Ivan Torlakovic's Linkedin Analytics

Google rewards bad behavior. Vitaly Borker figured that out before anyone else. He ran an online store selling designer glasses. But instead of focusing on good service… He did the opposite. Sent fake or broken products Harassed and threatened customers Ignored refunds Why? Because angry customers left tons of bad reviews. And every review—good or bad—was a link. More links → Higher Google rankings → More traffic → More sales. Google’s algorithm had no moral compass. All it saw was authority signals. The scam ran for years. Until a journalist exposed him. Then Google quietly adjusted the algorithm. But the truth is… SEO is still full of loopholes. The question is: Are they being exploited right now?

Let that sink in. Backlinko dropped this stat and it should be a wake-up call. 30%. 7 out of 10 businesses are unhappy. Why? Unrealistic expectations. Poor communication. Lack of results. In a field built on trust and expertise, that’s a massive red flag. If you’re an SEO provider, ask yourself: Are you in the 30%? Or the 70%? The difference is night and day

Google gets 5 TRILLION searches in a year. To put that in perspective... That’s over 158,000 searches every second. Imagine a giant stadium filled with people all asking questions at the same time Except this stadium is the size of the entire planet. People search for everything: where to eat, how to fix things, what to buy, and which businesses to trust. If a business isn’t showing up in those searches, it’s like opening a store in the middle of the desert—no one will find it. That’s why SEO matters. It helps businesses get in front of the people already looking for what they offer.

SEO “hack” or a broken system? Change the year in your article title from 2024 → 2025. Google treats it like fresh content. No updates. No new insights. Just a number swap. And yet… rankings go up. Why? Because Google loves “freshness.” And the easiest way to look fresh… is to fake it. Big sites do this all the time. That’s why you see: “Best Laptops 2025” → posted in 2019. The system is flawed. But it rewards those who play the game. Your move.

Think you’re buying “the best” product? Think again. Most “Best X of 2024” lists exist for one reason: Affiliate commissions. Here’s how it works: 1. A website writes a glowing review. 2. They insert affiliate links. 3. If you buy, they get paid. Sounds fair, right? Except… Many of these lists aren’t based on real testing. They’re optimized for commissions, not quality. The best-reviewed product isn’t always the best. It’s just the one that pays the highest cut. Google is flooded with these results. And most people never question them. Do you?

Google Search isn’t what it used to be. There was a time when Google received fan mail with money inside. People loved it that much. Now? The first thing you see on a search result page is ads. Not one, not two—sometimes the entire screen is just paid results. You have to scroll to see actual organic content. Google’s founders once wrote: "Advertising income often provides an incentive to provide poor quality search results…" In Q2 2024, Google made $84.7B. 76.3% came from ads. 75% of that was search ads. What started as a tool to organize the world’s information… Is now a pay-to-win system. Good SEO still works. But the game has changed. What do you think?

Running an agency solo means wearing every hat. Client management, sales, website creation, SEO, Google Ads, legal paperwork, contracts, planning and everything inbetween. I handle it all. And I know that to scale, I need to delegate. But let’s be real… when you're building something from the ground up, no one will put in the work for you. You have to lead by example.

Three new SEM clients in one day. That's my kind of triple-double. 😉