?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO - shut down your business and get a job ASAP.

...

I need to go lift some F*cking weights to calm down.

 

[403burnout]

They use Mediavine and affiliate links (like Amazon Associates). Mediavine is an advertising network for smaller publishers, they include services such as Google display ads, Amazon display ads, Microsoft display ads etc. So basically you earn per each page view, this is how the display ads work, and in case of affiliate links you earn commission.

This is a very common business model used by even the largest sites like Forbes or Cnet.

But don't fixate on this specific site, it was just an example. Here is the problem, quote from the original linked article:

My point is that the commandment of control is not always easy to honor when there are monopolies who control the majority of an industry.

Affiliate marketing was always violating the commandment of control though. Pretty sure MJ calls it out directly in TMF . This site didn't have a very resilient business model to begin with.

The fact that sites like Forbes and Cnet have similar business models is not a great defense of it in my opinion. I think even among the big players like them it's a dying industry.
CNET is doing big layoffs just weeks after AI-generated stories came to light

Unrelated, but that dude's Twitter feed is a roller coaster example of violating control. He's got pinned posts from 2022 bragging about making $50k/month and getting 1.6M pageviews/month. Crazy to think what he could have done by leveraging that kind of traffic into actually selling a product/service vs churning out more content.

 

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[DoTheWork]

What a piece of F*cking garbage.

I should have stopped reading at this point:


If you believe that anyone in this world - other than yourself - is responsible for the success of your company, run the hell away from entrepreneurship - as fast as you can, and as far as you can.

You're entitled to NOTHING.

Markets change, demand changes, technology changes, and regulations change. Some of these changes will radically affect your business and might even be seen as "unfair"!

Merry Christmas!

You either are smart and adapt to reality, or you die in hell and take your company with you.

• "But I enjoy blogging"
• "But we have employees"
• "But we've been in business for X years"

NOBODY CARES about you, or your problems, or your preferences, or your hobbies, or how you would like to earn a living, or how you would prefer to run your business.

• Can you find a way to effectively reach your target audience?
• Can you adapt to and circumvent obstacles? (e.g. algorithm change)
• Can you deliver massive amounts of value to your audience?
• Can you monetize your business in a smart way to ensure long-term growth in an ever-changing economy?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO - shut down your business and get a job ASAP.

...

I need to go lift some F*cking weights to calm down.

Even though I feel unfairly punished by these Google changes, I still agree with you 100%.

I didn't adapt quick enough and ignored the commandment of control even though I knew it was an issue.

These guys have been around for many years and had plenty of time to recognize this risk and diversify their traffic sources.

 

[cikatomo]

Excellent, seeing there is a problem is a first step to finding a solution.

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

They use Mediavine and affiliate links (like Amazon Associates). Mediavine is an advertising network for smaller publishers, they include services such as Google display ads, Amazon display ads, Microsoft display ads etc. So basically you earn per each page view, this is how the display ads work, and in case of affiliate links you earn commission.

This is a very common business model used by even the largest sites like Forbes or Cnet.

Thanks, I've never been on the internet before so I appreciate the help. (I'm F*ckin with you, buddy. Sarcasm is our favorite language around here)

But don't fixate on this specific site, it was just an example. Here is the problem, quote from the original linked article:



Again, don't focus on this specific example, it is a widespread problem. Google favors these behemoth authority sites, even if their content is not the best, just because their are big authority sites. Eventually these small publishers will stop publishing great, original content, and then only the AI-generated crap will remain on the internet. But you need this expert-written human content in order to train the AI.

I AM fixated on this specific example you gave because it's the one you gave to make your dramatic point. They are the ones who wrote a long "woe is me" blog post about how life is so unfair and we should feel sorry for them.

Their website sucks. Their content sucks. When I look at their YouTube channel they haven't had a hit in 6 years. Their best content was 8 years ago.

They haven't evolved or got any better at what they do.

You can't blame Google for laziness.

I have nothing but love for this guy but the truth is the truth. You can't find success one time and then stay there. You're either growing or you're dying.

And a practical problem for all of us: let's say you start a new website today, like an e-commerce store, blog, local business site etc. Good luck for ranking on Google... You will be outranked by these big sites like YouTube, Reddit, Quora, Amazon, Forbes, LinkedIn, Medium etc. Google still drives the majority web traffic, so it's a big problem for us small businesses.

I help businesses start new sites all the time.

I'm helping my brother launch his eCommerce store as we speak.

I would never rely on Google search rankings as my one and only source of traffic and revenue.

I can't imagine begging for people to click on ads at 0.02 cents per click for ad revenue.

We sell products. We sell services. We don't sell clicks.

A blog is not a business. It's a blog.

