The long tail is fighting for its life.
Thousands of independent web publishers are facing an existential crisis. Massive macro changes instituted by online platforms are transforming how people navigate the web and how content is produced and monetized, threatening the very existence of the open internet.
Google has once again delayed Chrome’s third-party cookie phaseout. But that decision offers little comfort to small publishers that have seen traffic plummet due to changes to Google’s search algorithm.
And last week’s announcement that Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is rolling out its AI Overviews feature to all US users is cause for even more concern.
Many of these changes are designed, allegedly, to better the web. But they’ve left publishers feeling confused, helpless and ignored.
We can’t allow Google’s cookie drama and ongoing court cases to distract from moves it’s been making on search that have threatened fair play on the web. Even if the industry finds a way to replace the cookie, it won’t matter if publishers no longer have traffic to monetize.
Unhelpful content updates
According to Search Engine Land, Google’s helpful content updates (HCU) – which started in 2022 and became part of Google Search’s core update cadence this year – are aimed at cracking down on “content that seems to have been primarily created for ranking well in search engines rather than to help or inform people.”
As reported in AdExchanger, these updates to Google’s algorithm are ostensibly aimed at pushing junk content and publishers looking to game search results down the search rankings.
Sounds reasonable. Who wouldn’t like to see those nonsense sites cluttering up search engines fall by the wayside?
Yet Google deployed its original HCU and subsequent search changes in ways that hurt smaller websites, keeping more traffic locked within Google’s well-monetized walled garden.
The HCU Google launched in September seems to have had a particularly detrimental effect on search referrals. Couple algorithm updates with last week’s addition of AI search, and the results go from detrimental to disastrous for independent publishers.
Gartner predicts that, by 2026, publishers’ search engine volume will drop by 25%. But some publishers’ traffic shortfalls already dwarf that estimation.
Search engine optimization has long been crucial to bloggers as they look to capture audiences and brands when people search for things like “packing tips for Prague” or “best chicken tetrazzini recipes.”
Under the updates, these publishers are losing traffic. They’re being told their content is “unhelpful” despite years of exceptional performance.
Evolution of traffic patterns
Instead of sending users to trusted, specialized publisher sites, Google drives traffic to user-generated content platforms. Publishers’ content has plummeted in search rankings in favor of older or crowd-sourced results from Reddit (which has a paid partnership with Google) or Google-owned-and-operated YouTube.
Plus, Google is building its capabilities for displaying article-length content directly within search results, delivered via SGE, rather than linking people to publisher domains.
Just as Google has incorporated movie times and weather forecasts into its search results, the company has found even more ways to siphon traffic away from independent publishers.
Some niche sites appear to be targeted by Google directly due to their inclusion of affiliate links, even as other, large-scale outlets are permitted to continue their affiliate marketing efforts unimpeded.
This shift has not only harmed smaller sites’ businesses but has also left them in the dark about how to move forward. Multiple sites within Mediavine’s network have implemented changes to their content – as recommended by Google’s update notes – and have not seen traffic return to pre-update levels.
To say this process has been frustrating – if not scary – for independent publishers is an understatement. This is especially true for small publishers that only find out about changes after the fact, while large publishers have better access to guidance from Google.
Strength in numbers
It’s time that the digital advertising and publishing worlds come together to raise these issues collectively and demonstrate their support for publishers.
That means ad buyers need to be true to their words by focusing on trusted partners, as well as supporting diverse voices and content. Brands must recognize their unique ability – and responsibility – to protect independent creators while preventing the proliferation of homogenized, AI-produced content.
Moreover, that means industry trade bodies such as the ANA and IAB must use their powerful voices to both rally the industry and raise awareness among lawmakers about this very real crisis for the open web.
Publishers can’t afford to wait. And neither can the rest of us. The fate of the open internet as we know it is at stake.
“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community.
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