Quick heads-up.
Google seems to have reintroduced the “Forums” tab in search over the last few days. I noticed it 3 or 4 days ago around 9 Dec. It now sits alongside Images and Videos filtering results to Reddit, forums, Q&A threads, the messy human stuff.
(I can see the data-medics forum in there - still a blatant parasite destination!)
interesting that this change came right before the December core update (ongoing) and it provides yet more evidence that Google is still trying to favour real discussion.
With forums now having a dedicated discovery layer again, cue the parasite SEO onslaught once more!
If you’re just starting out online and thinking about building a community, now could be a very good time to set something up!
Takeaways …
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Niche forums might punch way above their weight.
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Being active in the right communities could compound over time.
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Parasite SEO is not just Reddit anymore.
Also gave me mild flashbacks to the early SEO days when forum threads ranked for everything… right before Google set fire to half the internet 
No big conclusions yet. Just flagging it early. Do you see the ‘Forums’ tab in your SERP?