Told my team to stop using HARO a long time ago. Looks like I made the right call, because they just announced it’s shutting down.
As marketers like to do, it became abused. HARO’s intent of journalism was overtaken by marketers.
The nail in the coffin was AI content submissions turned the place into a dumpster fire. The replies people started sending became increasingly sloppy and low quality. It was a quantity game. And the rare decent replies were purely SEO plays.
Even featuring and citing people, you’d get a rageful message “YOU DIDN’T GIVE ME A DOFOLLOW BACKLINK *$#!”
And if you received 10 replies, 9 were nearly identical, clearly output from AI, as you can see in this screenshot sample of HARO replies.
A lot of important lessons in them shutting down. Two are top of mind.
1 – Look to the future.
Stay ahead of the curve. Don’t be complacent. Always keep a radar up for new opportunities, or dying ones to proactively pivot.
2 – Adapt or die
How many SEO and marketing companies are now up a creek without a paddle because of depending on one platform?
How many marketers are stuck between a rock and a hard place because of lack of creativity?
Own your processes.
Own your channels.
