Obsessed With Content, Community & Search Engines

The Open Web Is Closed For Business

The Open Web Is Closed For Business

Since I was public about my experience with Google amongst my (and Retro Dodo’s) social channels I have had the incredible opportunity to talk with many individuals about the state of the web and what’s to come over the next few years.

It’s safe to say there is a storm brewing and while Google is at the forefront of this storm the entire web and social media platforms for that matter will come into battle, and it’s not going to be pretty.

I cannot share with who’m I have spoken to over the last few months, but what I can share is that I am certainly out of my depth. I have been on calls with some very important folks who are working at some of the largest companies in the world. Heck, I have even had the chance to talk with Google themselves.

Hours upon hours have gone by talking with people that are far more intelligent than I, and whom have far more information about the state of the web than I.

It has given me an unbelievable opportunity to ask questions and learn about the state of the web from people that have studied the web their entire lives. The only issue that I have with this, is that the most common opinion that comes from these calls is that the web is in big trouble.

One person from a meeting even stated: “Google is in big trouble, they are a wounded animal left in the wilderness and the real attack hasn’t even started yet”.

It’s obvious that the internet is now a place of bias. It is no longer the open web and should probably start to be called the closed web.

Search engines are prioritising profits over people and social media is a serpent that is trained to drain every minute of your attention from your day. With each week that passes, both of these ecosystems become smarter and smarter, and we as users sub-consciously cannot see it.

But with the recent Google algorithm changes it’s obvious that publishers and even the users can now see how Google and Social Media are damaging the web and their own health.

I have taken away a few things from over 30+ meetings in the last few months:

  • Google is in trouble, and they themselves are not sure how to fix it.
  • Independent Publishers need to adapt, and fast because changes to the algorithm won’t happen anytime soon. Build products, events and memberships just to stay afloat.
  • Over the next few years the world will quickly understand how damaging social media really is, with mass users lowering use and even deleting the apps entirely.
  • Within the next 5 years Google will be beaten to the bone with lawsuits becoming a brand that many will despise.

For me, I think it’s obvious that Retro Dodo will become a small passion project of mine, instead of a fully functioning, and profitable media company.

Not only because it’s the way the internet works now, but because I am slowly losing my love for it. For our content to be seen I have to remove all creativity from it. I simply need to build content that fits the template of the channel that it is shown.

Followers don’t see our content anymore, algorithms hate us because we’re small and AI is on our tail duplicating everything we do, alongside media companies using their size to remove us from search engines.

There is no longer any incentive for me to create anymore. Nobody can see what I build, and there’s no money in it so that I can afford to spend time on it because I won’t succumb to using AI tools, or take on investments from corporate giants.

The future of the web is bleak, and deep down I don’t want to be apart of it. I want to create again the way I want to create, I want to ignite the creativity that I once loved, which means I may have to craft a new path entirely, at a time when I am most vulnerable financially and mentally.