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Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

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Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#121

Post by vkou »

afavour wrote: post #87
Aboutplants wrote: post #48

If you’ve visited any of these sites recently it’s obvious that part of the issue is that you’re bombarded with pops, ads everywhere, autoplaying video, etc. It’s nauseating and a horrible user experience. If all I’m looking for is straightforward content/info then I’m naturally using the most efficient way to get that content/information and visiting a website is not the most efficient way anymore

It's a downward spiral. As views start to decline there's more pressure to make money from the views that remain.

If views increased, there'd also be more pressure to make more money from them.

The direction of views is irrelevant. What's relevant is the forward passage of time. As t -> infinity, shitty monetization -> infinity.

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#122

Post by unglaublich »

Aboutplants wrote: post #48

If you’ve visited any of these sites recently it’s obvious that part of the issue is that you’re bombarded with pops, ads everywhere, autoplaying video, etc. It’s nauseating and a horrible user experience. If all I’m looking for is straightforward content/info then I’m naturally using the most efficient way to get that content/information and visiting a website is not the most efficient way anymore

Is anyone here actually browsing the internet without ad-blockers?

As soon as I accidentally turn them off I am disgusted by the consumerist, snake-oil, sexist, shit-storm that's advertisement.

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#123

Post by vel0city »

dehrmann wrote: post #78
xrd wrote: post #5

I recently replaced a power supply to upgrade a GPU. I bought the power supply on Cragslist, so it had a jumble of cables and no manual. In the past I would have read an article that I would have found on one of those sites. This time I conversed entirely with Gemini, sending pictures of the cables and of the components and the motherboard. I'll not soon forget when I plugged in a cable incorrectly and sent an image…

> I'll not soon forget when I plugged in a cable incorrectly I'm surprised this was a problem. Back in the day, there were things like making sure your two very similar AT power connectors had the black wires next to each other, not forcing in a molex connector upside down, or the same for ribbon cables. These days? The connectors are standardized and keyed, as long as your modular PSU vendor didn't get lazy on their…

FWIW, things are standardized and keyed on the ATX board side of things. They aren't standardized on the power supply side of a modular power supply. Unless you've absolutely confirmed pinouts, never swap cables between modular power supplies. Fitment doesn't imply its actually going to put the right voltage on the right pins. Even within the same manufacturer pinouts have sometimes been different between models!

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#124

Post by tencentshill »

wildrhythms wrote: post #64
Aboutplants wrote: post #48

If you’ve visited any of these sites recently it’s obvious that part of the issue is that you’re bombarded with pops, ads everywhere, autoplaying video, etc. It’s nauseating and a horrible user experience. If all I’m looking for is straightforward content/info then I’m naturally using the most efficient way to get that content/information and visiting a website is not the most efficient way anymore

These news sites run ads that are borderline gore, disturbing images promoting snake oil weight loss or skin care treatments, and wonder why nobody wants to click into their site.

That's bottom of the barrel advertisers. You're being punished because you likely don't allow them to track you.

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#125

Post by visarga »

wildrhythms wrote: post #64
Aboutplants wrote: post #48

If you’ve visited any of these sites recently it’s obvious that part of the issue is that you’re bombarded with pops, ads everywhere, autoplaying video, etc. It’s nauseating and a horrible user experience. If all I’m looking for is straightforward content/info then I’m naturally using the most efficient way to get that content/information and visiting a website is not the most efficient way anymore

These news sites run ads that are borderline gore, disturbing images promoting snake oil weight loss or skin care treatments, and wonder why nobody wants to click into their site.

> These news sites run ads that are borderline gore, disturbing images promoting snake oil weight loss or skin care treatments

And that doesn't raise an eye brow, but well worded AI articles based on sources is described as slop

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#126

Post by zeta0134 »

tencentshill wrote: post #124
wildrhythms wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These news sites run ads that are borderline gore, disturbing images promoting snake oil weight loss or skin care treatments, and wonder why nobody wants to click into their site.

That's bottom of the barrel advertisers. You're being punished because you likely don't allow them to track you.

That the news sites allow bottom of the barrel advertisers on their site primarily reflects negatively on the news site, for not curating their partnerships. They decided to become a tabloid, and should lose an according amount of respect.

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#127

Post by ugh123 »

Aboutplants wrote: post #48

If you’ve visited any of these sites recently it’s obvious that part of the issue is that you’re bombarded with pops, ads everywhere, autoplaying video, etc. It’s nauseating and a horrible user experience. If all I’m looking for is straightforward content/info then I’m naturally using the most efficient way to get that content/information and visiting a website is not the most efficient way anymore

Add to that cookie accept popups and the www has really turned to junk lately

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#128

Post by ArcHound »

daxfohl wrote: post #112
daxfohl wrote: post #106

So, soon the sources will be out of business and the LLMs will have no information to look up. I guess the future model is, LLMs pay for raw data and news to ingest and use on demand, and ignore the "free" internet. That seems like a good landing point, where quality info is rewarded and cheap spin is not. Of course cheap spin will continue to be produced, but hopefully won't be baked into the system.

A potential corollary: companies that offer a single service of high quality will be preferred by AI agents. Companies that cobble together low quality services will be replaced by agents that integrate high quality services on demand. The business model of "core service plus add-on services" will also be diminished, as low quality add-ons will be replaced by on-demand integration with higher quality equivalents or A…

That all sounds nice, but I can't really see AI companies paying for content.

Putting morals and previous experience aside, they would need massive investment to people producing massive volumes of high quality content for training.

Re: Most-read tech publications have lost over half their Google traffic since 2024

#130

Post by shawn_w »

unglaublich wrote: post #122
Aboutplants wrote: post #48

If you’ve visited any of these sites recently it’s obvious that part of the issue is that you’re bombarded with pops, ads everywhere, autoplaying video, etc. It’s nauseating and a horrible user experience. If all I’m looking for is straightforward content/info then I’m naturally using the most efficient way to get that content/information and visiting a website is not the most efficient way anymore

Is anyone here actually browsing the internet without ad-blockers? As soon as I accidentally turn them off I am disgusted by the consumerist, snake-oil, sexist, shit-storm that's advertisement.

The average viewer probably doesn't know ad blockers exist.
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