Interesting take, Mike. From your blogging point of view, I get how SEO might seem like it's waving the white flag. But for those of us outside the 'cheesecake recipe' scene, especially in Local SEO, it's booming and only picking up speed. Personally, I'm all for AI stepping in to save us from sketchy Amazon affiliate sites or ad-riddled clickbait-good riddance! But when someone’s sink is flooding, Google’s not rolling up its sleeves with a wrench. In the real world of lead generation, SEO’s still king. You can keep the cheesecake; I’ll take the clients. Written by an AI
Remember how AI got its knowledge. It’s generated from humans. Google and Microsoft are dependent on getting new information in the future. Science is build on theory, tests and learning from the real world. If Gemini or ChatGPT lost access to their data sources they wouldn’t be worth anything in the future, because knowledge evolves every day. AI will be dependant on humans as long as AI is alive. Governments are also a big threat to AI. Don’t worry guys, AI will never take control over us!
Don't loose track of the large Language models, AI uses to draw upon to come up with its results, is dependent upon creators/people work. These models collapse when using multi-versions of their own results. So, creator content will remain essential for the AI approach to work effectively.
Maybe. I assume that the LLM and access to content is necessary at first. But, is there a point where it becomes less relevant to search results? Will the AI systems rely on LLMs less and less? I suspect so. In fact, they are going to HAVE to "evolve" past the LLMs when most of the content out there is produced by AI. LLM isn't any good when it becomes an AI echo chamber. We'll see. Nothing is clear at this point.
@@MikeGastin LLM's will continue to evolve and improve. What we see today will become as obsolete as a white colored minitower is. Anyway, I like your thinking you've expressed here. Here's a thought question for you...Will the adoption of personalized AI BOT's for obtaining timely information from the web end the dominance of Google search?
I guarantee most drivers need a car to keep them from speeding, tailgating, cutting people off, hell most people shouldn't be operating a machine as lethal as an automobile. Also, I love that my Prius shuts off the gas engine when I'm just sitting there. WTF is wrong with that? WTF am I even watching? BTW, Affinity is not suitable for print production. Fine for design, though.
I'm not quite as gloomy on the AI vs SEO front. There are some hard limits to the very core of how LLM AI works that cannot be fixed by a version upgrade. Google has found this itself already, hence the major pullback from suggesting people eat a rock a day at the top of their SERPs, but I 1,000% agree that now more than ever, it is important to diversify your diutal marketing and learn to get traffic sources from outside the Google ecosystem. Doesn't change the fact that this is an excellent video, and it just earned itself a new subscriber.
The proper way to use AI for SEO is to use it as a multitool and not a replacement. My written-content takes LONGER to create now with AI than it did before without it, but it's razor-sharp focused on the target audience now, exploits market gaps more accurately, and results in copy thats so much more well written by me, with the ASSISTANCE of AI.
When you say "nanny state", what you really mean is neoliberal capitalism. Adobe's development, AI, Clippy, smart cars etc. All that is just capitalism. The "nanny state" does things like make a simple, straightforward and deeply sensible law that says people have to wear a seatbelt because seatbelts really do make the difference between life and death on the road.
Neoliberal capitalism is part of it. Yes. However, I'd say the nanny state is really a manifestation of the modern Gnostic movement to create a secular heaven on earth (i.e., Utopia) through the consolidation of power and the use of technology. But, I do agree with your perspective.
@@MikeGastin These days, I keep a copy of William Gibson's "Disneyland with the Death Penalty" close at all times. When he described the milquetoast nightmare that is Singapore, he was describing our future, long before Cory Doctorow got around to it.
Hi Mike. Didn't know you till now and I'm glad to meet someone that think exactly as I do. I'm 60 years old right now and I've been working with Adobe Products since 1990. I feel extremely disappointed cause I graduated in graphic design in 1987 and left behind all my abilities with pencils, hand drawing, painting, airbrushes, etc to use a computer in a country where everything is much more difficult then anywhere else. Today I'm still using a computer but leaving gradually behind all that stuff that pieces me off, exactly as you said. Sorry if if wrote something wrong but english is not my native language.
I wish you the best. Not sure if you make your living doing commercial work, but even the process of creation as a hobby is so satisfying. Good luck to you, my experienced friend. And ... don't forget to share your wisdom with the next generations. They need you.
I am an artist. I have been using Photoshop since Photoshop 7 I paid for it and it was worth every penny. I never made copies to give away I didn't buy every up-grade, but I bought every other. Adobe always seemed to be pro-corporate as opposed to being pro-artist. I didn't earn my income as an artist so the subscription plan was more than I could spend. I have a stand alone version of CS5 but today, they give me the hardest time to install it on a new computer. They resist and ask me for the serial # for CS2, PS10 PS7 with proof of the disc placed in the machine. I get a great deal of pleasure being an artist. I am not earning a living doing paste-up for a corporation but that's what Adobe thinks and they want a cut. I'm with you Mike.
Thanks Mike. No wonder my website isn't getting any traffic. Good thing I've begun to incorporate email marketing and paid ads into my marketing strategy.
