What happened to seo?

drwho1

drwho1

Regular Member
Jr. VIP
Joined
Jun 19, 2011
Messages
242
Reaction score
123
I dipped out of SEO a while and I came back and all it is is a race to the bottom. People sending me url lists of guests posts on dead sites with outdated or fake metrics. Selling me niche edits on "high quality" authority sites and its in a article that doesnt have anything to do with my keyword. I want press release syndications, I get the list and its fake news site subdomains. I tell them and then they dip. Prices dont dictate quality anymore. People on here regurgitating useless 2016 talking points, high fives for misinformation. Can someone give me an update?
 
Advertise on BHW
The usual common SEO techniques are dead and people haven't found a proper upgrade to them.
 
TheSplinter said:
The usual common SEO techniques are dead and people haven't found a proper upgrade to them.
Click to expand...
I think in the AI race, SEO has suffered the most.
 
It really has become a race to the bottom with those automated lists. The fake news subdomains are especially annoying because they look great on paper but provide zero actual authority. I've found that the only way to stay sane in 2026 is to ignore the mass-produced lists entirely and focus on manual outreach to sites with real, verifiable traffic even if the metrics don't look as shiny.
 
Many sellers are trying to fool the beginners. The term quality is subjective and it's difficult to assess the quality even for experienced marketers. So, this business will last as long as Google relies on backlinks to rank sites. AI already left a dent and people couldn't figure out shortcuts to rank on LLMs. Things can only get worse over time.
 
drwho1 said:
I dipped out of SEO a while and I came back and all it is is a race to the bottom. People sending me url lists of guests posts on dead sites with outdated or fake metrics. Selling me niche edits on "high quality" authority sites and its in a article that doesnt have anything to do with my keyword. I want press release syndications, I get the list and its fake news site subdomains. I tell them and then they dip. Prices dont dictate quality anymore. People on here regurgitating useless 2016 talking points, high fives for misinformation. Can someone give me an update?
Click to expand...
Nowadays, many people are moving toward automation, and even content is being created by AI. As a result, it has become quite difficult to find truly high-quality services.
 
It's a long time problem, namely of many buyers not wanting to do the manual work of SEO, be it black or white hat. They want 'packages' where the magic good backlinks have been found for them, and can be purchased like a loaf of bread off the shelf, or other varieties of automated services that can be delivered in hours or days, instead of months. This kind of demand, both before AI and now during the AI boom, has driven down their expectations about prices, and can only be offset by asking service providers what they specifically do manually, and how long it takes. Without that clarification, expect to get mostly automated lists, links or content.
 
A lot of SEO turned into selling “metrics” instead of real results.

DR, fake traffic, recycled sites, looks good on paper, does nothing.

What actually works now is simpler,
real sites, real relevance, and actual traffic.
 
Great points everyone. The pattern I see is people don't ask the right questions, and when they do they take any answers like they are gospel and don't do DD on their own. I contact providers and get url lists before I even spend a dime. Run them through ahrefs or just look at the urls in general. diyhomeimprovement1c83c.wordpress.com, $40 guest post? Or I'll blast your url to 100 sites and give you ******** backlinks on a dr49 site that isnt indexed and has russian casino links pointing to it. Guest post farms are the worst offenders.
 
all people use ai content so Seo is being dead. Users can understand ai contens already.
 
With such fierce competition right now, they need quantity over quality to compete.
 
I took a brand new site from registered to 11k impressions in 30 days with less than 12 links. When you say quantity, what do you mean?
 
The shift to AI content is definitely changing the game, but it's not like SEO is dead, it's just evolving. What I've seen is that sites with high-quality, relevant content are still performing noticeably better, even with AI-generated content on the scene. The silo idea makes sense but it's not just about siloing, it's about creating a real user experience, which is what Google's E-E-A-T is all about. Creating relevant topics that actually get traffic is key, and using Master Prompts to generate content can help bypass AI detectors. The problem is that most sellers are taking the easy way out and blasting lazy AI spam, which is why it's so important to audit sites and research highly relevant topics. It's about quality over quantity, and in my experience, that's what sets the real SEO experts apart from the rest.
 
Page 1 for so many I cant keep track of. 1 article is number 2 to Anthropic. I take up like 6 spots on page one for my brand, a persons name along with 3 images. I have multiple pages ranked for the same keyword. Google is broken right now gsc is like 37 hours behind so I don't know what the last couple days are like. Google indexes my content instantly and is the top 100 within 24 hours for most new content. I know what google wants. I am good at pattern recognition. This is in the AI niche. I get normally 1-2 clicks from google a day sometimes more. The site is still google dancing.
 
drwho1 said:
I dipped out of SEO a while and I came back and all it is is a race to the bottom. People sending me url lists of guests posts on dead sites with outdated or fake metrics. Selling me niche edits on "high quality" authority sites and its in a article that doesnt have anything to do with my keyword. I want press release syndications, I get the list and its fake news site subdomains. I tell them and then they dip. Prices dont dictate quality anymore. People on here regurgitating useless 2016 talking points, high fives for misinformation. Can someone give me an update?
Click to expand...
To be honest, that is great.
This keeps SEO competitive; the more people apply 2016 talking points, the more actual researchers and engineers will be able to rank.
 
Testing shows me that pages 2 and on are 90%+ bot activity. Even the bottom of page 1 is bot's. Once you hit #5 or higher the clicks start flowing. Im creating a sub niche in ai with my persistent memory ai persona with a tiered external memory structure.
 
yeah, you’re right… a lot of it is low quality and recycled. what works now is simple, fewer but better links on real sites with real traffic. random guest posts and spam don’t move rankings anymore.. content and intent matter more now, you can’t rely on links alone.
 
drwho1 said:
I dipped out of SEO a while and I came back and all it is is a race to the bottom. People sending me url lists of guests posts on dead sites with outdated or fake metrics. Selling me niche edits on "high quality" authority sites and its in a article that doesnt have anything to do with my keyword. I want press release syndications, I get the list and its fake news site subdomains. I tell them and then they dip. Prices dont dictate quality anymore. People on here regurgitating useless 2016 talking points, high fives for misinformation. Can someone give me an update?
Click to expand...
SEO hasn’t disappeared it’s just evolved a lot... simple tricks don’t work like before and search engines focus more on quality and intent now.sites that actually help users and build trust are still doing well it just takes more effort than it used to.....
 
The much of the new content has split into fake metrics and AI slop. The only things still works is actually building domain authority.
 
drwho1 said:
I dipped out of SEO a while and I came back and all it is is a race to the bottom. People sending me url lists of guests posts on dead sites with outdated or fake metrics. Selling me niche edits on "high quality" authority sites and its in a article that doesnt have anything to do with my keyword. I want press release syndications, I get the list and its fake news site subdomains. I tell them and then they dip. Prices dont dictate quality anymore. People on here regurgitating useless 2016 talking points, high fives for misinformation. Can someone give me an update?
Click to expand...
Im really disappointed with market u see SEO has changed a lot. lots of people are offering low quality links that dont help. Fake metrics and irrelevant sites are common so you have to check everything carefully. Focus on real relevant content and trusted sources instead of chasing outdated tricks.
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top