Google just said the quiet part out loud about the open web. What now for B2B marketers?

For years, marketers, publishers, and businesses have been in a one-sided relationship with Google. We meticulously crafted valuable content—blog posts, guides, and expert articles—under the assumption of a fair value exchange. We provided the knowledge, and Google sent us relevant traffic in return.

We fed the machine, and for a while, the machine fed us back.

Now, it seems the arrangement is over. In a recent court filing, Google’s lawyers admitted that “the open web is already in rapid decline.” This stark admission stands in direct opposition to their public-facing reassurances that everything is fine and that AI-driven search is helping the ecosystem.

This isn’t just a mixed message—it’s the final act of a long-running play. The parasocial relationship we had with Google, where we treated it as a partner in discovery, is over. Our expertise has been harvested and commoditised to train the very AI models that now summarise our work into neat, zero-click answer boxes. The value exchange has been broken. We are no longer partners; we are simply the training data.

The web we built is being scraped, repackaged, and served up algorithmically, often without credit or click-through. For B2B businesses that have invested heavily in creating high-value, authoritative content, this represents an existential threat to the primary channel for customer acquisition.

Relying on Google to send traffic is no longer a strategy—it's a gamble.

How to take back control from the algorithm

The decline of the open web as a reliable traffic source isn't an ending. It's a critical turning point that forces us to build more resilient, direct, and valuable marketing assets. The focus must shift from chasing algorithmic approval to cultivating owned platforms and genuine relationships.

When speaking to our paid media marketing manager, Michele Rafaelli, he identified three core pillars that B2B marketers should focus on going forward. 

1. Invest in what you own: your first-party data

Organic search traffic was always a rented channel, subject to the whims of an algorithm. Your email list, on the other hand, is an asset you own and control completely. Now is the time to commit to building it.

• Build a must-read newsletter: Stop thinking of email as a simple broadcast channel. Create a newsletter that delivers genuine insight, analysis, and value directly to your subscribers' inboxes. Make it so good that your audience would miss it if it were gone.

• Leverage your CRM: Use the data you already have on customer behaviour and preferences to create highly personalised, relevant marketing campaigns that don't rely on a search engine to connect.

2. Move from audience building to community building

An audience listens; a community participates. While Google controlled the audience, you have the power to build a community. A community creates a defensive moat around your brand that algorithms can't cross.

• Create exclusive spaces: A private Slack channel, a focused LinkedIn group, a dedicated forum, or even a Discord group for your customers and prospects can foster powerful connections. This is where your ideal customers can ask questions, share successes, and engage directly with your team and each other.

• Host live, interactive events: Webinars, Q&A sessions, and virtual roundtables turn passive consumption into active participation. They put a human face on your brand and build real loyalty.

• Facilitate connection: Your role is not just to be the expert at the centre of the conversation but to be the facilitator who helps your community members connect with one another.

3. Diversify your content distribution beyond search

Over-reliance on Google has proven to be a single point of failure. A modern B2B content strategy must be built on a multi-channel distribution network that reaches your customers where they already are.

• Master social platforms: For B2B, LinkedIn is the de facto place to be. It's no longer just a place to post links back to your blog. It's a publishing platform in its own right for articles, expert commentary, and video. Reddit is increasingly positioning itself as a viable alternative for marketers looking to diversify their platforms, so it’s definitely worth checking out what they offer.

• Build partnerships: Collaborate with non-competing businesses that serve a similar customer profile. Co-host webinars, co-author research, and promote each other's content to your respective audiences.

• Empower your team: Encourage your subject matter experts to build their own personal brands on relevant platforms. Their credibility and network can become a powerful distribution channel that is authentic and highly effective.

The shift we are witnessing is challenging, but it is also an opportunity. It's a chance to move away from transactional, algorithm-chasing tactics and towards building deeper, more durable relationships with the people who matter most—your customers. It's time to take back control.

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Unsure of where to start? Brew Digital is on hand to support your digital marketing in whatever form you need. Reach out for a free audit, or book a chat to discuss how we can help you execute a marketing strategy that puts you in control.