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This isn’t an article I wanted to write… but here it goes. Blogging as a business model isn’t just dying—it’s already dead. In recent months, we’ve seen major blogs shut down, course creators abandon ship, and even people who made millions from SEO declare it game over. But here’s what no one is saying… This … Read more

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This isn’t an article I wanted to write… but here it goes.

Blogging as a business model isn’t just dying—it’s already dead.

In recent months, we’ve seen major blogs shut down, course creators abandon ship, and even people who made millions from SEO declare it game over.

But here’s what no one is saying…

This isn’t just about Google updates or AI. The way people consume content has fundamentally changed, and blogs are no longer part of the equation.

So the real question isn’t just “Is blogging still worth it?” It’s “If blogging is dead, what actually works now?”

Let’s get into it.

Why Even Top Bloggers Are Walking Away

For years, blogging was an incredibly lucrative business model. High-ranking blog posts brought in steady organic traffic, which could be monetized through ads, affiliate marketing, and digital products.

But in 2023, that all changed. Some of the biggest names in blogging started pulling out. Even we were offered over half a million dollars for our blog—but we turned it down. And then, things took a turn.

Traffic disappeared. Revenue plummeted. And old SEO strategies stopped working overnight.

So what happened?

The Brutal Truth About Why Blogging Tanked

This isn’t just another fluff story like the thousands of other clickbaity articles on the internet right now. I’m not going to tell you blogging is dead, and then later in this post say… unless you do it the way I teach in my courses.

No. I’m going to give you my real, honest take on the state of SEO, content sites, affiliate marketing, and blogging as a business model.

If you’re currently a blogger and you’ve been holding on optimistically dreaming of your traffic coming back, or if you’re a brand new blogger and you’ve just put a ton of work into your new site… or if you’ve always wanted to start a blog but now I’m sitting here and shitting all over the entire business model… don’t worry.

There IS a silver lining here. It’s a part of this story that no one is talking about… a shift that actually opens up the biggest online business opportunity we’ve ever seen.

And those who adapt now are going to win bigger than ever before.

Make sure you read to the end of this post because I’m going to talk about exactly what that shift is and how you can leverage it to explode your own online business.

So how did we get here? Why has blogging taken such a drastic downturn in such a short time? It wasn’t just one thing—it was a perfect storm of changes that hit all at once. If you’ve been wondering why blogs are shutting down and SEO strategies are failing, here are the biggest culprits behind the collapse of blogging as a business model.

1. Google Changed the Rules

Google rolled out AI-generated search results, which means fewer people are clicking over to actual blogs. At the same time, they prioritized forums like Reddit and Quora over independent websites.

If you search for something like “Best Travel Credit Cards,” you’re more likely to see a Reddit thread or TripAdvisor post at the top of search results than a well-researched blog article.

And this wasn’t an accident—Google struck a $60 million per year deal with Reddit to use their forums to train AI models. In return, Reddit’s content gets priority in search rankings, effectively pushing smaller blogs out of visibility.

This all started with the Helpful Content Update in 2022, and continued with the Hidden Gems Update in the fall of 2023. Instead of rewarding high-quality blog content, Google handed the search results over to forums.

Remember those traffic graphs o