A media business IS a business... but the second you get into that ring -- you're competing against these behemoths. No wonder you would get crushed.

What do you think Google, Reddit, Quora, etc. are? They are content aggregators!

What is this guy trying to be?

A content aggregator!

And he's trying to compete with them... by asking them to send him their traffic?

Am I the only one who sees how asinine the business strategy is?

Google can't filter out the AI-generated content so now they favors only a small number of big sites, this how they solved the problem of the AI-generated content.

These are wild assumptions and just not necessarily true but we can debate that part separately.

My point is that the commandment of control is not always easy to honor when there are monopolies who control the majority of an industry.

It IS easy to honor if you have the right business model.

That's MJ's whole point.

You can't ignore the commandment of control and then change it overnight.

If the guy wanted a real business, he would have to create a real business.

Sell products. Sell services.

I've deep-dove into all his blog articles just to make sure I'm not talking out of my a$$ here. It legitimately is just affiliate links to dozens of other sites... and they aren't even following best practices for affiliate promotions.

I'll say it one more time -- they never evolved beyond the 1996 strategy of blog content magically creating millions of dollars of AdSense revenue for someone.

And before you talk about fixating on this one guy -- I'm glad you brought them in as a case study because they are the PERFECT example of lacking the commandment of control AND they never got better -- they only got worse.

What a piece of F*cking garbage.

I should have stopped reading at this point:


If you believe that anyone in this world - other than yourself - is responsible for the success of your company, run the hell away from entrepreneurship - as fast as you can, and as far as you can.

You're entitled to NOTHING.

Markets change, demand changes, technology changes, and regulations change. Some of these changes will radically affect your business and might even be seen as "unfair"!

Merry Christmas!

You either are smart and adapt to reality, or you die in hell and take your company with you.

• "But I enjoy blogging"
• "But we have employees"
• "But we've been in business for X years"

NOBODY CARES about you, or your problems, or your preferences, or your hobbies, or how you would like to earn a living, or how you would prefer to run your business.

• Can you find a way to effectively reach your target audience?
• Can you adapt to and circumvent obstacles? (e.g. algorithm change)
• Can you deliver massive amounts of value to your audience?
• Can you monetize your business in a smart way to ensure long-term growth in an ever-changing economy?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO - shut down your business and get a job ASAP.

...

I need to go lift some F*cking weights to calm down.

Well said!

 

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[biophase]

They use Mediavine and affiliate links (like Amazon Associates). Mediavine is an advertising network for smaller publishers, they include services such as Google display ads, Amazon display ads, Microsoft display ads etc. So basically you earn per each page view, this is how the display ads work, and in case of affiliate links you earn commission.

This is a very common business model used by even the largest sites like Forbes or Cnet.

But don't fixate on this specific site, it was just an example. Here is the problem, quote from the original linked article:



Again, don't focus on this specific example, it is a widespread problem. Google favors these behemoth authority sites, even if their content is not the best, just because their are big authority sites. Eventually these small publishers will stop publishing great, original content, and then only the AI-generated crap will remain on the internet. But you need this expert-written human content in order to train the AI.

And a practical problem for all of us: let's say you start a new website today, like an e-commerce store, blog, local business site etc. Good luck for ranking on Google... You will be outranked by these big sites like YouTube, Reddit, Quora, Amazon, Forbes, LinkedIn, Medium etc. Google still drives the majority web traffic, so it's a big problem for us small businesses.

Google can't filter out the AI-generated content so now they favors only a small number of big sites, this how they solved the problem of the AI-generated content.

My point is that the commandment of control is not always easy to honor when there are monopolies who control the majority of an industry.

It sounds like they should have been making videos on YouTube instead of writing articles.

 

[heavy_industry]

Even though I feel unfairly punished by these Google changes, I still agree with you 100%.

I didn't adapt quick enough and ignored the commandment of control even though I knew it was an issue.

These guys have been around for many years and had plenty of time to recognize this risk and diversify their traffic sources.

You are my fasting friend.
And I really mean it when I say that I feel very sorry for your loss.

It sucks to have your business taken away from you overnight, it sucks to have to deal with debilitating health conditions, it sucks to have your country torn down by civil unrest, etc.

Life is fundamentally unfair and has a propensity towards catastrophe.

Confronted with this inescapable fact, our job as entrepreneurs is to:

1. Become aware of the problem.
2. Adjust strategy.
3. Survive.
4. Thrive.

Moaning like a bitch because "bad daddy Google is doing this to me boo-hoo" is NOT one of the steps that is ever going to lead to victory.

Which is basically what enraged me about that pathetic article.

As soon as you start pointing fingers and blaming others for your failure, you forfeit the last bit of control you have in life.

You become a victim.

