Google Held a Brunch for 7 Bloggers – Apparently Called it A “Summit”?

At first glance, Google throwing a summit for seven social media influencers sounds like a bad Onion headline. This is the same company that can’t go five minutes without tripping over its own AI wires – and they’re hosting brunch for bloggers?

Why oh Why

I’ve thought about this a great deal and all I can come up with is more questions:

Is this a clumsy attempt at outreach?
Damage control? Were all seven webmasters victims of Googles HCU?
Testing a new type of message?
Targeting influencers for social media?
Or just trying to engage to counter the bunker mentality?

All this just before Google’s I/O conference, where expectations are sky-high for the company to finally stop rearranging deck chairs on its listing ship. Between the DOJ’s antitrust trial and the avalanche of faceplants over the last couple of years, some folks are wondering out loud if it’s time to hand Sundar a golden parachute and a commemorative Bard mug!?

Bunker Mentality At The ‘Plex

Let’s talk about Google’s conference presence – or, more accurately, its Houdini act. The days of 30 Googlers showing up to Meet the Engineers or Pubcon keynotes stacked with speakers from the ‘Plex? Gone – Torched – Ghosted. After the public beatdown during Matt Cutts’ final PR tour – and everyone’s pandemic induced isolation – Google slammed the vault door to the plex shut and hasn’t cracked it open very often.

Today, the company has a full-on “nobody-move-nobody-gets-hurt” bunker vibe. They don’t just avoid industry events – they pretend they don’t exist unless they’re bankrolling them, influencing them, or puppeteering them. SEOs have officially renamed the Googleplex to the Chicken Coop. And honestly? Ummm hello? Seriously, we’re not wrong.

It has gotten to the point, that Google 2025 is starting to feel alot like the late 90’s early 00’s Microsoft – if not worse – like IBM of the 80’s. They are circling the wagons out there.

So of course, instead of showing up to actual industry conferences, they’re rolling out brunch-and-mimosa summits for influencers. To be fair, Microsoft’s been doing this kind of hand-holding for years with ad agencies (I’ve been to more than one), but at least they fill the room. Google? They invited seven people. Yes, Seven. And they even jetted-in California bruh Danny Sullivan from his beach for what – eggs and a photo op?

And just when you think it can’t get more snarky – yep, they got Barry Schwartz to cover it. Because if there’s a squirrel in the yard, Barry’s gonna chase it. That man tracks a Google favicon change like a full-on bloodhound!

She Went from $12,000 Pre-AIO a Month to $300 and a Muffin

Travel blogger and Instagram influencer Tomiko Harvey attended the summit and blogged it basically like a breakup diary.

“I’m not happy I lost 98% of my traffic, but it forced me to take a hard look at my own content and strategy.”

That hard look apparently happened over a stale croissant and Google-paid airfare. Tomiko dropped this gut-punch:

“I went from making around $12,000 a month from my blog to now being lucky if I hit $300.”

And somehow, Google thought this was a good look. Like, hey – sorry we wrecked your livelihood, but how’s that omelet?

She does give one piece of solid advice: diversify your traffic sources. Or, in other words, the exact thing we’ve been screaming since 2002.

So yeah – ummm (scratch head) is this whole thing a Google PR clown car? Absolutely! But at least they’re opening the door a crack and passing out muffins. (Even while they’re getting roasted daily on social media and pssst, pass the bagels please.)

The bottom line is a massive disconnect between the people that create the stuff that populates Google Serps and Google.

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Brett Tabke

As the CEO and founder of Pubcon Inc., Brett Tabke has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of online marketing and search engine optimization. His journey in the computer industry has spanned over three decades and has made him a pioneering force behind digital evolution. Full Bio
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