Quick, Cheap, & Easy Strategies to Dominate Google's Search Results

Following last year's pillage of general web directories, Google reset the PageRank on many article syndication directories to PR3 or PR0. EzineArticles did not get edited, perhaps because they have more stringent editorial guidelines, they were a known market leader, or they were a Google case study. Just about every other article syndication directory did.

About 3 years ago I create a directory of directories so I could keep track of new directories. But very few of the directory owners considered editorial quality. Eventually they started polluting their directories with site-wide links to payday loan websites.

On the paid side some people who had success creating one low quality directory decided to create a dozen more pay for inclusion websites, often cross promoting them with discounts...after you buy one they thank you and offer you the ability to buy inclusion in the other dozen at half price.

And on the cheap end, it got to the point where lots of companies like Directory Maximizer do directory submissions for a dime to a quarter each, allowing you to space out the submissions, mix anchor text, and mix listing descriptions. And while many of these services claim to be "SEO friendly" and offer services in bulk, you can see that a search engineer might not hold the same opinion. :)

By the time a technique is cheaply and reliably outsourced the value has already been diminished or will soon become worthless.

  • lower cost and automation means more people will use the technique
  • the lower cost often appeals to those making lower quality websites
  • the more people who use a technique the more likely it is for search engineers to kill it

Andy Hagans used to charge $900 for doing a couple dozen article submissions, and back when he did it, it was probably worth it. He marketed it to highbrow clients who used it to promote quality website. Lower end webmasters probably could not justify paying $900 for that service.

And you could get a hand rolled product of similar quality to what Andy charged $900 for, but at a price $870 cheaper from We Submit Articles. About a month after I showed Andy that We Submit Articles website, where someone was selling services similar to his for $30, he changed his model to promote linkbait stuff, moving himself up the value chain, creating something that is much harder and more expensive to replicate.

Article submission software and article remixing software came out, only making the issue worse. Andy probably could have continued his old model for another year and been fine, but he knew that Google would eventually pull the rug out from under it. It took a while, but the article directories had their PageRank edited.

Search engineers can't stop everything, but by the time a technique is cheaply and reliably outsourced the value has already been diminished or will soon become worthless.

  • lower cost and automation means more people will use the technique
  • the lower cost often appeals to those making lower quality websites
  • the more people who use a technique the more likely it is for search engineers to kill it

When you think of the web from that perspective it is easy to see why my current business model is so much better than the old model. The community interaction allows for deeper understanding, and helps people move past using just the techniques that are quick, cheap, and easy.

Parasitic hosts and upload sites, social media sites full of spam, endless cross-referencing internal tagging, blog carnivals...all are quick, cheap, and easy. What do you think is the next quick, cheap, and easy marketing technique that Google will kill?

Example of the Google Ranking #6 Filter

When the Google #6 filter rolled out I did not notice it until after I read about it from the WebmasterWorld thread about it. But after I saw the thread I thought of my site that recently lost a couple positions. Then I searched for related low traffic queries where the site typically ranked #1 for, and it was still ranked #6 for virtually everything. Here is a ranking chart for the site going back a few years

And here are the rank numbers for the core keyword. While a site dipping 1 or 2 ranks for a short period of time is not uncommon, for many of the longer tail keywords that the site traditionally ranked #1 or #2 for it also went to position 6 (not 5 or 7, but 6) while the site was experiencing the #6 filter.

