logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2024
55m 53s

Is Google Really Getting Worse? + Weird ...

Spencer Haws: NichePursuits.com
About this episode

Welcome back! We’re here with another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast, where Spencer and Jared highlight what’s happening in SEO, content creation, website creation, and beyond. 

Listen in if you want to hear the latest about Google, SGE, unique side hustle strategies, and some weird niche sites.

The first news item this week that Spencer and Jared discuss is a recent report that says that Google’s results are getting worse. It’s based on a year-long study of product review queries.  

How did Google respond? What exactly did the study assess to come to this conclusion? And what do they consider “low quality?” Spencer and Jared have many thoughts on this topic, so tune in to find out whether they think it’s legit or not.

The next topic up for discussion is Google’s SGE. A recent article states that 94% of Google SGE links are different from organic search results. So now we have about 10 links in the SGE results plus another 10 from organic search and most are not the same. 

What does this mean for publishers? Is this good news or bad news? How does this affect you if you’re ranking first in the organic results but have an SGE pack ahead of you? And what does this mean for you if you’re not appearing in organic results? Are there 2 different standards at play here?

Talk about Google SGE continues when Spencer and Jared discuss an article about the impact of SGE by industry, which reveals that the sector most impacted by the SGE is healthcare as those queries have triggered the most responses. In contrast, finance is at the bottom of the list.

What’s interesting about the difference in performance between these YMYL niches? And what conclusions do Spencer and Jared come to as they analyze the SGE performance statistics by industry? 

As for Shiny Object Shenanigans, Spencer goes first and talks about his new YouTube channel, where all of his podcast episodes will now live. Although he was initially worried that people wouldn’t be able to find the channel, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the first episode published there got over 1200 listens in just over 24 hours.

With over 350 subscribers already, Spencer’s confident that he made the right decision to separate the channels and that people will still be able to find the podcast episodes.

When it’s Jared’s turn, he talks about a strategy he’s using for his Weekend Growth newsletter that’s allowing him to increase his agency business by providing a new service. Essentially it’s a side hustle on top of a side hustle! It’s definitely an idea that anyone with their own email list and business can adapt to their niche.

He also gives an interesting update on the Amazon Influencer Program and his family. Check out the episode to hear the latest developments.

When it comes to Weird Niche Sites this week, Spencer comes with a sub-niche of a niche with his site: The Arcade Stick. Arcade sticks can be customized and plugged in just about anywhere. The site, which is just a DR8, could be getting around 100k visitors per month, which is pretty interesting considering how niche it is, plus It’s monetized on Mediavine.

When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares a site called Emoji Combos. Although it’s in beta, it still works perfectly. This DR43 site ranks for 140k keywords and gets over a million organic visits per month. 

What unique keywords is it ranking for? How is the site monetized? And how much money do they think the site is making per month?

And that brings us to the end of another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast. Now you’re caught up on all the latest SEO news and, hopefully, you’re feeling inspired and motivated to continue to work on your side hustles.

See you next Friday! 

Be sure to get more content like this in the Niche Pursuits Newsletter Right Here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/newsletter

Want a Faster and Easier Way to Build Internal Links? Get $15 off Link Whisper with Discount Code "Podcast" on the Checkout Screen: https://www.nichepursuits.com/linkwhisper

Get SEO Consulting from the Niche Pursuits Podcast Host, Jared Bauman: https://www.nichepursuits.com/201creative

