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There is a pervasive narrative doing the rounds in the publishing industry called \u201cGoogle Zero.\u201d This narrative, embraced by many industry leaders, poses that traffic from Google \u2013 Search and Discover \u2013 will decline and eventually become negligible.<\/p>
This Google Zero narrative is entirely false, and extremely dangerous. And I\u2019m going to explain why.<\/p>
When the concept of \u201cGoogle Zero\u201d first began to emerge, I thought it could be a useful way to frame the strategic approaches publishers should consider when optimizing for Google. But it\u2019s taken on an entirely different meaning, one that is actively dangerous and downright false.<\/p>
It\u2019s true, gaining traffic from Google hasn\u2019t gotten easier. Websites need to work harder to grow their share of Google visits, both in Search and Discover. This is not a new development \u2013 the writing has been on the wall for nearly two decades.<\/p>