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Latest posts by Mark Thompson (see all)
- Google – Benevolent or Malevolent? - June 25, 2012
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Does a day go past when you don’t have some interaction with google?
Whether it’s searching for that elusive recipe, accessing emails or finding the location of the restaurant where you were supposed to be meeting your wife 20 minutes ago we all rely on Google to some extent.
Famously of Infamously Google’s motto is “Don’t Do Evil” however sometimes it can seem that they struggle to hold themselves to that lofty ideal.
The problem
The problem for most people (online marketers especially) is that google is like a schizophrenic pitbull , one minute it can be playing nicely with you and the next it’s ripping your face off!
You can spend years building up a good quality blog with unique and insightful content only for it to be banished to the lower reaches of they rankings for no apparent reason. On the other hand google gives you free access to great tools and features. The problem is the stats they produce for you can then have the potential be used against you.
For example I find that measuring bounce rate and time on site is a great metric to measure how well you are engaging with your target market. A high bounce rate and low time on site and you know that you need to do something to retain visitors. The problem is google knows this as well and at some point in the future they will use that data against you.
What you can do
There are several things you can do to ensure that you insulate yourself against any ranking changes that google may make.
Firstly you must and I mean MUST start to capture your subscribers email addresses. If you don’t do it already start today, add a signup box to each post and tell people what you want them to do. “Sign up Here for Updates” etc. Then if google penalizes your site you are still directly in contact with your subscribers.
That one simple step can be the difference between 10 people reading your blog and 10,000.
Next, ask yourself if you are actually using google analytics. I have spoken to people who have added it to their blog and never use it. That’s like giving a burglar your spare key. You might not be using it but you can bet that google is. If you don’t use it remove it.
Google can be a bloggers best friend if you use it sensibly and plan for the worst, you probably wouldn’t be where you are today without them however they can take it all away with a quick tweak of the algorithm so take precautions.
Twitter: esther96
Google just has too much power, but there’s no way to fight them, is there? They banned my adsense account for no reason. Believe me, I couldn’t do a ‘shady’ tech deal even if I was inclined to – and I’m not. I still don’t know why I was banned. No friends were clicking on my ads, and I certainly didn’t do this on my own.
The thing is, there will always be people who play with the system, but because they know their stuff, it’s the small people who’ll have to pay for it.
I know that Google has too much power. But I also know, there is nothing I can do to change that.
annelg recently posted..Smart Ways To Declutter Your Home
Twitter: bestpcutility
I would agree with you. We don’t know when will Google penalizes our sites, the only thing we can do is to write quality and useful articles, and avoid using black hat techniques. As an internet marketer, I would prefer not to put all eggs in one basket, by expanding your profit based on other traffic sources, such as facebook and social media. It is way too risky to rely on Google as your only source of traffic.
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That sucks. I would be so ticked off if that happened to me. Even I, who years ago signed up for these crap websites called speedlings, was not banned when it turned out to be a bunch of hooey – thankfully.
It seems crazy that they would do it for no reason – I mean, that’s absolutely not acceptable. Is there really nothing we can do to change it?
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I think you are right, to a point. Google has enormous authority, and can choose to virtually destroy someone’s online presence seemingly on a whim. It can be a serious challenge keeping up with what Google wants from us SEO-wise, and what things we should avoid. Having said that, Google has reached this level because their products WORK. Google is one of the most consistent producers of software and content that always works, is totally user friendly, and destroys the alternatives. Google is the powerhouse that they are because they earned it, frankly. I am worried about their level of power as well, but I also think that their domination in the online world is a result of their incredibly strong and reliable content.
I think the biggest mistake people make with Google is they try to please Google rather than please their audience. My site hasn’t suffered at all, even after the latest algorithm updates, but that’s probably because I don’t use spamy techniques and my site is aimed at our clients, not Google. Bounce rates and time spent on your site widely varies from niche to niche, so unless Google is comparing your site with someone elses in that niche I don’t see how they could use it to a negative affect – unless bounce rates are extremely high and time spent on your site is really low.
And don’t forget about social media, which can bring a ton of traffic
Rob recently posted..Promotion: Reduced Australian Migration Agent Fees
Hi Mark, I am actually more concerned about other things that Google is up to these days, like using all our personal data for God knows what and stuff like that…But it is still the best tool that we can use I suppose.
Instead of removing Google AdSense, i would strongly recommend those not using it to start doing so. It is an immense tool, and one that provides you with just so much information for free. Secondly, I wholeheartedly agree with your suggestion of capturing your reader/visitor’s email IDs. Extremely essential especially in the world of Pandas and Penguins!
Dan recently posted..How to Get Organic Traffic from Google
I also think something has to be done about google’s monopoly on the market. I hear that the government is looking to file a mistrust lawsuit against them. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Google since last summer over antitrust concerns. And now the commission has hired an attorney who will be planning to bring legal action against Google. This could bring down the giant…here’s hopeful thinking!
