There’s been lots of talk about how AI will impact Google Search and now we can know what it will look like.
Take a look at this Search Engine Journal article to see what it’s about.
I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on how they think it will affect the food blog space!
@taryn I am very concerned that it will have a major impact on people getting to our blogs. If you are ranked 1 and you have an AI thing first, you will probably still get clicks but will lose potential clicks. CTR may go down a lot.
If that happens to all of us to some degree across the board, how do our ad companies respond? If there is a net traffic loss for all blogs, they will lose money.
So if we end up getting less traffic for each individual post, then do we need way more posts overall to make it up for the loss?
I am trying to decide how to focus my energy. I have seen traffic drops recently and RPM decline so I have been trying to go pretty hard on updating posts and creating new ones. But I am wondering if that is going to be enough or do I need to re-focus the business altogether without Google in mind.
That would involve:
All of those things I listed are good things, but the day is only so long and for me in the month of June I am going to have limited time to work because of a situation we have to deal with outside of working. It’s deciding where the time should be spend.
To be transparent, the way this month is going so far, we are looking at a budget shortfall in August. And if it doesn’t turn around or worsens because of the changes with Google, we will blow through our savings by Thanksgiving.
I have been doing this for 13+ years, not going to throw in the towel anytime soon, it’s trying to figure out what to do next in response to this.
Buckle up, it’s going to be a fun ride! Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, so we may as well learn from it and enjoy it a little, too.
I just listened to a podcast episode this morning about how focusing on the worries will bring us the worries. I refuse to focus on the things that could be bad for us in this situation. Instead I’ll focus on how it can help us as content creators (and humans) and let the rest fall into place.
And yes, it’s always good to diversify but that has always been the case. Nothing is guaranteed, ever!
I hear what you’re saying @eatlikenooneelse - I think all of those things you listed are great to focus on but I get that finding the time can be the hard part. I’ve been switching my focus to doing my money-making tasks first thing in the day and leaving more admin tasks to the end of the day so that I don’t get distracted from the tasks that are bring in the revenue.
It will be interesting, but I do tend to view it more as @megan does, looking at it optimistically and from a learning perspective. I think it will force change in the food blogging world, but I don’t think we will be affected first. I think the type of sites that just answer questions (what is the difference between this steak and that one) versus teach someone how to do something (like a recipe for a reverse seared NY steak) will be hit harder. At least at the beginning.
Change is the only constant! 
@eatlikenooneelse I think these are valid concerns. It is hard for me not to read articles like this and wonder what the future holds.
@megan and @taryn are right, we can try to be optimistic and diversify as much as possible to offset whatever effects we may see, and watch what unfolds as this moves forward.
When I read this same article myself today before seeing it shared in the forum, I could not help but come to a few conclusions.
I really believe Google is shooting itself in the foot here for a few reasons.
One, unless these AI search results are themselves monetized with Google ads, they will lose ad revenue because no one is clicking on monetized sites (monetized with Google ads, anyway).
Two, I think Google is very shortsighted in assuming that users will be ok with a bunch of AI generated answers that are not accurate. What is to stop a user from going back to search for information that is actually helpful? How long before no one is using the AI generated info given because they feel it is not trustworthy?
Google itself is always stressing to us that we have to be the best answer to a query. Is it a bit hypocritical that they will allow AI to throw a bunch of stuff at a wall to see what sticks as the answer to a question, but we can’t do that because our content won’t rank if we do? I think it is definitely hypocritical.
Once users realize they are not being given the information they seek, will they lose respect for Google? Maybe they should. At that point, what’s to stop them from using a different search engine?
Never mind that fact that AI gets its info from all across the web, in essence scraping sites and stealing content written by others to then in turn give an answer to a question. That is a slippery slope to say the least.
Also, I think those who are pushing this type of solution are figuring that no one will care that the human element is being removed from the equation. Users may want “just the recipe and no fluff” but I am sure they want a recipe cooked and tested by a real person, not pulled out of thin air by a robot. People also want to read about real experiences, not something dreamed up by a machine. You can go to the Grand Canyon and write a genuine article about the trip, AI will never be able to do that. AI also has no clue what the best pasta is to use for chicken noodle soup, but we as real people can provide that.
All of that being said, it is my hope that AI will bring us back full circle to what really matters: human connection. This technology may be able to learn, but it will never be human, ever.
Besides, all of us in this forum know that all the nasty internet trolls out there want to rip up a real person’s recipe, not yell at a robot from the safety of their keyboard
I don’t think it will happen right away, but I suspect that AI may not turn out the way Google wants it to, because too many of us don’t want to interact with a machine. I certainly don’t intend to slam Google in this response either. I just don’t think they are thinking things through with what they are doing.
I did not intend for that to be so long, but I really do think that this may be a failed experiment. At least that is what I hope.
LOVE this super thoughtful assessment and reply @thecoppertable ! I think you’re right that it may just all circle back around to their own standards in the end. Rolling with the punches… 
You bring up some really good points @thecoppertable. At the very least it’s going to be an interesting ride.
Megan-
Can you please share the podcast you listened to about worries? I would like to listen to it! Thanks!
Thank you for sharing the link with me! I appreciate it!