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655-705 (Hard)|   Strengthen|      
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Bunuel
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­Many websites that owe their financial success to Oodles, a popular 26 Jul 2026, 19:00
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A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!

Difficulty:

55% (hard)

Question Stats:

66% (01:47) correct 34% (02:06) wrong based on 340 sessions

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­Many websites that owe their financial success to Oodles, a popular search engine, now claim that Oodles has destroyed their business by making slight alterations to the very search algorithm that initially fostered the websites’ success. However, such claims can be confidently rejected as greedy and self-entitled: the websites’ own data shows that the changes in Oodles’ algorithm have only resulted in 8-12% less traffic for the websites than they have grown accustomed to.

Which of the following, if true, would best strengthen the websites’ argument?

A. In recent months internet sales have become so competitive and profit margins so thin that even a slight drop in traffic is catastrophic for a website.
B. Leaked internal Oodles memos show that the search engine was aware that a number of the websites would be affected by the changes.
C. Oodles is not the only search engine on the internet, so the websites could make up the missing traffic elsewhere.
D. The drop in traffic is only temporary while Oodles finetunes the new algorithm.
E. Before making the changes to its algorithm, Oodles asked and received permission from the affected businesses to make the changes.


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A
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dhart
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­Many websites that owe their financial success to Oodles, a popular 26 Jul 2026, 23:01
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Due to comeptitive market and less margin they can make such claims ,looks like option A
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­Many websites that owe their financial success to Oodles, a popular 27 Jul 2026, 12:39
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A. An 8–12% drop in traffic may sound small, but if profit margins are already razor-thin, that reduction could easily be enough to cripple a business. This directly supports the websites' claim.
B. Knowing the websites would be affected doesn't show that the changes actually harmed their businesses.
C. If the websites can recover traffic from other search engines, their claim that Oodles destroyed their business becomes less convincing.
D. If the drop is only temporary, the websites' argument is weakened, not strengthened.
E. Whether Oodles obtained permission before making the changes has no bearing on whether the changes harmed the websites.

I ll go with A
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­Many websites that owe their financial success to Oodles, a popular 02 Aug 2026, 02:30
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Bunuel
­Many websites that owe their financial success to Oodles, a popular search engine, now claim that Oodles has destroyed their business by making slight alterations to the very search algorithm that initially fostered the websites’ success. However, such claims can be confidently rejected as greedy and self-entitled: the websites’ own data shows that the changes in Oodles’ algorithm have only resulted in 8-12% less traffic for the websites than they have grown accustomed to.

Which of the following, if true, would best strengthen the websites’ argument?

A. In recent months internet sales have become so competitive and profit margins so thin that even a slight drop in traffic is catastrophic for a website.
B. Leaked internal Oodles memos show that the search engine was aware that a number of the websites would be affected by the changes.
C. Oodles is not the only search engine on the internet, so the websites could make up the missing traffic elsewhere.
D. The drop in traffic is only temporary while Oodles finetunes the new algorithm.
E. Before making the changes to its algorithm, Oodles asked and received permission from the affected businesses to make the changes.
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VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:



Question Type: Strengthen
Websites' Argument: Changes in search algorithm have resulted in failure of websites.
Assumption: Changes led to the failure and no other possible reasons.

A. In recent months internet sales have become so competitive and profit margins so thin that even a slight drop in traffic is catastrophic for a website. – Correct. Attacks the data cited by stating that small drop results in huge loss, strengthening the websites' argument.

B. Leaked internal Oodles memos show that the search engine was aware that a number of the websites would be affected by the changes. – Out of context. Not being aware/being aware does not help us to strengthen the websites’ claims.

C. Oodles is not the only search engine on the internet, so the websites could make up the missing traffic elsewhere. – Out of context.

D. The drop in traffic is only temporary while Oodles fine tunes the new algorithm. – Opposite.

E. Before making the changes to its algorithm, Oodles asked and received permission from the affected businesses to make the changes. – Out of context. Same reason as B.

Answer: A­
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­Many websites that owe their financial success to Oodles, a popular 31 Aug 2026, 10:57
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The correct answer is A.
Let's understand the argument
The websites claim:
Quote:
"Oodles changed its algorithm, and our business has been destroyed."
Show more
Oodles responds, essentially:
Quote:
"That's just greedy and self-entitled. You only lost 8–12% of your traffic."
Show more
The argument assumes that 8–12% is too small to seriously damage a business.
So to strengthen the websites' argument, we want to show that even an 8–12% traffic loss can cause serious financial damage.
Evaluate the options
A. ✅ Correct
Quote:
In recent months internet sales have become so competitive and profit margins so thin that even a slight drop in traffic is catastrophic for a website.
Show more
This directly attacks Oodles' assumption.
Even though traffic fell only 8–12%, if margins are extremely thin, that loss could make the businesses unprofitable.
Therefore, the websites have a legitimate reason to say that Oodles' changes "destroyed" their business.

B. ❌
Quote:
Oodles knew some websites would be affected.
Show more
Knowing that websites would be affected doesn't tell us whether an 8–12% decline is actually enough to destroy their businesses.
So it doesn't address the central issue.

C. ❌
Quote:
Other search engines are available.
Show more
This actually weakens the websites' argument. If they can easily replace the lost traffic elsewhere, Oodles isn't necessarily responsible for destroying their business.

D. ❌
Quote:
The drop is only temporary.
Show more
This weakens the argument because if the traffic loss is temporary, it's less likely that Oodles has permanently damaged the businesses.

E. ❌
Quote:
Oodles received permission from the businesses.
Show more
This also weakens the websites' complaint. If they gave permission, their claim that Oodles unfairly damaged them becomes less convincing.

The key GMAT reasoning
The argument says:
8–12% traffic loss = insignificant → therefore websites are being greedy.
To strengthen the websites:
8–12% traffic loss = potentially catastrophic → therefore their complaint is justified.
That's exactly what A says.
A\boxed{\text{A}}
GMAT tip: When an argument dismisses something as "only a small amount," look for an answer showing that even that small amount has a large consequence.
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