For nearly 20 years now, the web has been Google’s platform; we’ve all just lived on it. Google is constantly changing that platform — it launched another attempt to combat ‘parasite SEO’ just this week — and not all of those changes have worked well.

Earlier this year I talked to a lot of people who have built on that platform. For a lot of small businesses and content creators, that’s suddenly not stable anymore. The number one question I have for anyone building things on someone else’s platform is: What are you going to do when that platform changes the rules?

Links: 

• Google is cracking down on sites publishing parasite SEO content | The Verge
• How Google is killing independent sites like ours | HouseFresh
• HouseFresh has virtually disappeared from Google results. Now what? | HouseFresh
• Google Is Killing Retro Dodo & Other Independent Sites | Retro Dodo
• Google CEO Sundar Pichai on AI-powered search and the future of the web | The Verge
• Will AI break the internet? Or save it? | The New York Times
• The biggest findings in the Google Search leak | The Verge
• Mountain Weekly News
• Telly Visions
• E-ride Hero
• That Fit Friend

Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge, and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

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