rexorotten

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Is AI hurting the bottom line of this website?

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Here is what AI says.


There is no public financial data or official statement from TigerDroppings regarding exactly how AI has impacted their revenue. However, looking at the broader landscape of independent sports message boards, AI represents a double-edged sword for a site like TD.

The impact generally breaks down into two competing forces:
1. The Hit to Search Traffic (SEO)

Like most independent forums, TigerDroppings relies heavily on programmatic display ads (the banners and video blocks scattered across the site). For programmatic ads to make money, you need massive volume—impressions and clicks.

With the rise of AI Overviews in Google Search and conversational search engines, general search behavior has changed:

Zero-Click Searches: If someone searches for "LSU football depth chart" or "What time is the LSU baseball game today?", Google's AI often answers the question directly on the search results page.

Fewer Click-Throughs: In the past, a user might have clicked a TigerDroppings thread link to find that quick answer, netting the site ad impressions. Now, they get the answer without ever visiting the site, which directly hurts ad-driven bottom lines.

2. The Shield: Un-replicable Community & Culture

Where TigerDroppings has a massive advantage over standard content blogs is its community moat.

Direct Traffic vs. Search Traffic: A huge percentage of TigerDroppings’ user base doesn't find the site through Google. They have the site bookmarked, use the app, or type the URL directly. They visit for the real-time game threads, the insider recruiting rumors, the political banter on the OT (Off-Topic) board, and the specific community culture. AI cannot replicate a live reaction thread during an LSU night game in Death Valley.

Scraping Protections: Like Reddit and other major forums, independent boards have increasingly updated their robots.txt files or implemented firewalls to block AI bots from scraping their data for free training material, protecting their proprietary user-generated content.

The Bottom Line

While general Google search traffic to random threads has likely taken a hit due to AI answering basic factual queries, TigerDroppings’ core revenue driver—its highly engaged, direct-visiting community—is largely insulated from being replaced by an AI model.

Want to look into how other major sports forums are handling AI scraping?

This has to be a troll.

I used to feel guilty and would always round up. Now I won't round up even if it's only a penny.

Was he able to continue?

That's definitely not AI.

I don't have one.

You're never gonna land in the exact same spot no matter how high or low you jump.