In March 2024, Morgan McBride stood in her half-renovated kitchen posing for a photo shoot. The images were for a new Google ad campaign, a celebration of the ways the search engine had empowered her family’s do-it-yourself home improvement site, https://www.charlestoncrafted.com/

, to flourish. Just weeks later, she said, traffic from Google dropped more than 70%.

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McBride had weathered Google algorithm changes before. But this time, the recovery never came. She suspects that more of her readers are getting advice from Google’s AI-generated summaries, which now appear prominently atop many search results  - sometimes giving renovation tips that she says are incorrect or potentially unsafe. “You can’t just sit around waiting for things to turn around,” she said. Advertising revenue on her site has since dropped by 65%, costing her tens of thousands of dollars.

These summaries often draw directly from websites - like Charleston Crafted - but don’t send users to them, according to a report by https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-07/deepseek-and-tsinghua-developing-self-improving-ai-models

. That’s left publishers like Gisele Navarro, managing editor of HouseFresh, watching as her content appears in summaries without translating into clicks or revenue. Internal analytics, which she shared with Bloomberg, show a growing share of impressions without traffic.

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Across the web, independent publishers are reporting similar experiences. The rise of Google’s AI Overviews - which deliver synthesized answers from across the internet - along with a series of search algorithm changes, has upended the traffic patterns many small websites once relied on. Bloomberg, which conducted interviews with 25 publishers and digital experts, found widespread concern that Google’s shifting strategy is unraveling a symbiotic relationship that has powered the internet for years: websites provide helpful content, and Google delivers the audience.

Now, many creators say they’re being cut out of the equation entirely.

According to SEO expert and digital marketer https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/googles-ai-overviews-dominate-74-problem-solving-queries-ghosh--ooknc

(citing a recent study by BrightEdge), Google's AI overviews dominate 74% of problem-solving queries.

Key Insights by Query Category

Analyzing over 100,000 keywords, BrightEdge categorized searches into four types and tracked AI Overviews’ presence:

Problem-Solving Queries: 74% (e.g., “how to fix a leaky faucet”)

Informational Queries: 63% (e.g., “what causes climate change”)

Navigational Queries: 13% (e.g., “Facebook login”)

Transactional Queries: 5% (e.g., “buy running shoes”)

The data suggests Google prioritizes AI-generated answers for complex, research-based searches, while minimally using them for navigational or commercial intent queries.

Impact on Click-Through Rates (CTR)

AI Overviews significantly alter user engagement:

When AI Overviews appear in position #1, organic CTR drops by 25% compared to traditional “blue link” results.

These AI-driven responses dominate visibility, appearing in the top five positions for 87% of queries where they’re triggered.

A Fractured Compact

Google has denied that AI Overviews is the root cause of these sharp traffic declines, saying it is “misleading to make generalizations about the causes” based on individual cases. The company attributes changes in web traffic to seasonal trends, evolving user preferences, and its regular search updates.

Still, evidence of broader disruption is mounting. An analysis by the data firm Similarweb - conducted at Bloomberg’s request - found consistent declines across 67 small publisher sites in categories including lifestyle, travel, DIY, and cooking. Travel sites saw the sharpest losses, coinciding with Google’s introduction of robust AI-generated content in that domain.

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Privately, Google has acknowledged the challenges. In October, the company invited about 20 web creators to its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., for a closed-door meeting. There, according to attendees, Google’s search team apologized and said the sites represented the kind of high-quality content it wanted to highlight. But officials also admitted they could not guarantee a return to previous traffic levels — the search experience had fundamentally changed.

Mike Hardaker, who runs Mountain Weekly News, shared during that meeting that his site had once generated $250,000 in revenue. By late 2024, he was relying on a food bank. “I need to know as a business owner, and personally, if you think there’s a chance that some of our sites have the ability to recover,” he asked at the time. Google’s chief search scientist, Pandu Nayak, apologized - but offered no assurances.

Digital marketing firm Semrush reports the same pattern: more content visibility within Google, but fewer visits to the actual websites.

Raptive, a media company representing over 5,000 creators, estimates publishers could ultimately lose up to 25% of their traffic to AI Overviews. Google, for its part, says it is delivering “high-quality clicks,” but hasn’t released detailed data. BrightEdge, a data firm, found that the top beneficiaries of AI Overviews traffic are giants like Wikipedia, TripAdvisor, and YouTube — the latter being owned by Google itself.

Other changes - such as recipe summaries Google is piloting - are also raising alarms. While some participating food bloggers are receiving compensation, Raptive estimates that overall traffic to food sites could fall by half if the feature is rolled out more broadly.

“The big fear,” said Lisa Bryan, creator of the food site Downshiftology, speaking on behalf of fellow bloggers, “is that Google is severing the relationship that we have with our communities and our audiences.”

The power dynamic between Google and publishers has always been unequal. But some creators say the balance has tipped into unsustainable territory.

“I don’t understand how Google thinks this is sustainable,” said Jake Boly, founder of That Fit Friend, a site that reviews training shoes. “If you drive away all enthusiasts and small publishers, then we’re going to be overrun by spam and the few players who can afford to pay to play.”

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The results, critics say, are already showing. Some AI-generated summaries have surfaced bad or bizarre advice. Laura Longwell of Travel Addicts said Google is recommending places to go to the beach near Philadelphia based on advice from a luggage storage company and a driving school. “The idea that any of that is based on experience or expertise is laughable,” she said.

Google continues to push its EEAT framework — emphasizing Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — but even sites that align with those principles say they are being punished. “For years, Google has had the audacity to gaslight us, saying, ‘Don’t write for search,’” said Hardaker. “Well, then, who am I writing for?”

