
One quiet afternoon in his Amsterdam apartment, Kyle Kroeger found himself gazing at a photo of his young daughter discovering the Van Gogh Museum for the very first time. That fleeting moment—her eyes sparkling as she absorbed the swirling colors of the masterpiece—embodied everything they had sacrificed to move across continents.
Later that day, as he picked her up from school and they biked past the museum, she excitedly shouted, “Van Gogggghh!” upon spotting Van Gogh’s self-portrait displayed outside. It’s moments like these that fuel Kyle’s passion and purpose.
But today, the authenticity of travel experiences has become a rare commodity—distorted by giant corporate travel websites that have never set foot in the places they cover, let alone witnessed such intimate moments firsthand.
For over a year, Kyle struggled to put his thoughts into words. Now, he finally speaks out—not just to share their story, but to offer a candid look behind the curtain at what’s happening in the travel content world—and how it’s reshaping the way travelers explore and plan.
He wants to highlight the vital importance of supporting independent creators, those who dedicate themselves to delivering exactly one thing: genuine value, detailed information, and firsthand perspectives.
After uprooting his family from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to embrace a full-time travel lifestyle, Kyle and his team have found it increasingly difficult to share the honest, insightful viewpoints that travel truly deserves.
The cost of this shift has been heartbreaking.
If anyone doubts the severity, Kyle points to the stark numbers: their site traffic plummeted from over 1 million monthly readers to just 30,000—a staggering 97% drop, continuing with no clear explanation.
Before the Collapse: Over 1,000,000 monthly readers.
After: 30,000 monthly readers (a 97% decrease).
Countless guides vanished from search results.
Their own photos now redirect traffic to competitors.
Yet, what stings most isn’t the traffic loss—it’s watching years of authentic travel stories disappear from search results, replaced by content from sites with no genuine connection to those places.
Even more painful: their original photos being used by rivals without credit, some linked to search queries with their brand but sending users elsewhere. It’s as if they’ve been shadowbanned from the digital world.
One particular image, a rare photo from a temporary Van Gogh exhibit years ago, was being used by a competitor—an image few have and which carried the timestamp in the permalink.
Kyle also checked their hometown, Minneapolis, only to find a local activity card featuring their photo, again without permission or credit.
They’re far from alone in this fight. Today, Kyle and ViaTravelers are pulling back the veil on how Google’s evolving search landscape has devastated independent travel blogs like theirs.
This isn’t just about numbers or traffic. It’s about a community of storytellers who once thrived and inspired, now left struggling to share the stories they deeply care about.
Over the years, ViaTravelers’ team collectively has:
- Explored over 150 countries
- Visited every US state
- Documented more than 100 national forests
- Created 15,000+ original travel photos
- Traveled to over 30 countries in 2023 alone
Now, with dwindling resources, their talented writers are silenced, unable to share the experiences they’ve dedicated their lives to capturing.
Behind every statistic lies a real person with passion and stories to tell:
- Stuart Jameson, a true globetrotter who’s visited over 70 countries and once hitchhiked from Germany to Cambodia.
- Amanda Finn, a Chicago-based writer who’s explored numerous nations, visited every Disney park, and specializes in Prague.
- Kim Magaraci, whose award-winning photography from the Tetons to the White Mountains brings outdoor adventures to life.
- Woodrow Matthews, a Hawaiian travel expert with deep knowledge of points, miles, and loyalty programs, helping readers save big.
This dramatic decline has forced Kyle to question the future of independent travel blogging. How can small, passionate creators compete in a landscape dominated by massive media conglomerates?
He has worked tirelessly to revive their Google presence, at times doubting their own efforts, only to realize they were doing nothing wrong.
Deeper investigation uncovered disturbing trends in travel search results:
- Multi-site dominance: Big media companies owning multiple travel websites flood search rankings.
- Keyword saturation: Large publishers produce mass content targeting specific keywords, drowning out smaller sites.
- AI-generated content: Major players rapidly generate cheap travel content with AI partnerships.
- Brand authority over expertise: Well-known publications leverage domain authority to outrank truly knowledgeable creators.
To put it in perspective, the “Big 4” travel giants—TripAdvisor, Expedia, Booking Holdings, and KAYAK—control nearly 95% of the online travel market.
Kyle emphasizes that ViaTravelers never accepts sponsored content or advertising deals—they fund their travels themselves and promote only authentic experiences.
Meanwhile, many big publishers push sponsored and curated content with “experts” that feel more like marketing facades than genuine travel guidance.
Some alarming facts:
- Google’s travel features have cut organic traffic to travel sites by about 40%.
- Large media owns 70% of the first-page results for travel queries.
- Independent travel blogs have lost an average of 55% of traffic since 2022.
- The cost of creating original travel content has risen 45%, while ad revenue has dropped 60%.
This creates a vicious cycle—producing quality content becomes costlier with less visibility, making it impossible to sustain travel adventures or offer diverse perspectives.
The consequences go far beyond ViaTravelers:
- Genuine voices are being silenced.
- Firsthand expertise by dedicated professionals is devalued.
- Real travel knowledge is replaced by AI content and generic data.
- The diversity of travel perspectives is shrinking.
This crisis isn’t just professional—it’s deeply personal.
Kyle’s daughter, having lived nearly three years in Amsterdam, has blossomed in this multicultural environment. From struggling on her first day at a Dutch-only school to now speaking Dutch fluently and understanding Van Gogh’s work, she’s already experienced more cultures than many do in a lifetime.
His family sacrificed everything to pursue this lifestyle, yet it’s frustrating to watch their hard work and passion sidelined.
Algorithmic favoritism toward corporate content farms buries authentic travel stories, hidden gems, and real experiences that could help countless other travelers and families.
Despite the challenges, ViaTravelers refuses to give up. They’ve come too far and lived too much to stop now.
Kyle loves travel too deeply to quit. They will keep delivering the best experiences possible—albeit while navigating this challenging new digital landscape.
This situation highlights the urgent need for transparency and fairness in how Google Search operates, especially in travel content, to truly honor what the company professes to value.
Without change, independent creators who live and breathe travel will remain muted, and most readers will be fed generic, lowest-common-denominator content.
This struggle is about:
- The future of authentic travel storytelling.
- The survival of independent travel writers.
- The quality of travel information available to audiences.
- The diversity of voices in travel media.
While Google may control search results, it cannot govern travelers’ passion for genuine storytelling. Kyle and his team will continue sharing their journeys and finding new ways to reach those who value true, firsthand experiences and unique photography.
For those who love to travel, Kyle urges:
- Support independent travel blogs through direct visits, newsletter sign-ups, and social sharing.
- Question the sources of your travel information.
- Look beyond the first page of search results for unique perspectives.
- Subscribe to ViaTravelers’ newsletter for authentic travel content.
To protect the beauty and integrity of the online travel community, Kyle calls on Google to:
- Reassess how domain authority is weighted in travel queries.
- Develop better ways to recognize and reward genuine expertise.
- Consider how algorithm changes impact content diversity.
The internet needs more than corporate travel content. It needs real stories, honest experiences, and authentic voices. Help keep true travel content alive.