  Keyword Placement Over Time  
    
  Date    Rank  
  Jan 25, 2008     4  
  Jan 24, 2008     6  
  Jan 23, 2008     5  
  Jan 22, 2008     6  
  Jan 21, 2008     6  
  Jan 20, 2008     6  
  Jan 19, 2008     6  
  Jan 18, 2008     6  
  Jan 17, 2008     6  
  Jan 16, 2008     6  
  Jan 15, 2008     6  
  Jan 14, 2008     6  
  Jan 13, 2008     6  
  Jan 12, 2008     6  
  Jan 11, 2008     6  
  Jan 10, 2008     6  
  Jan 9, 2008     6  
  Jan 8, 2008     6  
  Jan 7, 2008     6  
  Jan 6, 2008     6  
  Jan 5, 2008     6  
  Jan 4, 2008     6  
  Jan 3, 2008     6  
  Jan 2, 2008     6  
  Jan 1, 2008     6  
  Dec 31, 2007     6  
  Dec 30, 2007     6  
  Dec 29, 2007     6  
  Dec 28, 2007     6  
  Dec 27, 2007     6  
  Dec 26, 2007     6  
  Dec 25, 2007     6  
  Dec 24, 2007     6  
  Dec 23, 2007     6  
  Dec 22, 2007     6  
  Dec 21, 2007     6  
  Dec 20, 2007     6  
  Dec 19, 2007     6  
  Dec 18, 2007     4  
  Dec 17, 2007     4  
  Dec 16, 2007     4  
  Dec 15, 2007     4  
  Dec 14, 2007     4  
  Dec 13, 2007     4  
  Dec 12, 2007     4  
  Dec 11, 2007     4  
  Dec 10, 2007     4  
  Dec 9, 2007     5  
  Dec 8, 2007     5  
  Dec 7, 2007     5  
  Dec 6, 2007     5  
  Dec 5, 2007     5  
  Dec 4, 2007     5  
  Dec 3, 2007     5  
  Dec 2, 2007     4  
  Dec 1, 2007     4  
  Nov 30, 2007     4  
  Nov 29, 2007     5  
  Nov 28, 2007     4  
  Nov 27, 2007     4  
  Nov 26, 2007     4  
  Nov 25, 2007     4  
  Nov 24, 2007     4  
  Nov 23, 2007     4  
  Nov 22, 2007     4  
  Nov 21, 2007     4  
  Nov 20, 2007     4  
  Nov 19, 2007     4  
  Nov 18, 2007     4  
  Nov 17, 2007     3  
  Nov 16, 2007     3  
  Nov 15, 2007     3  
  Nov 14, 2007     3  
  Nov 13, 2007     3  
  Nov 12, 2007     3  
  Nov 11, 2007     3  
  Nov 10, 2007     3  
  Nov 9, 2007     4  
  Nov 8, 2007     4  
  Nov 7, 2007     4  
  Nov 6, 2007     4  
  Nov 5, 2007     4  
  Nov 4, 2007     4  
  Nov 3, 2007     4  
  Nov 2, 2007     3  
  Nov 1, 2007     4  
  Oct 31, 2007     4  
  Oct 30, 2007     4  
  Oct 29, 2007     4  
  Oct 29, 2007     4  
  Oct 28, 2007     4  
  Oct 27, 2007     4  
  Oct 26, 2007     4  
  Oct 25, 2007     4  
  Oct 24, 2007     4  
  Oct 23, 2007     4  
  Oct 22, 2007     4  
  Oct 21, 2007     4  
  Oct 20, 2007     4  
  Oct 19, 2007     4  
  Oct 18, 2007     4  
  Oct 17, 2007     4  
  Oct 16, 2007     4  
  Oct 15, 2007     4  
  Oct 14, 2007     4  
  Oct 13, 2007     4  
  Oct 12, 2007     4  
  Oct 11, 2007     4  
  Oct 10, 2007     4  
  Oct 9, 2007     4  
  Oct 8, 2007     5  
  Oct 7, 2007     5  
  Oct 6, 2007     5  
  Oct 5, 2007     5  
  Oct 4, 2007     5  
  Oct 3, 2007     5  
  Oct 2, 2007     5  
  Oct 1, 2007     5  
  Sep 30, 2007     5  
  Sep 29, 2007     5  
  Sep 28, 2007     5  
  Sep 27, 2007     5  
  Sep 26, 2007     5  
  Sep 25, 2007     5  
  Sep 24, 2007     5  
  Sep 23, 2007     5  
  Sep 22, 2007     5  
  Sep 21, 2007     5  
  Sep 20, 2007     5  
  Sep 19, 2007     5  
  Sep 18, 2007     5  
  Sep 17, 2007     5  
  Sep 16, 2007     5  
  Sep 15, 2007     5  
  Sep 14, 2007     5  
  Sep 13, 2007     5  
  Sep 12, 2007     5  
  Sep 11, 2007     5  
  Sep 10, 2007     5  
  Sep 9, 2007     5  
  Sep 8, 2007     5  
  Sep 7, 2007     4  
  Sep 6, 2007     4  
  Sep 5, 2007     4  
  Sep 4, 2007     4  
  Sep 3, 2007     4  
  Sep 2, 2007     4  
  Sep 1, 2007     4  
  Aug 31, 2007     4  
  Aug 30, 2007     4  
  Aug 29, 2007     4  
  Aug 28, 2007     4  
  Aug 27, 2007     4  
  Aug 26, 2007     5  
  Aug 25, 2007     5  
  Aug 24, 2007     9,999  
  Aug 23, 2007     5  
  Aug 22, 2007     5  
  Aug 21, 2007     5  
  Aug 20, 2007     5  
  Aug 19, 2007     5  
  Aug 18, 2007     5  
  Aug 17, 2007     5  
  Aug 16, 2007     5  
  Aug 15, 2007     5  
  Aug 14, 2007     5  
  Aug 13, 2007     5  
  Aug 12, 2007     5  
  Aug 11, 2007     5  
  Aug 10, 2007     5  
  Aug 9, 2007     5  
  Aug 8, 2007     5  
  Aug 7, 2007     4  
  Aug 6, 2007     4  
  Aug 5, 2007     4  
  Aug 4, 2007     5  
  Aug 3, 2007     5  
  Aug 2, 2007     5  
  Aug 1, 2007     5  
  Jul 31, 2007     5  
  Jul 30, 2007     5  
  Jul 29, 2007     5  
  Jul 28, 2007     5  
  Jul 27, 2007     5  
  Jul 26, 2007     5  
  Jul 25, 2007     5  
  Jul 24, 2007     5  
  Jul 23, 2007     5  
  Jul 22, 2007     5  
  Jul 21, 2007     5  
  Jul 20, 2007     5  
  Jul 19, 2007     5  
  Jul 18, 2007     5  
  Jul 17, 2007     5  
  Jul 16, 2007     5  
  Jul 15, 2007     5  
  Jul 14, 2007     5  
