The Niche Pursuits podcast is moving to a new channel! Be sure to subscribe at the new channel so you don’t miss future episodes! https://www.youtube.com/@nichepursuitspodcast

Welcome back everybody to the first Niche Pursuits News Podcast of 2024! 

Jared and Spencer kick off the year with another great episode, offering a close-up look at all the news in the SEO, AI, and website creation world.

This week they start off discussing the Google update on New Year’s Eve https://shorturl.at/eyTU4, with people noting volatility in the SERPs and even upticks in traffic in a reversal of the effects of the HCU.
———————————————————————————————————————–
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
———————————————————————————————————————–
How difficult is it to gauge SERP changes that happened around the holiday period? What changes in traffic has Spencer noted on Niche Pursuits between December and January? Listen to find out their thoughts.

The next topic Spencer and Jared cover is The New York Times’ announcement that it’s suing OpenAI and Microsoft https://shorturl.at/jmFJQ.

Millions of articles from the NTY were used to train the OpenAI model, and a lot of the content that was used was behind a paywall.

Notably, this includes information from The Wirecutter, with the result that the NYT isn’t collecting the affiliate commissions. 

But what’s at the heart of this lawsuit? Could this set a precedent for how copyright law is interpreted? Does the media company have a strong case? Tune in to hear the discussion.

Still on the subject of OpenAI, Spencer and Jared talk briefly about its offer to pay publishers between $1 and 5 million in compensation https://shorturl.at/uwBLY for their content.

What’s going to happen moving forward? Can AI be contained at all?  

Google seems to be moving ahead with, and making changes to, Bard, https://www.seroundtable.com/google-assistant-with-bard-36156.html and now it’s going to implement its Google Assistant with Bard.

In other Google Bard news, a paid version of the tool is coming https://www.androidpolice.com/google-preparing-paid-version-of-bard/, which hasn’t even been announced officially by Google.

In the Shiny Object Shenanigans portion of the podcast, Spencer talks about his year-long experience in the Amazon Influencer Program. He made $6179 in December, and his entire revenue for the year is $17k+.

What is Spencer’s plan moving forward? Listen to hear what he has in store and why he’s approaching his side hustle in this way.

When it’s Jared’s turn, he shares some surprising stats from his Amazon Influencer Program side hustle.

As for the Weird Niche Sites of the week, Spencer goes first with an Online Stopwatch https://www.online-stopwatch.com/

With 2.2 million organic visitors per month, according to Ahrefs, and double that according to SimilarWeb, could this site be generating around $50k per month in ad revenue?

Jared’s Weird Niche Site is National Today https://nationaltoday.com/, which highlights the current holidays around the world.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
04:37 – The Google Algorithm Update on New Year’s Eve
08:41 – The NYT Sues OpenAI and Microsoft
15:44 – OpenAI Offers Publishers Compensation
19:27 – Google Assistant with Bard is Coming
21:37 – Paid Version of Google Bard is in the Works
28:15 – Spencer’s Amazon Influencer Program Side Hustle
36:42 – Jared’s Amazon Influencer Program and Weekend Growth Side Hustles
49:03 – Online-Stopwatch.com
57:50 – NationalToday.com

This Episode is Sponsored by Search Intelligence – https://search-intelligence.co.uk/
-You can learn more about me at and get additional website tips at: https://www.nichepursuits.com
-You can learn about optimizing your site with internal links using a WordPress Plugin I created right here: https://www.linkwhisper.com
-And finally, if you are interested in buying or selling content or affiliate websites, my partners and I may be interested here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/motioninvest

Thanks for watching and please consider subscribing to the main Niche Pursuits YouTube channel by clicking here: https://www.nichepursuits.com/youtube

source