In a recent initiative to address the concerns of content creators, Mike Hardaker, Founder and Publisher of Mountain Weekly News, spent a day at Google’s Mountain View campus along with other creators to discuss the impact of recent algorithm updates on independent publishers.
Image Courtesy: https://mike-hardaker.com/
The event titled Google Creator Event aims to provide a platform for genuine content creators affected by updates like the Helpful Content Update (HCU), which have significantly impacted website traffic and visibility.
Mountain Weekly News, known for its honest gear reviews for outdoor adventurers, once held a strong presence with over 50K keywords ranking on Google in the US and an estimated 32K monthly visits in the US.
However, following the HCU update, those numbers plummeted to 7,640 keywords and a mere 272 monthly organic visits. Though the site saw a brief recovery in September 2024, its rankings and traffic are once again on a downward trend.
Hardaker in a blog published yesterday said that he shared the struggles faced by small publishers, recounting this severe traffic drop despite maintaining quality content standards.
His blog says, “I want to trust in Google, I want to trust in the process but this is really scary as a publisher and content creator,” highlighting the real uncertainty content creators feel with these ongoing fluctuations.
Google representatives, including Danny Sullivan and Pandu Nayak, engaged with Hardaker, expressing empathy but caution.
Nayak stated, “I am very, very sorry for you…I can’t also give you any guarantees about recovery,” pointing to the unpredictable nature of algorithmic changes.
Nayak also emphasized, “We are focused on things for our users; that is not going to change,” underscoring Google’s priority on user-centric improvements.
This session follows Stan Ventures’ earlier report on Brandon Saltalamacchia, Founder of Retro Dodo, who met with Google after experiencing similar challenges with the HCU update.
Despite his efforts, Retro Dodo has yet to regain its previous traffic levels, emphasizing the difficulties in recovering from such updates.
As Hardaker noted, “It’s not healthy for the entire web ecosystem to have large sites taking all the share of voice from smaller, independent content creators.”
As Google continues to engage with publishers like Hardaker and Saltalamacchia, the industry eagerly watches for changes that could restore visibility for content-rich, authentic sites.
Dileep Thekkethil
AuthorDileep Thekkethil is the Director of Marketing at Stan Ventures, where he applies over 15 years of SEO and digital marketing expertise to drive growth and authority. A former journalist with six years of experience, he combines strategic storytelling with technical know-how to help brands navigate the shift toward AI-driven search and generative engines. Dileep is a strong advocate for Google’s EEAT standards, regularly sharing real-world use cases and scenarios to demystify complex marketing trends. He is an avid gardener of tropical fruits, a motor enthusiast, and a dedicated caretaker of his pair of cockatiels.