  Jul 13, 2007     5  
  Jul 12, 2007     5  
  Jul 11, 2007     5  
  Jul 10, 2007     5  
  Jul 9, 2007     5  
  Jul 8, 2007     5  
  Jul 7, 2007     5  
  Jul 6, 2007     5  
  Jul 5, 2007     5  
  Jul 4, 2007     5  
  Jul 3, 2007     5  
  Jul 2, 2007     5  
  Jul 1, 2007     5  
  Jun 30, 2007     5  
  Jun 29, 2007     5  
  Jun 28, 2007     5  
  Jun 27, 2007     5  
  Jun 26, 2007     5  
  Jun 25, 2007     5  
  Jun 24, 2007     5  
  Jun 23, 2007     5  
  Jun 22, 2007     3  
  Jun 21, 2007     3  
  Jun 20, 2007     3  
  Jun 19, 2007     3  
  Jun 18, 2007     3  
  Jun 17, 2007     3  
  Jun 16, 2007     3  
  Jun 15, 2007     3  
  Jun 14, 2007     3  
  Jun 13, 2007     3  
  Jun 12, 2007     3  
  Jun 11, 2007     3  
  Jun 10, 2007     3  
  Jun 9, 2007     3  
  Jun 8, 2007     3  
  Jun 7, 2007     3  
  Jun 6, 2007     3  
  Jun 5, 2007     3  
  Jun 4, 2007     3  
  Jun 3, 2007     3  
  Jun 2, 2007     3  
  Jun 1, 2007     3  
  May 31, 2007     3  
  May 30, 2007     3  
  May 29, 2007     3  
  May 28, 2007     3  
  May 27, 2007     3  
  May 26, 2007     3  
  May 25, 2007     3  
  May 24, 2007     3  
  May 23, 2007     3  
  May 22, 2007     3  
  May 21, 2007     3  
  May 20, 2007     3  
  May 19, 2007     3  
  May 18, 2007     3  
  May 17, 2007     3  
  May 16, 2007     3  
  May 15, 2007     3  
  May 14, 2007     3  
  May 13, 2007     3  
  May 12, 2007     3  
  May 11, 2007     3  
  May 10, 2007     3  
  May 9, 2007     3  
  May 8, 2007     3  
  May 7, 2007     3  
  May 6, 2007     3  
  May 5, 2007     3  
  May 4, 2007     3  
  May 3, 2007     3  
  May 2, 2007     9,999  
  May 1, 2007     9,999  
  Apr 30, 2007     3  
  Apr 29, 2007     3  
  Apr 28, 2007     3  
  Apr 27, 2007     3  
  Apr 26, 2007     3  
  Apr 25, 2007     3  
  Apr 24, 2007     3  
  Apr 23, 2007     3  
  Apr 22, 2007     3  
  Apr 21, 2007     3  
  Apr 20, 2007     3  
  Apr 19, 2007     3  
  Apr 18, 2007     3  
  Apr 17, 2007     3  
  Apr 16, 2007     3  
  Apr 15, 2007     3  
  Apr 14, 2007     3  
  Apr 13, 2007     3  
  Apr 12, 2007     3  
  Apr 11, 2007     3  
  Apr 10, 2007     9,999  
  Apr 9, 2007     3  
  Apr 8, 2007     3  
  Apr 7, 2007     3  
  Apr 6, 2007     3  
  Apr 5, 2007     3  
  Apr 4, 2007     3  
  Apr 3, 2007     3  
  Apr 2, 2007     3  
  Apr 1, 2007     3  
  Mar 31, 2007     3  
  Mar 30, 2007     3  
  Mar 29, 2007     3  
  Mar 28, 2007     2  
  Mar 27, 2007     2  
  Mar 26, 2007     2  
  Mar 24, 2007     2  
  Mar 23, 2007     2  
  Mar 22, 2007     2  
  Mar 21, 2007     2  
  Mar 20, 2007     2  
  Mar 19, 2007     2  
  Mar 18, 2007     2  
  Mar 17, 2007     2  
  Mar 16, 2007     2  
  Mar 15, 2007     3  
  Mar 14, 2007     3  
  Mar 13, 2007     3  
  Mar 12, 2007     3  
  Mar 11, 2007     3  
  Mar 10, 2007     3  
  Mar 9, 2007     4  
  Mar 8, 2007     4  
  Mar 7, 2007     3  
  Mar 6, 2007     3  
  Mar 5, 2007     4  
  Mar 4, 2007     2  
  Mar 3, 2007     2  
  Mar 2, 2007     9,999  
  Mar 1, 2007     3  
  Feb 28, 2007     3  
  Feb 27, 2007     9,999  
  Feb 26, 2007     3  
  Feb 25, 2007     2  
  Feb 24, 2007     3  
  Feb 23, 2007     3  
  Feb 22, 2007     3  
  Feb 21, 2007     3  
  Feb 20, 2007     3  
  Feb 19, 2007     3  
  Feb 18, 2007     3  
  Feb 17, 2007     3  
  Feb 16, 2007     4  
  Feb 15, 2007     4  
  Feb 14, 2007     3  
  Feb 13, 2007     4  
  Feb 12, 2007     4  
  Feb 11, 2007     4  
  Feb 10, 2007     4  
  Feb 9, 2007     4  
  Feb 8, 2007     4  
  Feb 7, 2007     4  
  Feb 6, 2007     4  
  Feb 5, 2007     4  
  Feb 4, 2007     4  
  Feb 3, 2007     4  
  Feb 2, 2007     4  
  Feb 1, 2007     4  
  Jan 31, 2007     3  
  Jan 30, 2007     3  
  Jan 29, 2007     3  
  Jan 28, 2007     3  
  Jan 27, 2007     3  
  Jan 26, 2007     3  
  Jan 25, 2007     3  
  Jan 24, 2007     3  
  Jan 23, 2007     3  
  Jan 22, 2007     9,999  
  Jan 21, 2007     3  
  Jan 20, 2007     3  
  Jan 19, 2007     3  
  Jan 18, 2007     3  
  Jan 17, 2007     3  
  Jan 16, 2007     3  
  Jan 15, 2007     3  
  Jan 14, 2007     3  
  Jan 13, 2007     3  
  Jan 12, 2007     3  
  Jan 11, 2007     3  
  Jan 10, 2007     3  
  Jan 9, 2007     3  
  Jan 8, 2007     3  
  Jan 7, 2007     3  
  Jan 6, 2007     3  
  Jan 5, 2007     4  
  Jan 4, 2007     4  
  Jan 3, 2007     4  
  Jan 2, 2007     3  
  Jan 1, 2007     3  
  Dec 31, 2006     3  
  Dec 30, 2006     3  
  Dec 29, 2006     3  
  Dec 28, 2006     3  
  Dec 27, 2006     3  
  Dec 26, 2006     3  
