I’m not gonna sugar coat it: 2024 was a tough year for mom-and-pop blogs like ours. Two major things happened:
- Google searches prioritized AI results and reddit discussions, reducing blog traffic and ad revenue
- A major bank changed its policy on affiliate links that resulted in a big loss of revenues for the smaller affiliates
When I think about these changes, I can’t help but think about that ’80s song Video Killed the Radio Star, a song about the impact of technology.
But blogging isn’t dead yet! We’re rolling with the changes and continuing to do what we love, which is talking about travel and teaching people how to accumulate miles and points from credit card rewards to book award travel.
Here is how you can help support us:
- Subscribe to our blog posts
- Turn off your ad blocker for our site (see directions for Google Chrome browser here)
- Use our affiliate links when you apply for a new credit card. Most non-Chase card have direct affiliate links, while Chase card links will take you to the Travel Freely app. We still get a small commission on cards that you apply for through our Travel Freely app link.
Thank you for your support!!!
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I’m sorry to hear about the changes. And I’m glad you’re not dead yet, as Monty Python would say as well. I hadn’t realized that the order of search results had been shuffled. While I find the Reddit part annoying what really worries me is AI. Boarding Area’s newest “blogger” is either the most fawning and vanilla blogger this side of TPG or none-too-good AI. Given the writing quality I’m going with the latter. Frankly I’m surprised that AI is even permitted in among professional bloggers and I have to admit that I’m not a fan. All AI can do is regurgitate what others have already written. What good is that?
Anyway, thanks for sticking around.
@Christian Thanks for your support! 🙂
Honestly, I have been using your links again since you started displaying whole articles in feedly again. I had stopped when you wouldn’t show them without clicking thru to the site. It was so annoying that I felt i had to vote woth my clicks!
@Tina Thanks for your support! We appreciate you!