Back To The Basics Of Blogging (And The Rise Of AI In Search)
How can bloggers cope?
Ang dami nang nagbago sa blogging landscape. First was the big shift from long-form blogging to social media na matagal naman nang nangyari and the other fairly recent one is the rise of AI-generated content that dominate the search results.
On the shift of old-time bloggers and writers to content creation, this happened a long time ago, but it’s worth touching on here. I know quite a few popular bloggers who already abandoned their websites in favor of Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. I don’t see anything wrong with that; those bloggers are just adapting to the change in how people choose to consume content. In a way, it’s part of evolution and survival. In fact, many bloggers have already established themselves as content creators.
The next major change is the shift in search engine results from content written by humans (e.g., publishers) to AI-generated answers. I’m thinking big publishers are unfazed by this development because they have already established their brand, authority, and presence in different platforms. Their presence is not confined in search results alone but spread across different channels.
Now, it’s a different story altogether for small-time publishers like me. This somehow becomes alarming if the publisher relies on blogging as their full-time work. Walang kita, ika nga, pag mababa ka sa search results kasi wala ka rin clicks and views.
As someone who blogs as a side hustle, apektado rin ako kasi malaking tulong para sa akin ang extra income ko from blogging. Nakakapagbayad ako ng bills and tuition fees ng mga anak ko because of my side income. I can save the money that I earn from my full-time job for future big expenses.
Dahil nga sa search algorithm changes in the last 2 or 3 years, unti-unting bumagsak sa search results ang small blogs and even some news outlets. Hence, bumagsak din ang pageviews. Yung matagal kong pinaghirapan to gain pageviews, nawala rin lahat. Yung page views ko ngayon, same level na lang nung nagsisimula ako.
Ang sakit isipin na I have to start all over again. Yung ipinundar ko, na naging source of pride ko na rin, bigla na lang naglaho. At some point, nawalan na rin ako ng ganang magsulat. For a time, ayoko na rin mag-take ng action dahil hindi ko rin naman alam kung saan magsisimula ulit.
Ilang beses na rin ako nagtanong kasi kung ano ba ang laban ko sa AI-generated content? Lahat na lang ng sagot kaya nitong ibigay. Napaka-convenient at mapapaisip ka na lang talaga kung mapapalitan ba nito ang trabaho ng ibang tao at some point. Ang hirap lumaban sa teknolohiya.
On the other hand, buti na lang din at I take time to reassess my goals and go back to my core as a blogger, and that is to provide informative content. Hindi man ganun karami, pero meron pa rin sigurong babalik at babalik dito sa blog ko kasi they find my content helpful.
Kaya rin kung mapapansin nyo, nag-shift na rin ako sa Tagalog language (with English pa rin naman) as a way of announcing to cyberspace that I’m a human, and only a living, breathing, and thinking human can understand another human.
Convenient man ang AI, may emotion pa rin ang mga isinusulat ko na hindi kayang ibigay ng AI. Ito na siguro ang magiging differentiator ko sa search landscape, the value that I can offer and help me create my distinct voice versus AI. I’m going back to the basics of blogging, and yun ay ang paggamit ng authentic voice for my blog posts. Hindi yung kailangan ko mag-please ng search engine, but it’s to please my readers. Kung pwede lang sana bumalik sa panahon na ang blogging ay purely kuwentuhan at palitan ng mga stories.
Ang sabi ng ibang mga bloggers, wala daw kasi value ’yon; para sa akin, yun nga ang essence ng blogging. Hindi mo kailangang laging magbenta at kumita.
As a parting word, if you are a long-time reader and you are reading this post, I hope you can continue to support me by reading my articles. Kahit konti lang, it will be a big help for me.
Hanggang dito na lang muna po at ingat palagi.
***
English translation:
So much has changed in the blogging landscape. The first major shift happened years ago when people moved from reading long-form blog posts to consuming content on social media. The more recent change is the rise of AI-generated content, which now dominates many search results.
The transition from traditional blogging to content creation isn’t exactly new, but it’s still worth talking about. I know quite a few well-known bloggers who have abandoned their websites in favor of Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. I don’t see anything wrong with that. They’re simply adapting to the way people consume content today. In many ways, it’s a matter of evolution and survival. In fact, many bloggers have successfully reinvented themselves as content creators.
The next major shift is happening in search engines. Human-written content from publishers is increasingly being replaced by AI-generated answers. Large publishers probably aren’t too worried about this because they’ve already built strong brands, established authority, and expanded their presence across multiple platforms. They no longer depend solely on search engine traffic.
For small publishers like me, however, it’s a completely different story.
This becomes especially concerning for those who rely on blogging as their full-time livelihood. When your rankings drop, your traffic drops as well—and without traffic, there’s no income.
Even though blogging is only a side hustle for me, I’m still affected. The extra income I earn from my blog helps pay our household bills and my children’s tuition fees. It also allows me to save more of my salary from my full-time job for bigger expenses down the road.
Because of all the search algorithm changes over the past two or three years, many small blogs—and even some news websites—have slowly disappeared from search results. Naturally, page views have declined as well. Everything I spent years building gradually faded away. Today, my traffic is almost back to where it was when I first started blogging.
It’s painful to think that I have to start all over again.
Something I invested years of hard work into—something I had grown proud of—seemed to disappear almost overnight. There came a point when I completely lost the motivation to write. For a while, I didn’t even want to take action because I honestly didn’t know where or how to begin again.
I’ve asked myself countless times: how can I possibly compete with AI-generated content?
AI can answer almost any question instantly. It’s incredibly convenient, and it really makes you wonder whether it will eventually replace many people’s jobs. Competing against technology is never easy.
Thankfully, I’ve also taken the time to reassess my goals and return to what brought me into blogging in the first place: creating informative and genuinely helpful content.
Maybe my audience isn’t as large as it once was, but I believe there are still people who keep coming back because they find value in what I write.
You may have also noticed that I’ve started writing more in Filipino while still incorporating English. In a way, it’s my way of telling cyberspace that there’s a real person behind these articles—and only a living, breathing, thinking human can truly understand another human.
As convenient as AI is, my writing still carries emotions, personal experiences, and perspectives that AI simply cannot replicate. Perhaps that’s what will set me apart in today’s search landscape. That’s the value I can continue to offer and the foundation of my own unique voice.
I’m going back to the basics of blogging by embracing authenticity. Instead of writing primarily to satisfy search engines, I want to write for my readers. Sometimes I wish we could go back to the days when blogging was simply about sharing stories and connecting with one another.
Some bloggers say that kind of content doesn’t provide much value. But to me, that’s exactly what blogging has always been about. You don’t always have to sell something or make money from every post.
Before I end this post, I’d like to say one thing.
If you’ve been following my blog for years and you’re reading this today, I sincerely hope you’ll continue supporting me by reading my articles. Even a single visit means more than you probably realize, and every bit of support truly helps.
Thank you for being here, and as always, please take care.
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Madami din akong blogging friends (sa Wordpress) na tumigil na din sa pagsusulat at naging content creator na ngayon. Meron nasa Tiktok, may iba din nasa YT at FB.
May iba na nagsusulat pa din naman pero mini-blogs na lang. Like magpo-post ng pic sa Instagram, then yung caption nandun na yung parang blog nya.
I miss those days na wala pang AI. Ang sarap magbasa ng mga blogs kase alam mong galing sa puso nung nagsulat.
But anyways, despite ng mga changes na 'to sa technology, nawa ay mapanatili pa din natin ang pagsusulat. :)
A translation would be appreciated, as I did not understand half of what you wrote. Thanks in advance.