'Betrayed, That’s the Word'

For some creators, the damage is already irreversible.

Toronto-based couple Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil launched their travel blog The Planet D in 2008. For years, Google Search was their lifeblood, eventually driving 90% of their traffic. When AI Overviews rolled out, traffic dropped by half. It kept falling. Revenue plummeted. They laid off staff. Eventually, they stopped updating the blog.

They’ve since pivoted to YouTube, another Google property, to try and rebuild their audience. But the sting remains.

“I do feel betrayed by Google,” Bouskill said. Corbeil cut in: “Betrayed, that’s the word.”

https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden

Mon, 04/07/2025 - 14:25

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/betrayed-thats-word-small-business-owners-reel-google-ai-destroys-google-search

https://youtu.be/fregObNcHC8

Modern rock icon Kurt Cobain dies by suicide on April 5, 1994. His body was discovered inside his home in Seattle, Washington, three days later by Gary Smith, an electrician, who was installing a security system in the house. Despite indications that Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, killed himself, some skeptics questioned the circumstances of his death and pinned responsibility on his wife, Courtney Love.

https://youtu.be/z9LiPuVRyU8

Cobain’s downward spiral began taking shape in Italy the previous month. He went into a coma and nearly died after mixing champagne and the drug Rohypnol. The public was led to believe that the coma was induced by an accidental heroin overdose, since Cobain had a well-known problem with the drug.

This Day In History: 04/05/1614 - Pocahontas Weds John Rolfe

Fox broadcasting made it's primetime debut with sitcom Married with Children on April 5th as we are told by Russ Mitchell in this video clip from This Day In History. George Washington casted the first Presidential veto on this day as well. Aviation pioneer and billionaire Howard Hughes died in Houston, Texas along with his secret on April 5th. Also, a cease fire was declared between the English colonists and the Powhatan Indian Confederacy on this day when the chief's daughter Pocahontas married colonist John Rolfe.

Back at home in Seattle's Denny-Blaine neighborhood, the police were called to Cobain and Love’s home when he again threatened to kill himself. Although Cobain stated in a 1991 interview that he didn’t believe in guns, the officers confiscated four from his possession. As his wife and friends watched him spin out of control, they attempted to intervene. Cobain mostly ignored their concerns but reluctantly checked into a rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles at the end of March.

On March 30, Cobain walked away from the clinic without informing his family or friends. For the next few days, Love could not locate him and decided to hire a private detective on April 3. The detective made contact with Cobain the following day in Seattle, but Cobain refused to return to Los Angeles.

In the meantime, Cobain had convinced a friend to buy him a gun, claiming he needed it for protection. On April 5, Cobain returned home. He had ingested enough Valium and heroin to reach near-fatal levels. In the apartment above the garage was Cobain’s suicide note, quoting Neil Young’s lyric that it is “better to burn out than to fade away.”

Brian Jones

A founding member of the Rolling Stones, Jones developed a severe substance abuse problem and was forced out of the band in June 1969. The following month, Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool.

Alan Wilson

Wilson headed up the American blues band Canned Heat, which performed Woodstock in 1969. Wilson struggled with mental illness and succumbed to a drug overdose in September 1970.

Jimi Hendrix

Hendrix revolutionized rock and roll as both an artist and a producer during his brief four-year career. He died in London in September 1970, asphyxiating on his own vomit while sleeping.

Janis Joplin

Joplin won over the San Francisco music scene with her bluesy vocals and powerful stage presence. Despite multiple attempts to get clean, she became increasingly addicted to heroin and alcohol and died of a heroin overdose in October 1972.

Jim Morrison

Morrison, the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, died in Paris in July 1971 of a heart attack, apparently caused by a heroin overdose.

Rob McKernan

A founding member of the Grateful Dead, McKernan, did not share his bandmates’ predilection for LSD but his heavy drinking caused him to develop cirrhosis in 1970. By 1972 his poor health prevented him from touring and he died of an internal hemorrhage in March 1973.

Kurt Cobain

Cobain, an icon of the Seattle grunge scene, struggled with mental illness and heroin addiction. He committed suicide in April 1994.

Amy Winehouse

Winehouse, a powerful English singer-songwriter, struggled with alcohol and drug addiction for years. She was found dead in her London apartment in July 2011.

Credits Goes to the respective

Author ✍️/ Photographer📸

🐇 🕳️

#Bitcoin #Freedom #Apocalypse #Music #Movies #Philosophy #Literature #dogstr #islands #scuba #marinelife #architecture

That's the question many have to be asking after a report that over 100 rounds were fired in West Seattle this past Sunday according to https://mynorthwest.com/crime_blotter/west-seattle-shooting/4070008

.

The SPD said in a statement: “On March 30, patrol officers responded to multiple reports of shots fired and property damage near 26th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Brandon Street.”

“When police arrived, all involved parties left the area. They did not locate any victims with injuries, no suspects, or cooperative witnesses,” the report continued.

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Seattle police say a large crowd was gathered for a vigil—likely for a recent South Seattle homicide victim—when gunfire erupted. Officers found over 100 shell casings at the scene.

A detective commented: “There was bullet damage to a nearby RV trailer. There was bullet damage to a house, and there was an abandoned vehicle that was also damaged."

The https://mynorthwest.com/crime_blotter/west-seattle-shooting/4070008

says that SPD suspects Glock switches may have been involved. The Gun Violence Reduction Unit is investigating and processing the scene.

“These glock switches, they’re basically capable of turning a pistol into an automatic machine gun type of a weapon,” the detective continued.

https://cms.zerohedge.com/users/tyler-durden

Wed, 04/02/2025 - 20:30

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/over-100-rounds-fired-during-weekend-shooting-seattle

https://btcprague.com/ #BTC