  Dec 25, 2006     3  
  Dec 24, 2006     4  
  Dec 23, 2006     4  
  Dec 22, 2006     4  
  Dec 21, 2006     4  
  Dec 20, 2006     9,999  
  Dec 19, 2006     4  
  Dec 18, 2006     9,999  
  Dec 17, 2006     4  
  Dec 16, 2006     4  
  Dec 15, 2006     9,999  
  Dec 14, 2006     4  
  Dec 13, 2006     9,999  
  Dec 12, 2006     4  
  Dec 11, 2006     9,999  
  Dec 10, 2006     4  
  Dec 9, 2006     4  
  Dec 8, 2006     4  
  Dec 7, 2006     9,999  
  Dec 6, 2006     4  
  Dec 5, 2006     4  
  Dec 4, 2006     4  
  Dec 3, 2006     4  
  Dec 2, 2006     4  
  Dec 1, 2006     4  
  Nov 30, 2006     4  
  Nov 29, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 28, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 27, 2006     4  
  Nov 26, 2006     4  
  Nov 25, 2006     4  
  Nov 24, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 23, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 22, 2006     4  
  Nov 21, 2006     4  
  Nov 20, 2006     4  
  Nov 19, 2006     4  
  Nov 18, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 17, 2006     4  
  Nov 16, 2006     4  
  Nov 15, 2006     4  
  Nov 14, 2006     4  
  Nov 13, 2006     4  
  Nov 12, 2006     4  
  Nov 11, 2006     4  
  Nov 10, 2006     4  
  Nov 9, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 8, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 7, 2006     4  
  Nov 6, 2006     4  
  Nov 5, 2006     4  
  Nov 4, 2006     4  
  Nov 3, 2006     4  
  Nov 2, 2006     9,999  
  Nov 1, 2006     9,999  
  Oct 31, 2006     4  
  Oct 30, 2006     4  
  Oct 29, 2006     4  
  Oct 28, 2006     4  
  Oct 27, 2006     4  
  Oct 26, 2006     3  
  Oct 25, 2006     3  
  Oct 24, 2006     4  
  Oct 23, 2006     3  
  Oct 22, 2006     3  
  Oct 21, 2006     3  
  Oct 20, 2006     3  
  Oct 19, 2006     3  
  Oct 18, 2006     4  
  Oct 17, 2006     4  
  Oct 16, 2006     4  
  Oct 14, 2006     4  
  Oct 13, 2006     4  
  Oct 12, 2006     3  
  Oct 11, 2006     3  
  Oct 10, 2006     4  
  Oct 9, 2006     3  
  Oct 8, 2006     3  
  Oct 7, 2006     4  
  Oct 6, 2006     4  
  Oct 5, 2006     4  
  Oct 4, 2006     4  
  Oct 3, 2006     4  
  Oct 2, 2006     4  
  Oct 1, 2006     4  
  Sep 30, 2006     4  
  Sep 29, 2006     4  
  Sep 28, 2006     4  
  Sep 27, 2006     4  
  Sep 26, 2006     4  
  Sep 25, 2006     4  
  Sep 24, 2006     4  
  Sep 23, 2006     4  
  Sep 22, 2006     4  
  Sep 21, 2006     4  
  Sep 20, 2006     4  
  Sep 19, 2006     4  
  Sep 18, 2006     5  
  Sep 17, 2006     4  
  Sep 16, 2006     4  
  Sep 15, 2006     4  
  Sep 14, 2006     4  
  Sep 13, 2006     4  
  Sep 12, 2006     4  
  Sep 11, 2006     4  
  Sep 10, 2006     5  
  Sep 9, 2006     5  
  Sep 8, 2006     5  
  Sep 7, 2006     4  
  Sep 6, 2006     4  
  Sep 5, 2006     4  
  Sep 4, 2006     4  
  Sep 3, 2006     4  
  Sep 2, 2006     4  
  Sep 1, 2006     4  
  Aug 31, 2006     4  
  Aug 30, 2006     5  
  Aug 29, 2006     4  
  Aug 28, 2006     4  
  Aug 27, 2006     4  
  Aug 26, 2006     4  
  Aug 25, 2006     5  
  Aug 24, 2006     5  
  Aug 23, 2006     5  
  Aug 22, 2006     5  
  Aug 21, 2006     5  
  Aug 20, 2006     5  
  Aug 19, 2006     5  
  Aug 18, 2006     5  
  Aug 17, 2006     5  
  Aug 16, 2006     5  
  Aug 15, 2006     5  
  Aug 14, 2006     5  
  Aug 13, 2006     5  
  Aug 12, 2006     5  
  Aug 11, 2006     5  
  Aug 10, 2006     5  
  Aug 9, 2006     5  
  Aug 8, 2006     5  
  Aug 7, 2006     5  
  Aug 6, 2006     5  
  Aug 5, 2006     5  
  Aug 4, 2006     4  
  Aug 3, 2006     4  
  Aug 2, 2006     24  
  Aug 1, 2006     4  
  Jul 31, 2006     4  
  Jul 30, 2006     4  
  Jul 29, 2006     4  
  Jul 28, 2006     4  
  Jul 27, 2006     5  
  Jul 26, 2006     5  
  Jul 25, 2006     5  
  Jul 24, 2006     5  
  Jul 23, 2006     5  
  Jul 22, 2006     5  
  Jul 21, 2006     5  
  Jul 20, 2006     5  
  Jul 19, 2006     5  
  Jul 18, 2006     5  
  Jul 17, 2006     5  
  Jul 16, 2006     5  
  Jul 15, 2006     5  
  Jul 14, 2006     5  
  Jul 13, 2006     5  
  Jul 12, 2006     5  
  Jul 11, 2006     5  
  Jul 10, 2006     5  
  Jul 9, 2006     5  
  Jul 8, 2006     5  
  Jul 7, 2006     5  
  Jul 6, 2006     5  
  Jul 5, 2006     5  
  Jul 4, 2006     5  
  Jul 3, 2006     5  
  Jul 2, 2006     5  
  Jul 1, 2006     5  
  Jun 30, 2006     5  
  Jun 29, 2006     5  
  Jun 28, 2006     5  
  Jun 27, 2006     5+6  
  Jun 26, 2006     5  
  Jun 25, 2006     5  
  Jun 24, 2006     5  
  Jun 23, 2006     5  
  Jun 22, 2006     5  
  Jun 21, 2006     5  
  Jun 20, 2006     5  
