OP, I understand your pain.
A lot of link sellers got destroyed because of the recent updates.
It's not just the March update.
This has been going on for quite some time.
Link sales are going down because of the fact that a lot of link sellers simply just resurrect expired domains.
As you can tell from Google's recent proclamation regarding their attitude towards expired domains, that way of link building is pretty much over.
Link networks that survive the current carnage are probably not going to hold out all that much longer.
Eventually, they will be found and they will be penalized and dealt with accordingly.
This is not the only way to build backlinks.
You can use press releases the way they were intended to be used and earn links instead.
If anything, Google updates and the penalties that come with them simply remind us again and again who our real customer is.
If you're a publisher, your customer is the person that you are trying to get to read your content.
Deliver value.
Google understands this, and that's why they reward people that share their mission.
If you're looking for shortcuts and if you're looking for quick and easy free traffic methods, that's gonna go away.
In fact, Google's whole business model might go away because of ChatGPT and changing consumer expectations regarding what constitutes a search result.
The current model involves a list of links, and that's why publishers like ourselves make money.
But that's going away soon once consumers expect one answer.
Get ready for that.
What we're doing right now is just basically rearranging deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.
Focus on the fact that the ship is sinking.
Usually, when there is a tremendous change in any industry, there's also a tremendous amount of opportunities.
Think in terms of data mining.
Think in terms of data training.
Think in terms of niche specialization regarding specialized information.
Think about being a data middle person.
There's just so many different windows opening even though it's obvious that a lot of tried-and-proven income doors are now shutting or have already firmly shut.