And as soon as you decide that you're a victim, wild wolves will come to tear you to pieces and eat you alive.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Moaning like a bitch because "bad daddy Google is doing this to me boo-hoo" is NOT one of the steps that is ever going to lead to victory.

Which is basically what enraged me about that pathetic article.

I moan like a bitch every day, but I still make more money than you bro. Wanna know why? Because whether you moan or not has nothing to do with getting paid, and that’s certainly the only victory I care about.

I mean no disrespect, your posts get a lot of love around here, because they SAY the quote on quote RIGHT things.

But the right things don’t matter. Only the right actions matter.

And I find this distinction critical — so many people end up going down rabbit holes, maybe you yourself are in this trap, where you worry so much about your thoughts, how you feel, what language you use… that you forget to get rich!

But the cold harsh truth is that none of that matters. You gotta stop playing in division Z — you can’t get results that way. Join divison A, where we only worry about how we act, not how we speak, think and all that crap.

Rather than thought policing people, tell them instead what they should do.

You're entitled to NOTHING.

Markets change, demand changes, technology changes, and regulations change. Some of these changes will radically affect your business and might even be seen as "unfair"!

The point isn’t whether you’re “entitled” to something or not. Maybe I’m not “entitled” to someone’s money, but if there’s a way for me to legally obtain it, I will pursue it, entitled or not.

Maybe your politician isn’t “entitled” to getting a big house for his fam… but guess what, he gets it anyway, because he has the power to do so.

As Thucydides said, the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. That’s all it is. Entitlement or not, that’s a chimera and it’s besides the point.

If I had the power to control Google, entitled or not, I’d use that power to benefit me. The problem isn’t that I’m entitled LOL — F*ck, the real problem is that I’m too weak!

 

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[Bence Ur]

Back to the topic: Yes probably relying on free Google organic traffic and making money from display ads and affiliate marketing is not a good strategy anymore, I see that these sites are pivoting, they diversify their traffic sources and monetization.

Diversifying traffic sources: they are trying to break free from Google by focusing on traffic from Facebook, Pinterest, other social media, YouTube and email marketing (by building an email list).

Diversifying monetization: besides display ads and affiliate links they introduce other monetization techniques such as selling products and/or services, or launching a paid email newsletter.

For example if you look at Epic Gardening, they use display ads and affiliate links but they also have an e-commerce store attached to the blog. Besides Google organic search they receive traffic from social media and from their email newsletter.

But according to SimilarWeb they still get 65% Google traffic, so in the end it's very hard to break free from Google.

 

[heavy_industry]

I moan like a bitch every day, but I still make more money than you bro. Wanna know why? Because whether you moan or not has nothing to do with getting paid, and that’s certainly the only victory I care about.

Good for you brother.

May you achieve all your worldly goals and hoard as much gold as you seek, like the respectable dragon that you are.

But the right things don’t matter. Only the right actions matter.

And I find this distinction critical — so many people end up going down rabbit holes, maybe you yourself are in this trap, where you worry so much about your thoughts, how you feel, what language you use… that you forget to get rich!

But the cold harsh truth is that none of that matters. You gotta stop playing in division Z — you can’t get results that way. Join divison A, where we only worry about how we act, not how we speak, think and all that crap.

We are in perfect agreement on the fact that physical actions are the ONLY things that will lead to tangible results, as predicated by determinism - you do A, and, as a result, B happens.

Unlike what the law of attraction boys will tell you, you can't think yourself into becoming successful.

Where our disagreement stems from, is the fact that I believe that the chain of determinism goes like this:

Thoughts -> Emotions -> Actions -> Results

You obviously disagree with this - as stated in this thread.

Since I am not a neuroscientist, nor a behavioral psychologist, I will end this debate by saying that I don't know and I don't care how the human mind works.

People are free to believe what they want and do what they want. If it works for them - great.

Rather than thought policing people, tell them instead what they should do.

I am not an ideologue, nor have I the authority to tell people what to think or what to do. Everyone is free to forge their own path to hell.

I do, however, have a profound dislike and zero tolerance for complainers, victims, and entitled brats.

When I hear a bitch moaning - I will use men's locker room language to express my disapproval.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Thoughts -> Emotions -> Actions -> Results

Not going to argue about this further than this answer, but you know this is false. If what you were saying were true, you’d never have moments when you act contrary to your thoughts and emotions, but you DO. Whenever you force yourself to do something you don’t feel like doing and you don’t want to do, you’re taking action against your thoughts and emotions, which proves that thoughts and emotions do not control your actions. Influence, sure, but not control.

