Support the Murky Depths
Sorry to have to do this but hopefully you’ll understand. To be blunt, Google have almost blocked me from my usual sources of traffic (goodle discover, search and news) and so revenue from adverts has dropped by around 80-90 per cent since December.
Which is worrying for the future of this site and me making rent in the near future.
Fluctuating ad revenue is nothing new but this drop – and the length of time – is very unusual. Unique in fact.
Ideally I would not have any ads – and I know they are intrusive – but without them this site would never be self sustaining. I do have many people send money on monthly schedules and one off payments which Im very grateful for but it’s not enough to pay for the site and allowing me to pay rent and keep my head above water.
—–
You can help with site and living costs by contributing via Paypal here
Another option is via Patreon monthly here
Finally there’s the Ko-fi option
—–
Adverts did – until Google pulled the plug.
If anyone can become a montly supporter or send a one off payment it’s much appreicated. I will keep the site going – and today I’ve spent hours reading reports and travelling to cisit areas – but I can’t keep doing it as things stand.
Thanks all. The details to help are below.
As for the main picture choice? That’s the bus I’ve been using to take photos of various developments recently. No more than that!
Is it because of the increase of Ai (Artificial Intelligence) taking over and making small websites struggle. Even other websites like IanVisits, Diamond Geezer, Londonist, Time Out London etc have struggled because of Ai. And internet search engines like Google is allowing Ai to become more advanced.
AI is a big factor but I don’t think this latest thing is. Though who knows?
Reddit’s DeGoogle sub might be a good place to seek help from others; since Trump took off the few shackles Google had, there’s been a strong push to non-US tech and products, a lot of small website owners are helping one another navigate beyond google. A paid substack might also be an option (look at LondonCentric for example) and have a greater reach to more potential subs. Homebrew sites are becoming harder to run sadly, and scum like Reach will gleefully nick content. Maybe moving to a different platform can bring in new readers.
I will be signing up to support you monthly.
You are a brilliant journalist and provide us all with honest up to date information we do not get from any where else. If it was not for you most of us would have no idea what is happening in our area as the information is not always made public by the Council..
Thank you..
Sorry to read about your problems. Have made a donation.
You do an excellent job researching local issues and providing great detail.
Don’t always agree with you but that is the nature of healthy debate and discusson.
Thankyou for what you do – it is much appreciated.
What alternatives to Google can people use that can still end up at sites like yours?
In my case (which must be in the minority), Google includes your stories in my feed, and so it means that I visit your website more than I would.
Love your work.
I’ve signed up monthly. Only a modest amount but I love the site and want to do what I can. Hope others can too…
NB I manage a large corporate website and we’ve seen organic SEO traffic drop 50% since google introduced AI summaries. So I’m afraid that’s almost definitely part of it – alongside people using things like ChatGPT directly – and it will only get worse.
These tools are feeding off other people’s content, and it will be interesting to see what happens when people no longer create content because it’s not economically viable. But by then, like many things, it will be too late 🙁
I hope that your website does continue without being shut down. I used to comment on some of IanVisits articles but somehow I can’t anymore and I think he stopped me from commenting on his blog. Which I have no idea why he stopped me but I hope that this website continues.
I really like the site. I’ve only ever made limited donatations , but I stopped due to your views on the side of Woolwich central (where I live!) . I guess that’s not right and you’re entitled to your opinion. I think it’s not that bad