Is Your Website in Danger Because of the Net Neutrality Repeal?

Hysteria.

That's what has accompanied the net neutrality repeal that was decided by the U.S. government on December 14.

In a fictional story, a character named Chicken Little [Chicken Licken and Henny Penny in cultures outside the United States] kept running around fretting, "The sky is falling."

Is the internet, as we know it, falling?

Is the hysteria that's accompanied the repeal of net neutrality warranted?

How does this change affect you as a blogger? You're dependent on the internet to blog.

This post will explain what net neutrality is and what the net neutrality repeal means for you and your website.

The Meaning of the Net Neutrality Repeal
On Thursday, December 14, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), a United States government body, voted 3-2 to get rid of what used to be the neutral Internet.

Previously, the Internet was considered neutral by the U.S. government. In other words, the government could regulate your Internet use and the service you used to access the Internet.

No more!

Going forward, Internet services will be treated just like any utility such as water.

What the Net Neutrality Repeal Means for You
Do you pay for a company for the water that comes out of your faucets and hose? Of course, you do.

Do you pay more for additional uses of your faucets and hose?

Of course, you do.

Going forward, your Internet service provides can do what they want, charge you whatever they want.

That's what the Net Neutrality Repeal means for you: government regulations are no longer in place to regulate what your Internet service providers do.

Will you be charged more for additional Internet usage? You no longer know that answer.

As a blogger, you're expected to research to ensure the accuracy of your blog posts.

Will Google charge more for each Google search? You no longer know that answer.

Will Twitter charge per tweet each time you promote your blog post? We don't know.

Can the Net Neutrality Repeal Affect You in Ways Other Than Relating to Money?
Yes, but exactly how? The future is no longer clear.

You need Google and other search engines to show your content to its users.

However, Google and other search engines are no longer regulated by the United States government. The search engines can do what they please.

Am I insinuating that SEO, as we know it, is dead?

Should You Be Worried About the Net Neutrality Repeal?
Consider these comments from bloggers and marketers:

Source: Reddit SEO Forum

The whole point of SEO is the open ability to optimize a website for search engine results. The problem I have with this repeal is it has opened a Pandora's box. What if Comcast decides to throttle Google down to an unusable rate, and encourage users to go to Comcast's own search engine that only show results for websites who paid them or fits their vision? It defeats the purpose of SEO. I am worried that this repeal could affect our livelihoods in the SEO world.

It's going to change everything online, not just SEO.

If the scenario we predict actually happens with preferential treatment, then the entire digital marketing game is going to be flipped on its head. From SEO to media buys and everything in between.

Source: Facebook White Hat SEO Group

I thought the internet was ending with the repeal of net neutrality. At least that's what all the doomsayers are saying.

Sites like Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc will still be used; possibly be throttled, but not blocked or denied. ISPs [Internet Service Providers] will extort the content provider, who will in turn pass costs on to consumers.

Wrapping Up

In closing, these are just a few of the ways you can be affected by the net neutrality repeal. Even the speed in which you receive the Internet could be affected.

We don't know yet if the cyberspace as we know it is changing. However, based on these comments from people knowledgeable about SEO, the sky may not be falling, but it certainly appears dark and cloudy.

Readers, please share so website creators curious or confused about the net neutrality repeal learn how the repeal of government regulations involving the Internet could potentially affect them.

I look forward to your views in the comments section. What is your opinion about the government decision involving the net neutrality repeal?

UPDATE: The repeal might be repealed! This story isn't done being written.

The original post: https://www.mostlyblogging.com/net-neutrality-repeal/