  Jun 19, 2006     5  
  Jun 18, 2006     5  
  Jun 17, 2006     5  
  Jun 16, 2006     5  
  Jun 15, 2006     5  
  Jun 14, 2006     5  
  Jun 13, 2006     5  
  Jun 12, 2006     5  
  Jun 11, 2006     5+6  
  Jun 10, 2006     5+6  
  Jun 9, 2006     5  
  Jun 8, 2006     5  
  Jun 7, 2006     4  
  Jun 6, 2006     4  
  Jun 5, 2006     4  
  Jun 4, 2006     4  
  Jun 3, 2006     4  
  Jun 2, 2006     4  
  Jun 1, 2006     9,999  
  May 31, 2006     9,999  
  May 30, 2006     9,999  
  May 29, 2006     4  
  May 28, 2006     4  
  May 27, 2006     4  
  May 26, 2006     4  
  May 25, 2006     4  
  May 24, 2006     9,999  
  May 23, 2006     4  
  May 22, 2006     9,999  
  May 21, 2006     4  
  May 20, 2006     4  
  May 19, 2006     4  
  May 17, 2006     4  
  May 16, 2006     9,999  
  May 15, 2006     4  
  May 14, 2006     4  
  May 13, 2006     4  
  May 12, 2006     4  
  May 11, 2006     4  
  May 10, 2006     3  
  May 9, 2006     4  
  May 8, 2006     4  
  May 7, 2006     4  
  May 6, 2006     4  
  May 5, 2006     5  
  May 4, 2006     5  
  May 3, 2006     5  
  May 2, 2006     5  
  May 1, 2006     5  
  Apr 30, 2006     5  
  Apr 29, 2006     5  
  Apr 28, 2006     5  
  Apr 27, 2006     5  
  Apr 26, 2006     5  
  Apr 25, 2006     5  
  Apr 24, 2006     5  
  Apr 23, 2006     5  
  Apr 22, 2006     5  
  Apr 21, 2006     5  
  Apr 20, 2006     5  
  Apr 19, 2006     5  
  Apr 18, 2006     5  
  Apr 17, 2006     9,999  
  Apr 16, 2006     5  
  Apr 15, 2006     5  
  Apr 14, 2006     5  
  Apr 13, 2006     5  
  Apr 12, 2006     5  
  Apr 11, 2006     5  
  Apr 10, 2006     9,999  
  Apr 9, 2006     5  
  Apr 8, 2006     5  
  Apr 7, 2006     5  
  Apr 6, 2006     5  
  Apr 5, 2006     5  
  Apr 4, 2006     5  
  Apr 3, 2006     5  
  Apr 2, 2006     5  
  Apr 1, 2006     5  
  Mar 31, 2006     5  
  Mar 30, 2006     5  
  Mar 29, 2006     5  
  Mar 28, 2006     5  
  Mar 27, 2006     5  
  Mar 26, 2006     5  
  Mar 25, 2006     5  
  Mar 24, 2006     5  
  Mar 23, 2006     5  
  Mar 22, 2006     5  
  Mar 21, 2006     9,999  
  Mar 20, 2006     5  
  Mar 19, 2006     5  
  Mar 18, 2006     5  
  Mar 17, 2006     5  
  Mar 16, 2006     5  
  Mar 15, 2006     5  
  Mar 14, 2006     5  
  Mar 13, 2006     5  
  Mar 12, 2006     5  
  Mar 11, 2006     5  
  Mar 10, 2006     9,999  
  Mar 9, 2006     5  
  Mar 8, 2006     5  
  Mar 7, 2006     9,999  
  Mar 6, 2006     9,999  
  Mar 5, 2006     5  
  Mar 3, 2006     9,999  
  Mar 2, 2006     5  
  Mar 1, 2006     5  
  Feb 28, 2006     5  
  Feb 27, 2006     5  
  Feb 26, 2006     5  
  Feb 25, 2006     5  
  Feb 24, 2006     5  
  Feb 23, 2006     5  
  Feb 22, 2006     5  
  Feb 21, 2006     5  
  Feb 20, 2006     5  
  Feb 19, 2006     5  
  Feb 18, 2006     5  
  Feb 17, 2006     5  
  Feb 16, 2006     5  
  Feb 15, 2006     9,999  
  Feb 14, 2006     5  
  Feb 13, 2006     9,999  
  Feb 12, 2006     5  
  Feb 11, 2006     5  
  Feb 10, 2006     5  
  Feb 9, 2006     9,999  
  Feb 8, 2006     5  
  Feb 7, 2006     5  
  Feb 6, 2006     5  
  Feb 5, 2006     5  
  Feb 4, 2006     5  
  Feb 3, 2006     5  
  Feb 2, 2006     5  
  Feb 1, 2006     5  
  Jan 31, 2006     5  
  Jan 30, 2006     5  
  Jan 29, 2006     5  
  Jan 28, 2006     5  
  Jan 27, 2006     9,999  
  Jan 26, 2006     5  
  Jan 25, 2006     5  
  Jan 24, 2006     9,999  
  Jan 23, 2006     5  
  Jan 22, 2006     5  
  Jan 21, 2006     5  
  Jan 20, 2006     5  
  Jan 19, 2006     9,999  
  Jan 18, 2006     9,999  
  Jan 17, 2006     5  
  Jan 16, 2006     5  
  Jan 15, 2006     5  
  Jan 14, 2006     6  
  Jan 13, 2006     6  
  Jan 12, 2006     6  
  Jan 11, 2006     5  
  Jan 10, 2006     5  
  Jan 9, 2006     5  
  Jan 8, 2006     5  
  Jan 7, 2006     5  
  Jan 6, 2006     5  
  Jan 5, 2006     5  
  Jan 4, 2006     9,999  
  Jan 3, 2006     5  
  Jan 2, 2006     5  
  Jan 1, 2006     9,999  
  Dec 31, 2005     5  
  Dec 30, 2005     5  
  Dec 29, 2005     5  
  Dec 28, 2005     5  
  Dec 27, 2005     5  
  Dec 26, 2005     5  
  Dec 25, 2005     5  
  Dec 24, 2005     5  
  Dec 23, 2005     5  
  Dec 22, 2005     5  
  Dec 21, 2005     5  
  Dec 20, 2005     5  
  Dec 19, 2005     5  
  Dec 18, 2005     5  
  Dec 17, 2005     5  
  Dec 16, 2005     5  
  Dec 15, 2005     5  
  Dec 14, 2005     5  
  Dec 13, 2005     4  
  Dec 12, 2005     5  
  Dec 11, 2005     4  
  Dec 10, 2005     4  
  Dec 9, 2005     4  
  Dec 8, 2005     4  
  Dec 7, 2005     9,999  
  Dec 6, 2005     4  
  Dec 5, 2005     4  
  Dec 4, 2005     4  
