""The first wave of the Internet was transforming commerce," the company writes in the history section of its SEC filing in a tone that's almost nostalgic. "Eric could easily search the Internet and buy many things online-from books to beanie babies," it continues, referring to the firm's founder Eric Baker, who started the company in 2000 during the heyday of the dot com era."
"But over the last two years, a plethora of online businesses, from publishers to ecommerce platforms, have feared that users' shifting to AI-driven search means traditional search engines will no longer send the surmountable amount of traffic to websites that they once did. The beanie babies and books that Eric Baker would have searched to buy in the early 2000s are now beholden to the whims of what Claude and ChatGPT decide to surface."
"This fear even has a name, Google Zero-and also seems to have made it into StubHub's SEC filing. "We rely heavily on internet search engines, such as Google, to generate traffic to our website, through a combination of organic and paid searches," the company's S-1 filing's "Risk Factors" section reads. "Changes in internet search engine algorithms and dynamics," it says, "could have an adverse impact on traffic for our sites and ultimately, our business, financial condition.""
StubHub's IPO opened around $25 and fell more than 5 percent, dropping as low as $22, signaling weak investor enthusiasm. The company depends heavily on online search traffic to drive customers to its ticket marketplace. The firm's history notes early internet commerce habits, when users could search and buy items like books and beanie babies. Many online businesses now fear shifts to AI-driven search will reduce traditional search referrals. That concern, labeled Google Zero, appears in the company's SEC filing. The filing warns that changes in search engine algorithms and dynamics could adversely affect site traffic and the business's financial condition.
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