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Google is dead. Where do we go now?

circusscientist.com

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Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#141

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

senthil_rajasek wrote: post #43

I think the author intended the title to be, "Google Ads is dead, Where do I promote my business now?" When I hear "Google" I assume search, oof (sigh of relief). They mention running ads on tiktok or instagram but no mention of youtube ads... Also, In my own experience for my business ( also entertainment) I have found reddit ads to be useful. So my next steps would be, Reddit Ads Youtube Ads Instagram Ads Increase…

Hm good point but if one were to try to reach visibility via let's say contacting the creators themselves or making reddit showcases themselves?

I am not sure what might work better, sponsorships or Ads. Of course some are definitely icky sponsorships but if one were to align with small youtubers who develop their own things and you enjoy their content and there might be an overlap etc.

I personally have an ad blocker so I don't really know what might work for. I guess organic marketing? But how does one achieve it?

Any good books / ideas on more sustainable forms of marketing aside from paying the large corporations a sort of land tax basically?

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#142

Post by muppetman »

Might this not also be the fact that given the cost of living the world over, being able to afford a fancy party with entertainment like the poster provides is a luxury few can afford now? We used to eat out a lot more (Saturday lunch at a cafe I mean) and also used to get HelloFresh and other such services, but as the cost of them has gone up way faster than our salaries, we've had to reign them all back. I agree with the "Google is dying" sentiment for sure, but I also wonder how much is just being unable to afford nice things anymore.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#143

Post by relaxing »

dana321 wrote: post #24

Haha no wonder, check out the website its dodgy as f. https://bigtop.co.za/

I agree, that site looks like the owners lack basic self-awareness. Surely they must use the modern internet and recognize the difference?

And if they’re unable to invest in their site or they’re simply shut out of the modern world, I’d assume the same applies to other aspects of their business as well.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#144

Post by esseph »

echelon wrote: post #87
AznHisoka wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AI SEO is where the attention is going, with ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini/Google AI Overviews replacing the need for people to visit websites

It's unnatural to search an LLM for a product. It's why Alexa never became a shopping portal. Best way to get the word out about a product now is through an influencer in the space. -- Edit: Show of hands for anyone using ChatGPT to shop. Be honest. People don't even use Google to shop. They try to find something either (1) by brand name, eg. "iphone" or (2) generically by category, eg. "best cold weather tent". In t…

I have used LLMs to find dozens and dozens of products when I didn't know the proper name for the solution or what to look for.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#145

Post by samtp »

HawtAds wrote: post #32
tomjuggler wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol wish I could afford to "fill up Tiktok with ads"! Seriously though, I always felt like Google AdWords (we only used the search network) are the most honest way. Someone searches for what you offer and they see your ad. With these other platforms it's more about relying on the algorithm.

Google ads are the cheapest yes, but depending on your audience they may not be looking on Google now. For ChatGPT (and similar) you need to have a strong FAQ page and lots of content marketing to increase the likelihood of being the suggested answer when a user asks ChatGPT a relevant question (it's a highly probabilistic system, look up AEO/GEO). CloudFlare for example offers an option to block AI scraping bots by…

Google Search Ads are usually the most expensive on a CPC basis out of the big platforms, but usually the CPA is much lower (even though Bing Ads can often be better value). This is usually because of 2 reasons:

1. You can target a specific part of the funnel (informational -> purchase intent) in search ads. Targeting on social networks is more about overall user profiles rather than their immediate state of mind.

2. People going to a search engine expect to leave that search engine to go to another website. Whereas people on a social network expect to stay in that portal. So clicking on an ad then doing something after is a more natural flow (and better value for advertisers).

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#146

Post by tomjuggler »

austinpena wrote: post #85

A few things to determine if what you're experiencing is actually Google "being dead" 1. Check your search volume. Use Google Trends or the method I will share below. 2. Check how you spent in December vs how you spent during a previously great time. Understand if it's a volume issue or a conversion issue 3. See if anyone new entered your auction. If they did, find out what they're saying -- 1a) Search Volume Checkin…

Thanks for the info. Will definitely be doing a post mortem after I finish scrambling for new work opportunities

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#148

Post by esseph »

bdangubic wrote: post #53
senthil_rajasek wrote: post #43

I think the author intended the title to be, "Google Ads is dead, Where do I promote my business now?" When I hear "Google" I assume search, oof (sigh of relief). They mention running ads on tiktok or instagram but no mention of youtube ads... Also, In my own experience for my business ( also entertainment) I have found reddit ads to be useful. So my next steps would be, Reddit Ads Youtube Ads Instagram Ads Increase…

> When I hear "Google" I assume search, oof (sigh of relief). If Google Ads is dead/dying the search is soon to follow...

Gemini is the new search.

Re: Google is dead. Where do we go now?

#149

Post by observationist »

btbuildem wrote: post #124
observationist wrote: post #72

Oh no, adtech is dying. I guess we'll all have to compete through quality of products and services and not gaming a rigged system designed to reward anything that maximizes the profit of the global surveillance adtech machine. This gives me warm fuzzy feelings. It's nowhere near good, but this is better than it was.

I wish that were true, but I don't think it's dying, I think it's metastasizing. Ads will ingress deeper into what were trusted layers -- embedded in text and video in a seemingly organic way. GenAI tools make this possible -- to splice a 20 second mention of something into a stream, or rewrite a paragraph injecting a subtle product placement. We will develop new mental antibodies for this, we always do. Silver linin…

The biggest problem is platform scale, imo - platforms grow so big as to make the network effects confer an invulnerability to regulation or moderation, and then get exploited to squash competition, either through legal action, acquisition, suppression, or sometimes simple inertia. Ubiquitous reach and total control over the platform made it irresistible to bad faith operators, politicians, activists, and rent-seekers. AI has a good shot at completely fragmenting those technologies at a fundamental level.

We should be resisting any ad injection into ChatGPT, Claude, etc maintaining a firewall between what's acceptable in a paid product and what's not, and as long as open source Chinese models roughly keep parity, the big US labs can't pivot hard into exploiting users for ad revenues. Private hosting and bots are almost as good as ChatGPT with UI and UX, within a few percentage points as good in capabilities, and the pressure to go elsewhere is minimal. If they drive off a whole lot of independence minded users, they risk creating a community of people who'll create a very slick, workable alternative, while paying only a tenth or less what the frontier labs charge. As long as that dynamic cripples the efforts of big labs to enshittify, there's a good shot that the entire ecosystem fundamentally evolves to something better. I hope, anyway - it could just explode into a grotesque mess of user exploitation and yet more of the same.

I think at some point you'll be able to have good-enough AI on your phone to carry everywhere you go, and it'll do all the ad filtering and opsec and digital hygiene for you - everyone will have a high quality competent tech nerd in their pocket looking out for their best interests, and it won't just be a niche rebel nerd thing anymore.

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