  Dec 3, 2005     4  
  Dec 2, 2005     4  
  Dec 1, 2005     4  
  Nov 30, 2005     4  
  Nov 29, 2005     4  
  Nov 28, 2005     5  
  Nov 27, 2005     5  
  Nov 26, 2005     5  
  Nov 25, 2005     5  
  Nov 24, 2005     5  
  Nov 23, 2005     5  
  Nov 22, 2005     5  
  Nov 21, 2005     5  
  Nov 20, 2005     5  
  Nov 19, 2005     5  
  Nov 18, 2005     5  
  Nov 17, 2005     5  
  Nov 16, 2005     5  
  Nov 15, 2005     5  
  Nov 14, 2005     5  
  Nov 13, 2005     5  
  Nov 12, 2005     4  
  Nov 11, 2005     4  
  Nov 10, 2005     4  
  Nov 9, 2005     4  
  Nov 8, 2005     4  
  Nov 7, 2005     4  
  Nov 6, 2005     6  
  Nov 5, 2005     6  
  Nov 4, 2005     9,999  
  Nov 3, 2005     9,999  
  Nov 2, 2005     20  
  Nov 1, 2005     28  
  Oct 31, 2005     30  
  Oct 30, 2005     21  
  Oct 29, 2005     21  
  Oct 28, 2005     21  
  Oct 27, 2005     22  
  Oct 26, 2005     9,999  
  Oct 25, 2005     21  
  Oct 24, 2005     22  
  Oct 23, 2005     21  
  Oct 22, 2005     21  
  Oct 21, 2005     20  
  Oct 20, 2005     20  
  Oct 19, 2005     20  
  Oct 18, 2005     20  
  Oct 17, 2005     20  
  Oct 16, 2005     20  
  Oct 15, 2005     5  
  Oct 14, 2005     5  
  Oct 13, 2005     5  
  Oct 12, 2005     5  
  Oct 11, 2005     5  
  Oct 10, 2005     5  
  Oct 9, 2005     5  
  Oct 8, 2005     5  
  Oct 7, 2005     5  
  Oct 6, 2005     5  
  Oct 5, 2005     5  
  Oct 4, 2005     5  
  Oct 3, 2005     5  
  Oct 2, 2005     5  
  Oct 1, 2005     5  
  Sep 30, 2005     5  
  Sep 29, 2005     5  
  Sep 28, 2005     6  
  Sep 27, 2005     6  
  Sep 26, 2005     6  
  Sep 25, 2005     6  
  Sep 24, 2005     6  
  Sep 23, 2005     6  
  Sep 22, 2005     6  
  Sep 21, 2005     6  
  Sep 20, 2005     6  
  Sep 19, 2005     6  
  Sep 18, 2005     6  
  Sep 17, 2005     5  
  Sep 16, 2005     5  
  Sep 15, 2005     5  
  Sep 14, 2005     5  
  Sep 13, 2005     5  
  Sep 12, 2005     5  
  Sep 11, 2005     6  
  Sep 10, 2005     6  
  Sep 9, 2005     6  
  Sep 8, 2005     6  
  Sep 7, 2005     6  
  Sep 6, 2005     6  
  Sep 5, 2005     6  
  Sep 4, 2005     6  
  Sep 3, 2005     6  
  Sep 2, 2005     6  
  Sep 1, 2005     6  
  Aug 31, 2005     6  
  Aug 30, 2005     5  
  Aug 29, 2005     5  
  Aug 28, 2005     5  
  Aug 27, 2005     5  
  Aug 26, 2005     5  
  Aug 25, 2005     5  
  Aug 24, 2005     5  
  Aug 23, 2005     5  
  Aug 22, 2005     5  
  Aug 21, 2005     5  
  Aug 20, 2005     5  
  Aug 19, 2005     5  
  Aug 18, 2005     6  
  Aug 17, 2005     6  
  Aug 16, 2005     5  
  Aug 15, 2005     5  
  Aug 14, 2005     6  
  Aug 13, 2005     6  
  Aug 12, 2005     6  
  Aug 11, 2005     6  
  Aug 10, 2005     5  
  Aug 9, 2005     5  
  Aug 8, 2005     5  
  Aug 7, 2005     5  
  Aug 6, 2005     5  
  Aug 5, 2005     6  
  Aug 4, 2005     5  
  Aug 3, 2005     5  
  Aug 2, 2005     5  
  Aug 1, 2005     5  
  Jul 31, 2005     5  
  Jul 30, 2005     5  
  Jul 29, 2005     5  
  Jul 28, 2005     5  
  Jul 27, 2005     5  
  Jul 26, 2005     5  
  Jul 25, 2005     5  
  Jul 24, 2005     6  
  Jul 23, 2005     6  
  Jul 22, 2005     8  
  Jul 21, 2005     7  
  Jul 20, 2005     6  
  Jul 19, 2005     6  
  Jul 18, 2005     6  
  Jul 17, 2005     6  
  Jul 16, 2005     6  
  Jul 15, 2005     6  
  Jul 14, 2005     6  
  Jul 13, 2005     6  
  Jul 12, 2005     6  
  Jul 11, 2005     6  
  Jul 10, 2005     6  
  Jul 9, 2005     6  
  Jul 8, 2005     6  
  Jul 7, 2005     6  
  Jul 6, 2005     5  
  Jul 5, 2005     6  
  Jul 4, 2005     6  
  Jul 3, 2005     6  
  Jul 2, 2005     6  
  Jul 1, 2005     6  
  Jun 30, 2005     6  
  Jun 29, 2005     6  
  Jun 28, 2005     6  
  Jun 27, 2005     6  
  Jun 26, 2005     6  
  Jun 25, 2005     6  
  Jun 24, 2005     6  
  Jun 23, 2005     6  
  Jun 22, 2005     6  
  Jun 21, 2005     6  
  Jun 20, 2005     6  
  Jun 19, 2005     5  
  Jun 18, 2005     6  
  Jun 17, 2005     6  
  Jun 16, 2005     6  
  Jun 15, 2005     6  
  Jun 14, 2005     6  
  Jun 13, 2005     6  
  Jun 12, 2005     6  
  Jun 11, 2005     6  
  Jun 10, 2005     6  
  Jun 9, 2005     6  
  Jun 8, 2005     6  
  Jun 7, 2005     5  
  Jun 6, 2005     5  
  Jun 5, 2005     8  
  Jun 4, 2005     8  
  Jun 3, 2005     8  
  Jun 2, 2005     8  
  Jun 1, 2005     8  
  May 31, 2005     8  
  May 30, 2005     8  
  May 29, 2005     8  
  May 28, 2005     7  
  May 27, 2005     7  
  May 26, 2005     7  
  May 25, 2005     7  
  May 24, 2005     7  
  May 23, 2005     7  
  May 22, 2005     7  
  May 21, 2005     7  
  May 20, 2005     8  
