Why is the Internet no longer the same and what awaits us next?

Today I want to reflect on how the Internet has changed in recent years. And what the future of the internet holds for us... Remember the days when we spent hours playing Counter-Strike, hanging out on forums and jerking off to the sounds of dial-up. At that time, the Internet was something special, a closed club for insiders.

Today, the Internet is no longer just a place for entertainment, but an integral part of our lives. We work online, order food, pay bills – all online. And while it's certainly convenient, there's a downside to the coin.

One of the main problems of the modern Internet is search engine optimization (SEO). Sites are forced to adapt to the algorithms of search engines in order to get to the top of search results. As a result, we get a bunch of articles that are optimized for robots, but do not contain useful information for humans.

Remember how many times you tried to find something interesting on social networks, but the search engine stubbornly gave you a bunch of popular accounts instead of what you really need? Social media algorithms are designed to show you content from popular creators, not what you're looking for.

With search engines like Google, the situation is a little better, but not by much. Google, of course, is trying to combat low-quality content. They are constantly updating their algorithms to filter out websites created solely to manipulate search results. In 2022, Google released the “Useful Content Update,” followed by updates in 2023 and 2024. Google claims that these updates helped reduce the amount of “junk” content in search results by 45%.

It would seem that everything is fine! But it wasn't like that. Google, on the one hand, fights against manipulation in SEO, and on the other hand, it provides tools for SEO optimization. It turns out to be a vicious circle.

As a result, large platforms such as Reddit win. Reddit – it is a platform where users create content themselves. Google's algorithms consider such content to be more relevant, which is why Reddit is getting more and more traffic. Analytics tool Semrush showed that Reddit's traffic has grown significantly after Google's latest algorithm updates. Moreover, Reddit announced a quarterly profit of $243 million for the first time since going public in March 2024, up 48% from a year earlier.

At the same time, websites with unique original content are losing traffic. For example, New York Magazine’s website has lost 32% of its traffic from Google Search over the past six months, and GQ.com – 26%. It turns out that Google, without intending to, is contributing to the monopolization of the Internet.

Another problem is the “non-clickable Internet.” Google tries to provide answers right on the search page so that users don't have to go to other sites. This, of course, is convenient, but it can lead to the fact that we will receive information only from a limited number of sources.

And finally, we can't forget about AI content. Google uses artificial intelligence to generate search results. In theory, this should improve the quality of the results, but in practice, everything is not so simple.

Google claims that AI helps websites get more traffic. But many website owners fear that AI may, on the contrary, negatively affect their traffic.

The biggest problem with AI content is that it can displace authored content. Google uses the AI Overviews tool to create concise answers to users' questions. These responses are based on information from multiple sites.

The problem is that site owners can't stop Google from using their content in AI Overviews. They can use the nosnippet meta tag to hide their content from AI Overviews, but it will also hide it from organic search results as well.

Where are we going? The internet is constantly evolving. Artificial intelligence, social networks, new technologies - all this will affect our future. Most likely, the Internet will become more controlled and focused on large platforms. This cannot be avoided. The struggle for the quality of content and for unique visitors will continue to continue, but the trend towards simplification and optimization for algorithms will continue (which will primarily affect users). However, there is a chance that new technologies and approaches will emerge that will improve access to reliable information and create conditions for fairer competition between sites.

FAQ

Because of SEO, websites optimize content for search engine algorithms rather than user needs. Sites optimize content not for the benefit of users, but to please Google's algorithms. This leads to keyword overload, low-quality articles, and clickbait. People get a lot of the same results, which often don't respond to their query. It is more difficult for users to find honest, in-depth information, because the first in the search results are commercial sites or blogs with superficial answers.

“The ‘clickless internet’” refers to a situation where search engines—especially Google—provide answers directly in the search results. Users see a brief answer or hint and don’t visit websites. This is convenient, but it reduces traffic for content creators. Websites that invest resources in creating content lose revenue, while users receive simplified answers that are sometimes inaccurate.

AI-generated content can lower the quality of information. Authors often prioritize mass text generation at the expense of accuracy and depth. Algorithms create texts that “seem” true but may contain errors or be trite. This makes it harder to find reliable sources, especially when it becomes increasingly difficult to tell whether a text was written by a human or a machine. An overabundance of such content can hinder access to verified information.

The internet is likely to become more controlled and focused on large platforms. The struggle for the quality of content will continue, but the trend towards simplification and optimization for algorithms will continue. Search personalization and data filtering may increase. However, there is a chance that new technologies and approaches will emerge that will improve access to reliable information and create conditions for fairer competition between sites. But this is not for sure...