[lmkg]

I heard an interesting theory the other day: blog viability declined because Google killed Reader. Which indirectly ends up poisoning Google's biggest well, since blogs are an important source of relevant cross-domain links.

I'm somewhat skeptical, it seems a little too poetic to blame Google's ultimate downfall on a decision that was notably hated at the time. But it's plausible. If you want it to be a conspiracy theory, you can posit that killing off independent blogs was the intent, to convince bloggers to migrate to Google Plus.

[heavyset_go]

Google used to prioritize blogs and original content like forum posts in search results, but they don't anymore.

[type0]

What do they prioritize now, "reputable" news organizations enrolled in Trusted News Initiative?

[heavyset_go]

Blog spam and pages filled with AdSense ads.