Reading this piece on The End of Google, I couldn’t help but think this is the end of Web 2.0.

If you are wondering — or have even forgotten — about Web 2.0, a refresher is in order. According to wikipedia: “Web 2.0 (also known as participative (or participatory) web and social web) refers to websites that emphasize user-generated content, ease of use, participatory culture, and interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other products, systems, and devices) for end users.”

Of course Web 2.0 and the ideals associated with it have been declining for some time, ever since the rise and dominance of social media companies like Facebook and Twitter. Despite that dominance, people continued to create user-generated content, not just on those platforms, but on new sites like Bluesky, Substack, and more. People still create content in order to share ideas, influence people, even to get paid.

However with the rise of Google Zero and more, i believe the reasons to keep posting will decline, and the number of posts will decline too. Maybe it won’t decline to zero. Perhaps people like me will continue to post for reasons other than influence or money. But the forces that lead to the rise of Web 2.0 web sites will die, and overall the amount of user generated content will drop dramatically. (Perhaps that’s why companies like Anthropic are already mining old books for content.)

Some time ago there was talk about going from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 or Web 3. I think it’s just as likely we will go from Web 2.0 to Web 0.0. There’ll still be an Internet, and there still will be some small huts of content outside the walled in fortresses of behemoths like Google and Meta and Baidu. But the Web as we once knew it will be no more. And that’s a shame.