This week, I worked on the Niche Pursuit Podcast with Thomas Smith and Thomas Smith, and I addressed experiments from major AI headlines to some of our favorite team buzz.
Big story? If Google is forced to sell, Openai says it is interested in buying Chrome, which is a speculative move, but has a huge impact. We explore what this might mean for the future of search and whether it could propose a deeper push for OpenAI to lead real-time information access.
We also break down two studies on the Google AI overview. One showed a significant drop in click-through rates, while the other found that B2B users were still actively involved in citations.
On the personal side, Thomas debated the direction of his AI-centric YouTube content, and I shared the Pinterest strategy that brought a strong Easter traffic spike to one of my websites.
We ended up with fun sights and multilingual dictionary sites because without a little niche inspiration, the week was complete.
Watch the entire episode
Can Openai buy chromium?
A fascinating and potentially landscape transformation story sparked the news of the week: Openai says it’s interested in buying Chrome– If Google is forced to sell it due to an ongoing U.S. antitrust trial.
Key Highlights:
- Openai’s interests: OpenAI product director Nick Turley testified during the antitrust trial that the company will consider buying Chrome if regulators request evacuation from Google.
- Search is the core of Chatgpt’s future:Openai makes it clear that integrating reliable real-time search data is crucial to the evolving chatgpt. Despite a strong partnership with Microsoft’s Bing, OpenAI appears to be controlling the browser and its data flow directly.
- Not a joke anymore: It was an easy assumption at first (Openai buys Chrome), which was a reasonable strategic move.
- Chrome as the operating system of the network: Using Chrome with most people as the main portal to the Internet, getting OpenAI will provide unprecedented access to real-time search data and user behavior.
Although the acquisition may not actually happen, the story marks Openai’s enormous ambitions. They are not satisfied with chatbots, they want to reshape how we interact with the web.
AI Overview: Cut click or support B2B?
Two data studies discussed this week shed light on an overview of AI in Google Search – how they affect user behavior and how changes between B2C and B2B audiences.
Study 1: AI Overview Reduces Click-through Rate
Several studies have confirmed CTR significantly decreased When an AI overview exists in the search results.
- Ahrefs Research: When displaying AI overview, position one CTR dropped by 34.5%.
- Amceev Research: CTR dropped 15.5% on the first page, and even more (and even more) when combined with featured clips, down to 37%.
- Brand keywords have less impact: Only 4.79% of brand keywords triggered an AI overview, and when they did, their CTR grew nearly 19%.
This data reinforces Google AI’s narrative that reduces organic traffic, especially for non-branded information queries.
Research 2: B2B users still click on AI overview quote
Trustradius’ report, on the other hand, shows that B2B buyers behave differently.
- 90% click citation: B2B buyers are using AI overview, but they also click on the referenced profile to verify the information.
- Scepticism remains: While investigations may be worded in a way that encourages “smart” answers, logical people making business decisions will be extra due diligence.
- Higher bets, more participation: For high-risk decisions (such as software purchases), users are more likely to double check the source.
Key points of content creators:
- Focus on building a recognizable brand. Brand search is unlikely to be weakened by AI overview.
- Target B2B content or readers are highly motivated to study content because it may be more resilient to zero-click search trends.
- Prepare a world where the quantity is reduced but the quality of visitors is improved, especially for websites that sell products or services rather than relying on advertising.
Noisy on the side
Thomas’ YouTube Fork
Thomas shares a classic creator dilemma: Should he continue to build a new AI-centric YouTube channel, or just post AI content on the DIY Life Tech channel he was already doing?
- DIY Channel: Search-driven, low subscriber engagement, but monetize and generate consistent revenue.
- AI Channel: Subscriber-driven, higher engagement potential, but not profitable yet.
Data shows that his DIY channel is thriving on YouTube and Google search, while his AI channel is more about building a loyal community. Ultimately, building a unique brand may be a better long-term game, albeit with slower short-term returns.
Jared’s Seasonal Content Strategy
Jared discusses traffic spikes developed by Pinterest, powered by Easter and Passover contents – especially in the last week that produced 28 timely articles, which generated 35% of traffic last week.
- Seasonal transportation strategies: Early release (months rather than weeks) is the key to Pinterest’s success.
- Better win than evergreen: Seasonal content may only attract traffic briefly each year, but is often easier to rank and plan.
- Long-term potential: Like news content, seasonal works can return annual dividends if planned correctly.
Jared is now preparing for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and July 4, which makes Pinterest explicitly prefer seasonal content.
A week’s weird niche site
To end the episode, we watched several unique niche sites that stood out this week – a Chicken for sale by email (cachehatchery.com) and another language translation tool provided by the subscription model (wordfinder.com).
cachehatchery.com
Thomas introduces the cutest guest in podcast history – Chicken. This naturally entered his weird niche: the hoarse hatchery
- What is it: A century-old enterprise transports chickens on site
- Business statistics:
- Visits per month 250,000
- Only 28,000 monthly searches for brand names
- DR59 website has a powerful brand search presence
- Important points: Niche e-commerce can also flourish even with strong brand support, even in old school like poultry.
wordfinder.com
Jared’s choice is Wordfinder.com, a niche dictionary website that translates between hundreds of language pairs.
- B2B use cases: For companies that translate documents, they are not only accidental users, but are particularly valuable.
- SEO Opportunities: Despite the low traffic, the site shows how even modest audiences support sustainable subscription business.
The final thought
This week’s podcast highlights content creation, monetization, and how we think about some important shifts in building a sustainable online business. AI continues to reshape not only search engines, but also how users interact with content, meaning publishers need to stay ahead of their fast changing behavior patterns.
Strong brands and B2B-centric content become clear advantages, especially in a landscape where AI overviews are reducing organic traffic to general information queries. Meanwhile, whether it’s buying a chick or subscribing to a language tool, niche audiences can still support robust, profitable models when serving with focus and relevance.
While this may not be the worst gain of the week, we may have just found a new podcast mascot in the form of a fluffy, three-day chick.