 

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[heavy_industry]

Not going to argue about this further than this answer, but you know this is false. If what you were saying were true, you’d never have moments when you act contrary to your thoughts and emotions, but you DO. Whenever you force yourself to do something you don’t feel like doing and you don’t want to do, you’re taking action against your thoughts and emotions, which proves that thoughts and emotions do not control your actions. Influence, sure, but not control.

That's a very interesting perspective!

Another way to look at this is to consider the possibility of having conflicting thoughts and emotions, and you exercise your judgment and free will by choosing which thoughts you are going to listen to.

I'm not sure whether you are still lifting weights, but I think you can relate to the feelings/thought pattern of WANTING to train because you know it's the superior option - but NOT WANTING to train because you don't feel like it.

If you decide to go training, you are indeed ignoring your "weak" thoughts and emotions - but are following your "strong" thoughts instead.

---

I'm not saying that this IS how reality works, because if truth be told - not even neuroscientists have the first F*cking clue on what the human mind actually is or how it works.

That's why we end up with soft sciences, such as psychology, which is nothing more than a collection of statistics and conceptual models trying to explain how the mind works.

 

[loop101]

I think this is why MJ wrote about "gravitons" in his more recent book(s). If I remember correctly, you need a way to "pull" your readers to you, and not just rely on typical advertising.

 

[buildpath]

This is always why I have multiple sites in the same niche since 2006.

You can put max effort into site A and min effort into site B. You ensure Site A is the highest quality and you really believe in it! Site A gets the most traffic and is growing. Site B barely gets any traffic but that's ok because your main focus is on Site A, right?

Then Google launches a core update to "increase quality of search results" and Site A goes from top 3 to page 6 for most of the keywords that send you traffic. Meanwhile, lowly old Site B is now ranking low on page 1...

You just never know. Also, sometimes a site will never rank, period. Some domains just never take off, for no obvious reason.

I've also seen a competitor dominate US nation-wide search terms one of the hardest niches in the world with only a few backlinks and one page of content. They got over 3,000 Google Reviews within 1 year (they set US as their service area). That volume is huge but the reviews do look legit to me.

Local businesses with reviews really have an edge over niche sites at this point, in my opinion.

 

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[StrikingViper69]

I have a small site that gets about 200 people a day, it hasn't been affected by any algo changes over the last 5 years or so.

One site getting hammered is hardly Google "killing niche sites".

 

[MTF]

I have a small site that gets about 200 people a day, it hasn't been affected by any algo changes over the last 5 years or so.

One site getting hammered is hardly Google "killing niche sites".

You're an outlier. At least 80% of niche sites got destroyed in the recent updates. And no, it's not about whether your site has or doesn't have quality content.

 

[StrikingViper69]

You're an outlier. At least 80% of niche sites got destroyed in the recent updates. And no, it's not about whether your site has or doesn't have quality content.

What’s the source for that?

 

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[buildpath]

You're an outlier. At least 80% of niche sites got destroyed in the recent updates. And no, it's not about whether your site has or doesn't have quality content.

What do you base that 80% on?

I'm just as tired of the domain reputation abuse (forbes ranking for everything... and so many other parasite plays) but not sure about 80%

Also, yeah, it's definitely not just about quality content vs low quality content. Many subject matter experts got destroyed and replaced by years-old uninformative reddit threads.

 

[MTF]

What’s the source for that?

What do you base that 80% on?

I'm just as tired of the domain reputation abuse (forbes ranking for everything... and so many other parasite plays) but not sure about 80%

Also, yeah, it's definitely not just about quality content vs low quality content. Many subject matter experts got destroyed and replaced by years-old uninformative reddit threads.

There were some threads with polls on the Fat Stacks forum with almost everyone reporting huge drops. I can't post it here but from what I remember the vast majority had huge drops in traffic.

Most niche site gurus also reported huge drops, with many forced to stop relying on SEO whatsoever because they almost stopped getting any traffic.

Then there's Mediavine lowering their traffic requirements to just 10k visitors from 50k in the past. This further shows how much it must have hit publishers that suddenly they decided to accept 5x less traffic.

There's no way to tell exactly how many sites were hit but that's my best guess based on anecdotal evidence.

I have one site that was getting up to 20k visitors a month that's now barely getting 8k and decreasing.

Niche sites are a dead business, at least when relying on SEO.

 

[Oden]

I have a small site that gets about 200 people a day, it hasn't been affected by any algo changes over the last 5 years or so.

One site getting hammered is hardly Google "killing niche sites".

One site? From what I can see, OP gave one example - that doesn't mean that it's the only one.

The latest Google update is the biggest and most impactful one I've seen since Panda. It's definitely killing the "niche site industry". Hence, why every SEO forum is in panic mode right now.

 

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[StrikingViper69]

One site? From what I can see, OP gave one example - that doesn't mean that it's the only one.

Agreed.