Canadian financial technology firm Hardbacon has shuttered.
After raising capital in 2022, the Montreal-born company was aiming to be a go-to tool for financial decision-making, from budgeting to investment tracking.
However, things turned south about one year ago.
“It is with a heavy heart that I write this last post for Hardbacon,” reads a memo from chief executive Julien Brault. “I am truly sorry that we have come to this, but please know that I did everything in my power to avoid what ultimately became inevitable.”
All employees have been let go, Brault stated, and operations have been suspended as his company declares bankruptcy.
What went so wrong so fast? A Google update, apparently.
Changes to Google’s search algorithm impacted sites with affiliate links and caused traffic to Hardbacon to plummet overnight. Within months, visits were down 97%.
“Despite extensive SEO and content optimization work, our traffic continued to decline, and each Google update since September has accelerated our traffic loss, without any clear explanation,” Brault wrote.
In an effort to ride out the rough wave, the CEO attempted to manage expenses, but the traffic never returned.
“I did everything I could to reduce expenses,” Brault recalls. “I let go of our employees one by one until I had to let go of the last two employees at the beginning of the month.”
Brault hopes that, at a minimum, Google might “lose ground due to its abusive behaviour” as the tech titan is increasingly scrutinized for its monopolizing methods.
That said, Brault concludes, “it is too late for Hardbacon.”
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