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The question, who has the capability and the resources to challenge Google and break its monopoly in the market? Apple’s trying. Getting rid of Google maps in iOS6 and replacing it with iMaps is one (tiny) step in the right direction. However the key to really hurting Google is by breaking its dominance in the search-engine department – something that none of its present rivals are even remotely capable of doing.
Dan recently posted..How to Get Organic Traffic from Google
I use Google everyday! As a consumer, I know it gives me the most relevant website for the keyword I am searching for. That is very valuable and is one of the reasons why Google dominates.
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Google Analytics is the best way to keep up with what’s going on with your blog. Unfortunately, Google does love to change up the algorithms, but like you said, if you can at least keep your subscribers and use Analytics to stay on top of things, there’s always a chance you’ll survive. Thanks for the insight!
Google is one of those things you either love or hate. Personally I think Google is moving in the right direction and as much as people are upset with Penguin, they are trying to do the right thing. Penguin was supposedly put out as an attempt to clean up links and content and if that is what it’s for then I’m all for it.
Google is the big fish right now, but I believe that Facebook and Bing may be cooking up some competition…I think it would be awesome to have more than one major search engine. I guess we will have to wait and see how things shake out.
I have become very dependent on Google. I use at-least one of their services every single day. From a search perspective, the only real competition it has is bing. Although bing as gained some market share in the last couple of years, it is still not as efficient as google in terms of search results. Google updates are go either ways. Last year, the panda update helped my blog with a lot of traffic. The penguin update for my blog was a disaster and I lost most of Google traffic. One needs to be prepared while dealing with google.
Arun recently posted..IRCTC PNR Status
I definitely agree with you! I guess Google definitely is like your best friend, you can have some major fights but when you work things out, everything will be okay in the end. hahaha
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Google is the king. Follow the algorithm panda or penguin and no one will be banned.
Pulkit recently posted..Grade 10 – Science and Math Combo
A great person have said once. “Google is good but i wouldn’t lete her babysit my children.” I tottaly agree with that phrase!
Twitter: Blogginginsight
Someone said we should think about making our audience satisfied instead of getting obsessed about making google happy…
Twitter: GeekandJock
Yeah, the big G can be your friend as well as your worst nightmare and I know the feeling
Thing is, they own the ballpark, all the bats and the ball. The also own the audience too.
Definitely start signing up subscribers though as those people will be traffic that Google sees coming in.
You gotta love them as well as not but they’re a necessary evil unfortunately.
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Sometimes I think most of us website owners are at the mercy of Google. Whenever they decide to do or change there is nothing we can do about it. Sometimes if affects us, and sometimes it don’t. We can complain, but I don’t think it will do much. I think you should try to stay informed about Google updates and seo as much as possible.
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Ray, I think you are right. Google can ban our website or can give us better ranking. No one can say what Google is going to do.
Pulkit recently posted..Grade 10 – Science and Math Combo
Definitely malevolent. As it says in Spiderman movie ‘ with great power comes great responsibility” Google creates an update like the latest penguin update and greatly affects thousands of businesses without a second thought.
I do some sideline work with some guys that have multiple sites on line. For the last 2 years they were doing incredibly well with their products. Very high rankings.
But they used the methods that had worked for them in the past. Then along comes Penguin and BAM! They are hurting now and scrambling to bring up their rankings. Now their best option is to go with a couple of other big boys to sell their products — Amazon and Ebay.
What one person here said is true. We have come to the point that we are creating for Google instead of our audience, but without Google, getting the audience is a mighty large task.
Does Google have too much power? Sure.
But how many of us would be were we at without them?
Microsoft is no longer the Evil Overlord it once was. Bing can actually provide a better alternative. The only way to support competition in the market and actually help search evolve is not to live a monogomous relationship with Google. Let them fight for your love!!!!
Cracking post. My last few ‘brushes’ with Google have resulted in getting my ‘face ripped off’ but I’m learning on how to avoid these skirmishes all the time. The Penguin update really damaged my site traffic but I’m utilising advice from certain gurus and tracking my analytics to slowly see an improvement.
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I have to agree with a large portion of the readers here. Google does have way to much power and can be frustrating to work with. social media outlets have consistently driven most traffic for my blog, I am still working on mastering the ins and outs of the google machine.
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One which I agree, let\’s write a blog for the readers not to google.If readers like your blog, then google would have no reason to do evil.I have never experienced PR fallout from 4 to 0.Since then I choose to be patient and serve the reader not google
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This is a great read. Google has now turned out to be the King among all the search engines as it is followed by everyone around the globe. I totally agree with you that Google can go against and ban a website. Nevertheless, if we are conscious and keep ourselves updated with Google’s new updates then I am sure it will do no harm and it is always better to follow ethical SEO techniques to achieve desired targets even if it takes a little longer time then other means. This will be safer and more helpful.Thanks for sharing!!
Twitter: JetSetBags
I’ve heard a great deal of how google did this and did that, banned this and that. Google has great products that one can really benefit greatly. It’s so simple, yet works wonders and can be complicated too. I guess You have to think, that like you, Google is simply looking out for the best interests of their users.
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Google is a awesome company,Sometimes i wondered how much complex algorithm does google uses to serve consumers this much better.
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