Same here. Left Adobe for Affinity suite, Resolve, Blender, etc. Like you, I have been with Adobe for what seems forever (back when they acquired Photoshop and After Effects). I'm done with the software, every year, getting more and more SaaS-like -- meaning, it feels like I'm using an online application rather than a desktop application. Every release gets clunkier and clunkier... like what you'd expect from an online app. The new interfaces are horrible. Every time the Adobe Premiere interface would appear and demand that I immediately upload content or I would not be allowed to create a blank project... I would be presented with a file finding tool -- NOT my "Finder" (Macintosh), rather some bastardized horrible low-grade version of a Finder. All the new products makes me want to downgrade to Creative Suite 6 (which I still have the Master Collection discs for). While Affinity Photo is no match for Photoshop, I don't care. I'll live with the downgrade just to get out of that blasted subscription. The biggest problem I have with a subscription isn't the cost -- I pass those costs along to the client. The biggest problem I have with the subscription model is that at some point, when I retire... I won't be able to go back through some of my old projects and lament, or improve, or play around with them. I have a lot of special effects footage (tests I did to get ready for larger commercial projects) and much of that footage features my children at various ages. The month I stop paying Adobe is the month I am no longer able to open all those old After Effects and play around or even review them. I'd have to start paying Adobe (again) just for the temporary ability to open some of those files. No thanks.
I hope more people do the same! I heard about the companies spying on us. Collecting our information. Writing long terms & conditions that no one can read their way through. It's crazy what they're doing. Good for you! I won't be using Adobe either having heard this. Thank you.
I'm an adman of a similar vintage. For 40yrs I avoided having to use software, apart from my brain of course. We had top notch full time designers and artworkers to do all the making. Now I'm retired I have the time to learn software, during 'covid' I learn't Adobe and then they banned me from using it, having dabbled for 35yrs. I made the switch to Affinity and Davinci on the recommendation of a friend/colleague who moved to NYC. I shared your video to my 800+ Linkedin followers and all my extensive X followers. I always do that.
I don't condone influencers making millions from advertising. If someone has a quality product, they can make a profit from the force of its sales. If someone brims over with creativity, they'll create first and worry about compensation later (if ever). In my (free) country I would ban all product advertisement in favor of brand advertisement and cold-hearted third-party product comparisons.
Enjoyed listening to this. I've listened whilst downloading all my Photoshop files (the maximum of 10 at a time which is taking ages) as my subscription ends this month so getting my files before cancelling and moving to different software.
@@MikeGastin I'll be honest, i've been playing with Davinci Resolve and I'm not liking it at all lol. I know it's going to take some time to get used to it but it's been a rough start :)
Great video, but... did you just out yourself as a climate change denier? Odd to get political on a tech / creative channel. Ah well! Still, you _are_ right about Adobe. I use Corel PaintShop Pro instead of PhotoShop.
@@MikeGastin Hah! Great comeback! Note: I never said anything mean - climate change denier is the accepted term for guys on both sides of the fence - but hey, nice to know that being mean is your jumping off point. PS - I really did enjoy your vid. I was just being a little tongue-in-cheek. Didn't mean to trigger you! Sorry 'bout that.
Don’t know the details, but I am always on the side of my fellow artist and creators, if adobe fucked up this bad gonna have to drop them by principal. 🤷🏾
In Australia I was paying AU$87 per month, and it was like dealing with the mafia, just when you got used to the new price they upped it again - so it seemed. Thanks for the tip about affinity i'll be passing that around.
Affinity is great. It's what allowed me to jump off the Adobe band-wagon. Their Publisher app needs a few more improvements to be a true InDesign replacement, but it's decent for most uses already. You can sign PDFs using free Adobe Reader, or Preview on macOS. There are many great tools (on Mac, at least, but I assume on other OSs too) for heavier editing of PDFs. You can even open the PDF in your Affinity apps, modify it, and export as PDF.
one thing, you need to understand this : there is these new generation, gen x/z, of people that does not want to struggle but want everything asap, i call it the tictoc generation, they lack your creativity, so they need that ai...i fear a lot is going that way, i prob am going to change to linux soon.
Guys - SEO is not dead - SEO is dead in 2024 - BUT alive & kicking harder than ever, you don’t need AI to do this ========================================================================================= "SEO Takes Time" to Rank. "SEO takes around 3 to 6 months" or "4 to 12 months". is the greatest SEO Myth around today, the greatest SEO Myth. Why because page indexing and ranking occurs within hours. Come on SEO "experts", "guru's", "specialists", "masters", "top SEO people around the world", show your true worth, this should be a breeze for these guys and galls as they are the best. Study the basics of on-page SEO. Now think like a CEO or Founder and you have a good chance 📈 of achieving success, but think like an SEO and you will always FAIL📉. You have to start the process of SEO (on-page) as robustly and correctly as possible but almost all are starting the process INcorrectly. Here is the main hurdle to overcome: At the start of every page on your SEO organic traffic graph, what happens every page ❗ALWAYS FLATLINES❗, so fix the flatline, it’s that simple 🤔 Almost everybody has ignored this area thinking it’s impossible to fix. When people say; "SEO is dead" or "SEO is dead in 2024", 2025 or 2026 and beyond, they DON’T REALLY KNOW HOW TO OPTIMISE their on-page SEO as robustly as possible. All my Pages Index and Rank on the same day of indexing. Getting your page to the first page is the hardest challenge and takes many months not because of SEO but because of Google, they are very lazy and love dragging their legs. If you blame Google for your ranking and have moved lock, stock and barrel to Bing or Duckduckgo then you should look at yourself as the problem but nobody ever blame's themselves. Sorry it is long but this is critical for quick success and SEO is super-fast, it’s slow if you cannot fix the flatline.
Yes, Google indexes pages quickly, but getting fully ranked is a long and internally complex process. For example, the recently leaked Google documents revealed that it takes 20 crawls for Google's index to "forget" something that was on your page 21 indexings ago. You're 💯% on the importance of fundamental and thorough on-page SEO. Many people just apply a couple tactics they learned from someone on a RU-vid video and cross their fingers.
