By Stephen Dow – NetSpeak Solutions
2011 – NOT the Year for Internet Marketing, SEO Professionals and Their Clients
Internet marketing and SEO professionals have been through a tough year working with clients to optimize their Google search engine results. Beginning in March of 2011, the “Panda” update (also known as the “Farmer” update) began its Google search legacy. It has been the most aggressive and controversial update probably ever conducted – and it continues today. It was billed as Google’s big effort to eliminate scraper sites, and content “link” farms from their index. However, since many such sites link to legitimately run sites (without their knowledge), things started off quite badly. In fact, they really haven’t improved much as the updates continued. This has resulted in continuous challenges to SEO Internet marketers; trying to understand and deal with a “constantly moving goal post”.
During this tumultuous time, many large and small companies were hammered in the rankings. Some still have not recovered. Considering all the carnage, amazingly little has been said by Google – even by their Chief Search Quality Engineer, Matt Cutts. Basically, he has simply re-iterated that “they (Google) will reject content or links that are of low quality” (also they don’t like “paid” links). How wonderfully informative.
Because Google is so secretive about its “Panda-monium” update, as well as the 200+ factors that are reportedly involved in its search engine ranking algorithm, it’s now more difficult than ever to help clients in their SEO efforts. The difficulties lie in determining what is a proper backlinking strategy (e.g. links that point to YOUR site only) as well as how to optimize social “authority” and “reach” factors (which relate to social media). Yet, to the latter point, both Klout and PeerIndex (the leaders in this field) are well ahead of Google in this type of ranking. Yet they readily admit they’re not close to achieving the best way to measure social factors. So how does Google think THEY can do it? I don’t believe they can.
Let’s Make Some Big Money Under the “Panda” Banner
All during the “Panda mess” one thing has been positive for Google’s, their ad revenues! They’ve grown to record levels (especially this last quarter). Why? I believe it’s simply because desperate business owners (and SEO marketers) don’t have sure answers to make-up for lost rankings and traffic. So, they decide to “punt” by using more paid advertising – even going as far as pointing ads to home pages (now that’s desperation)!
Here’s where things get dicey.
Was Google’s “high profile” effort to improve search results instituted to primarily generate revenue as well as for their amazing acquisition spree during this year? It’s a legitimate question, since this protracted algorithm mess (the worst managed effort I’ve seen in all my years in search) no longer seems focused on scraper sites and better search results. In fact, with the majority of American companies hurting badly due to a severe recession, Google couldn’t wait to institute their search engine “redesign”? By doing so, they’ve up-ended organic search results – and they “must” have known it would be at their user’s expense?
Ah, The Good Old Days Versus Today
Prior to March of 2011, you were able purchase links from all types of related sites to help in your organic rankings. It was considered the backbone to building your search engine rankings and traffic. Those days have ended – harshly and needlessly. Google actually expects people not to pay for links that can bring in traffic? They want us to believe that social is a mature and viable marketing channel that needs to factored into search NOW – baloney. The fact is, social media is not yet proven itself as a viable marketing channel for all. Furthermore, scraper sites and link farms still exist – and are being used successfully for high rankings (at great peril for those doing so)!
The result of “Panda-monium” is that many companies are more afraid than ever at working on even “good” backlinking campaigns. At the same time they feel pressured to be socially connected, or they may risk being further hurt in organic search engine rankings. Great job Google!
Regarding the social end of things, think about this; only 48% of the U.S. population has a Facebook account (primarily for social interaction). With that in mind, consider that there’s no significant case studies that show how small-to-medium sized business can use Facebook pages to generate revenue. So then how could ANY social metric be used to influence search rankings to the positive? As for Twitter, I don’t know many small business owners who have the time to post constant tweets, follow other tweeters, respond “authoritatively”, as well as get important tweeters to follow them (to attain a high “reach” and “authority” ranking through Klout and PeerIndex).
If you’re still not convinced, consider this; Google has been banned from access to the complete data feeds of both Twitter and Facebook. Thus, they can’t even analyze the complete interactions of people using these major social media networks. Yet, as an SEO professional, one must proceed as if they can. The point is, since no viable metrics currently exist for for Google to assess social media reach and authority, there’s really no way they could effectively use social to improve search results. So really, at least some part of the reasoning behind Panda is a lie.
As for Google’s new social media network (plus), they’re now quietly at war with Facebook – and have been for most of this year. However, it now appears that they’ve entered into this space far too late. Their 20-40 million plus users (whomever you choose to believe for the number) are dropping by the millions each day (since Google+ opened to the public on September 21, 2011). I have many Facebook accounts to compare Google+ to, and they have a LONG way to go, in my opinion.
I agree that reducing scraper sites and link farms is a good thing to try and do (key word is “try”), but everyone in SEO business has ALWAYS known this! Heck, we want the searcher to get highest-quality backlinks for best site ranking results. If we didn’t then we’d never be able to achieve success and we’d go out of business. Thus, what Google has done is completely unacceptable to me – as a ten year veteran in Internet marketing, SEO, , and web design and development.
Lay Back and Enjoy a Good Ripoff or Call Washington?
As Google continues with its Panda “search engine redesign”, let’s all just sit back and watch them continue to mess up organic search and the Internet marketing industry. Heck, we only need to increase the use of over-priced Google paid advertising so THEY can grow even larger. Sounds fair? Why even bother to call your local Senator or Congressman/woman about any of this? Who cares anyway, right?
Our website has drastically dropped since the Panda Updates. Our sales have dropped more than 50%. It does not seem right that Google can have such power over small business. At first we thought that Google was just trying to have a great search engine and the changes were positive. But watching it all unfold this year, we have changed our thinking and realize it is all about Google’s bottom line. We have been using Bing for a search engine the last few months and are encouraging others to use a search engine other than Google. One company should not have such power.
Thank you for this eye opener. I am also a very small company CEO using adwords since the beginning and also wondered what happened to my ranking…. so this article was very interesting to me… I don´t want to throw so much money into google´s abyss,
but others are doing it all the time so i am also a victim of this greed, but the real problem I see, is that firms DO pay those prices in order to attract customers – this could be google´s argument against any criticism.
I was shocked by your numbers of google`s revenue, esp. in comparison to their problem solving service to customers/marketers, which was very very bad e.g no possibility of getting help and service by telephone if a layman marketer really had a problem to solve with his ad , while paying all the time (google ad is quite complicated and time consuming , reading all that stuff and clicking through). SO after several critical letters to the universe, they have started with customer to customer telephone hotline service just recently. YES REAL human beings with a real voice on the other side !! (telephone : it is this wonderful vintage ANOLOGUE AUDIO means of very quick communication by just dialling a number, which still exists, you all out there! )
So google thought for a long time they could get by with only virtual internet activities collecting ALL that money from real people ??? Where does the money go , by the way ??
best regards, e. s. , germany
It has always been the case. Earlier the big blue, then MS and then Apple. Once they grow beyond their shoes, they become the big brothers. the underdogs who are favored become the uncles. History repeats itself.