GenZod

If there are any independent journalists in the media left, now’s a great time to write some stories about Google and its onslaught against bloggers and small websites. For years, Google has been shifting away from its role as a search engine into a promotional platform for Google products and ads. They’ve gradually replaced bloggers and niche site owners in the search results with their own indexed content, widgets, and now Generative AI— all of which were taken from website owners without their consent. Slowly but surely, Google has encroached on the “middle man,” those of us who create valuable, long-form content in return for a small share of ad revenue. That is, until recently, when Google decided to go full speed ahead and put the final nail in the coffin for small businesses… In the recent Google algorithm updates, they’ve decided to further tilt the scale in favor of a handful of major publications, under the pretense of promoting “helpful content.” If Google were actually trying to serve users helpful content, they wouldn’t be placing four sponsored ads at the top of the search results, nor would they be giving preferential treatment to big sites with lean content and general, rehashed advice rather than firsthand experience. Not to mention the crazy amounts of spam all of us have been seeing in the SERPs. There’s a big difference between what Google says it wants versus what we are seeing in real time. And sadly, this is becoming devastating for small businesses... What is happening right now is basically the equivalent of Amazon decimating brick & mortar businesses. But unlike that issue, which has had lots of airtime, there haven’t been any legacy media companies covering this story. There ought to be at least some media coverage here, as it is negatively impacting millions of people. Right now, the majority of news about Google is overwhelmingly positive. Most of what I’m seeing is favorable articles about new Google features and products. How about an article where we call a spade a spade: Google is too large and powerful, and it needs to be reigned in. A monopoly like Google, left unchecked, will dominate the online ecosystem to the maximum extent possible. It will do so at the expense of any and all other stakeholders that stand in the way of Google maximizing its profits. This includes legacy media and major corporations; they won’t be in Google’s good graces forever… This is a much bigger issue than just the livelihood of small businesses: Google is attempting to dominate the conversation and shut out any and all voices who aren’t “paying to play” in the Google ecosystem. They are stifling fair and equal competition, which hurts EVERYONE in the long run, including the reader/consumer- who will only be served the most mainstream, general & unhelpful content. In a time when mistrust of the corporate media is at an all-time high, we need journalists to step forward and assert their independence from the big corporate megaliths. We don’t want a biased hit piece against Google (or its people) either; we simply want someone to come in and cover the facts of what’s actually happening. That way, we can spread awareness to save small businesses. And so I ask journalists: are you going to speak out and show your independence from big corporate powers like Google? Or will you ignore what’s happening and reinforce the idea that media companies are owned and controlled by big business (after all- who owns the Washington Post?) Whatever happened to holding truth to power? If that is still a core value of media publications, now is a good time to do some investigative journalism. We need you and the world needs you.