  May 19, 2005     7  
  May 18, 2005     8  
  May 17, 2005     7  
  May 16, 2005     9  
  May 15, 2005     7  
  May 14, 2005     8  
  May 13, 2005     8  
  May 12, 2005     8  
  May 11, 2005     7  
  May 10, 2005     6  
  May 9, 2005     11  
  May 8, 2005     12  
  May 7, 2005     12  
  May 6, 2005     12  
  May 5, 2005     12  
  May 4, 2005     12  
  Apr 29, 2005     5  
  Apr 27, 2005     8  
  Apr 25, 2005     8  
  Apr 22, 2005     8  
  Apr 20, 2005     8  
  Apr 18, 2005     8  
  Apr 17, 2005     8  
  Apr 15, 2005     8  
  Apr 14, 2005     8  
  Apr 12, 2005     8  
  Apr 11, 2005     8  
  Apr 9, 2005     9  
  Apr 8, 2005     9  
  Apr 6, 2005     9  
  Apr 4, 2005     9  
  Apr 1, 2005     9  
  Mar 31, 2005     9  
  Mar 30, 2005     9  
  Mar 26, 2005     9  
  Mar 25, 2005     9  
  Mar 23, 2005     7  
  Mar 22, 2005     9  
  Mar 21, 2005     9  
  Mar 20, 2005     8  
  Mar 19, 2005     8  
  Mar 18, 2005     8  
  Mar 17, 2005     8  
  Mar 16, 2005     8  
  Mar 15, 2005     8  
  Mar 14, 2005     9  
  Mar 13, 2005     9  
  Mar 12, 2005     8  
  Mar 11, 2005     9  
  Mar 10, 2005     9  
  Mar 9, 2005     9  
  Mar 8, 2005     8  
  Mar 7, 2005     8  
  Mar 6, 2005     9  
  Mar 5, 2005     8  
  Mar 4, 2005     8  
  Mar 3, 2005     8  
  Mar 2, 2005     16  
  Mar 1, 2005     16  
  Feb 28, 2005     9  
  Feb 27, 2005     9  
  Feb 26, 2005     9  
  Feb 25, 2005     24  
  Feb 24, 2005     25  
  Feb 23, 2005     25  
  Feb 22, 2005     26  
  Feb 21, 2005     26  
  Feb 20, 2005     27  
  Feb 19, 2005     27  
  Feb 18, 2005     25  
  Feb 17, 2005     20  
  Feb 16, 2005     18  
  Feb 15, 2005     16  
  Feb 14, 2005     11  
  Feb 13, 2005     13  
  Feb 12, 2005     13  
  Feb 11, 2005     10  
  Feb 10, 2005     17  
  Feb 9, 2005     18  
  Feb 8, 2005     17  
  Feb 7, 2005     17  
  Feb 6, 2005     17  
  Feb 5, 2005     52  
  Feb 4, 2005     47  
  Feb 3, 2005     47  
  Feb 2, 2005     42  
  Feb 1, 2005     48  
  Jan 31, 2005     38  
  Jan 30, 2005     54  
  Jan 29, 2005     57  
  Jan 28, 2005     64  
  Jan 27, 2005     65  
  Jan 26, 2005     64  
  Jan 25, 2005     65  
  Jan 24, 2005     65  
  Jan 23, 2005     65  
  Jan 22, 2005     45  
  Jan 21, 2005     45  
  Jan 20, 2005     45  
  Jan 19, 2005     41  
  Jan 18, 2005     41  
  Jan 17, 2005     42  
  Jan 16, 2005     40  
  Jan 15, 2005     44  
  Jan 14, 2005     46  
  Jan 13, 2005     45  
  Jan 12, 2005     45  
  Jan 11, 2005     45  
  Jan 10, 2005     45  
  Jan 9, 2005     43  
  Jan 8, 2005     21  
  Jan 7, 2005     20  
  Jan 6, 2005     21  
  Jan 5, 2005     21  
  Jan 4, 2005     22  
  Jan 3, 2005     22  
  Jan 2, 2005     22  
  Jan 1, 2005     20  
  Dec 31, 2004     18  
  Dec 30, 2004     18  
  Dec 29, 2004     18  
  Dec 28, 2004     17  
  Dec 27, 2004     17  
  Dec 26, 2004     17  
  Dec 25, 2004     14  
  Dec 24, 2004     15  
  Dec 23, 2004     16  
  Dec 22, 2004     16  
  Dec 21, 2004     16  
  Dec 20, 2004     16  
  Dec 19, 2004     16  
  Dec 18, 2004     16  
  Dec 17, 2004     18  
  Dec 16, 2004     18  
  Dec 15, 2004     20  
  Dec 14, 2004     18  
  Dec 13, 2004     17  
  Dec 12, 2004     18  
  Dec 11, 2004     18  
  Dec 10, 2004     20  
  Dec 9, 2004     19  
  Dec 8, 2004     19  
  Dec 7, 2004     19  
  Dec 6, 2004     19  
  Dec 5, 2004     19  
  Dec 4, 2004     18  
  Dec 3, 2004     20  
  Dec 2, 2004     20  
  Dec 1, 2004     20  
  Nov 30, 2004     20  
  Nov 29, 2004     23  
  Nov 28, 2004     25  
  Nov 27, 2004     26  
  Nov 26, 2004     24  
  Nov 25, 2004     25  
  Nov 24, 2004     25  
  Nov 23, 2004     25  
  Nov 21, 2004     28  
  Oct 10, 2004     30  
  Oct 9, 2004     30  
  Oct 8, 2004     29  
  Oct 7, 2004     26  
  Oct 6, 2004     28  
  Oct 4, 2004     28  
  Oct 3, 2004     28  
  Oct 2, 2004     29  
  Oct 1, 2004     25  
  Sep 23, 2004     45  
  Sep 22, 2004     42  
  Sep 21, 2004     44  
  Sep 20, 2004     55  
  Sep 19, 2004     55  
  Sep 14, 2004     67  
  Sep 13, 2004     67  
  Sep 12, 2004     66  
  Sep 9, 2004     66  
  Sep 8, 2004     66  
  Sep 5, 2004     67  
  Sep 3, 2004     52  
  Aug 31, 2004     54  
  Aug 28, 2004     58  
  Aug 27, 2004     54  
  Aug 24, 2004     52  
  Aug 23, 2004     60  
  Aug 21, 2004     62  
  Aug 20, 2004     61  
  Aug 16, 2004     108  
  Aug 14, 2004     107  
  Aug 11, 2004     108  
  Aug 9, 2004     146  
  Aug 8, 2004     137  
  Aug 7, 2004     146  
  Aug 5, 2004     139  
  Aug 3, 2004     150  