Up next
Yesterday
How Melissa Byron Rebuilt Her Site From 15K to 100K Monthly Sessions
In this interview on Niche Pursuits, Melissa Byron shares her incredible journey of overcoming the devastating impact of Google’s Helpful Content Update, which caused her traffic to plummet by 70%. Discover how she pivoted her business by introducing solo travel tours and rebuilt ... Show More
45m 40s
Oct 1
How Kyle Austin Young Built and Sold a 40-Article Review Website
In this episode, Kyle Austin Young shares how he built a hyper-focused affiliate site with just 40 articles, scaled it to $11,000/month in revenue, and sold it for between $300K–$400K. He breaks down exactly how he chose the niche, got into hard-to-access affiliate programs like ... Show More
48m 37s
Sep 24
How Jenny Gonzalez built a 7-figure business with no tech background
In this inspiring success story, Jenny Gonzalez shares her incredible journey from bartender to affiliate marketing mogul and entrepreneur. Jenny discusses how she overcame obstacles and transitioned into the affiliate space, eventually building a $2.5 million business in her fir ... Show More
50m 55s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 13
How AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Marketing with Nick Lafferty, Growth Marketer at Profound | Ep. 339
Search is changing for the first time since Google launched. And it’s changing fast. Daniel’s out, Tamara’s IN. In this episode, she sits down with Nick Lafferty, Growth Marketer at Profound, to unpack the seismic shift from traditional SEO to AI-powered search engines like ChatG ... Show More
30m 56s
Aug 26
Tools and Tips Special - Navigating AI Search, Ads & SEO in 2025
In this episode of The Digital Marketing Podcast, hosts Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers return with a fresh round of insights and hands-on tools to help digital marketers adapt and experiment in the evolving AI-driven marketing landscape. From Google's AI Max campaigns to the exp ... Show More
27m 20s
Jul 2024
SEO 2.0: How to Trick Google and Rank AI Content ft. Greg Isenberg
Episode 16: How is AI transforming the future of SEO and job markets? Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow) and Nathan Lands (https://x.com/NathanLands) are joined by innovator Greg Isenberg (https://x.com/gregisenberg), founder of Late Checkout and Boring Marketer. Greg hosts “The ... Show More
49m 14s
Feb 2025
The REAL Reason Your Niche Isn’t Working And How to Fix It! - 823
So, you’ve picked a niche… but why isn’t it working?! Is it too broad? Too saturated? Or maybe—brace yourself—it’s not your niche at all… it’s your social media strategy. In this episode, Chalene breaks down the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when choosing and promoting thei ... Show More
20m 26s
Jul 2024
SEO Marketing in 2024: Authorship v. Expertise
You wrote some stuff, have great expertise, have great content… but does Google care? The guys hash out how to establish your cred and boost your content with tactical authorship strategies.-----Conrad still values the bygone era of Google’s authorship attributions, but Gyi’s all ... Show More
30m 49s
Sep 3
SEO Is Dead: The #1 Skill You Need in 2025
Want Kipp's Loop Marketing Prompt Library (over 100 prompts)? Get it for free: https://clickhubspot.com/elm Episode 74: Is SEO really dead—and if so, what’s the number one marketing skill you need to stay ahead in 2025? Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow) and Kipp Bodnar (https:// ... Show More
46 m
Mar 2025
Insiders React: AI Voices Get TOO Real + NVIDIA’s Earnings Drama, Microsoft’s Sneaky AI Move, Alexa’s Big Update
Are you ready for AI that sounds indistinguishable from a human? The future is arriving faster than you might think. In this episode, Chris and Yaniv dive into the latest developments in AI, from NVIDIA's blockbuster earnings to Amazon's new AI-powered Alexa to eerily rea ... Show More
50m 3s
Sep 4
Amy Hayes Proves Referrals Beat Social Media Marketing
Send us a textShow Notes: How to Build Premium Services Without the Premium HeadachesWhat if everything you've been told about raising your rates is backwards?Amy Hayes, founder of The Global Creator, spent a decade building a design business that runs almost entirely on referral ... Show More
47m 16s
Sep 8
Fast-Tracking Growth: Community, Niching Down, and Multi-Channel Strategies from Dood Woof
Elina Panteleyeva is the founder of Dood Woof, a dog brand focused on Doodles. Founded in 2023, they hit $600k in year one, and are on track for sales of $2million this year. They’re already multichannel selling on their Shopify store, TikTok Shop, and Amazon. In this episode, El ... Show More
26m 22s
Aug 29
S06.EP14 - Why Brands Shouldn’t Rely on Google (+ How to Actually Get Visibility) with Mordy Oberstein
Google is shifting—and fast. Between AI Overviews, zero-click results, and the rise of LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity, traditional search isn’t what it used to be. » Learn more at https://justcreative.com/podcast In this episode, we’re joined by Mordy Oberstein, a leading voice ... Show More
45m 38s