Most Online Newspapers Lack Functional Business Models

Mediapost referenced a 66 slide powerpoint by The World Association of Newspapers, titled Shapping the Future of the Newspaper.

Each bulleted list below is a slide from their presentation. I grouped some of them together to discuss how/where I think they relate.

Product Packaging

  • Broken information asymmetry: Information is easy to charge for as long as only a few have access to it. Today's information symmetry makes it increasingly difficult to charge for regular news/information.
  • Losing loyalty: Consumers are increasingly grazing media. If they don't like it, they immediately move on to greener pastures.
  • Increased individualism: As we see a strong trend of individualism in the society, mass media has the downside of offering the same message to everybody.
  • Design Hype: 50-70 percent of buying decisions are made in the store means more focus on design.

They realize they are no longer able to sell what they once sold and they are losing loyalty each day. Eventually they won't even be able to pay people to take what they once charged for.

They see that consumers want an individualized focused product. They realize that buying is largely a game of taste and packaging. And yet they do not realize that they are selling news, even if it is free. If packaging matters for products it also matters for information. Niche brands are a good thing. Niche bloggers get this. NTY got this when they bought About.com's blog network. Why doesn't the rest of the media get it? Probably because actually changing to give the market what it wants feels risky, and the only niche they appeal to is local.

Authenticity

  • The search for authenticy: In a world of fake stories the authentic and real becomes important.
  • PR and marketing merging: Editorial content has higher impact than ads, which turns PR into a sales activity.
  • Online transactions a new revenue source: As media goes online, transaction revenues for services become an increasingly important revenue stream.
  • New revenue models: Newspapers need new revenue models to keep being profitable. New technology offers endless options to reach the future customers (e.g. rich-media ads, virtual worlds, viral marketing, product placement, parasite distribution, maglogs)

They realize that the perception of authenticity is becoming more important, but their journalistic rules will keep their content too vanila to create it, and they are fine with promoting public relations and looking for new business models including affiliate marketing, product placement, and parasite distribution. Eek.

Complexity & Depth of Coverage

  • Simplified news: "News snacks" are becoming the norm as customer needs are oversaturated. Simplification means a newspaper can only afford to be good enough.
  • Analytic journalism: Newspapers will offer deeper analysis, opinions and explanations of the news in a larger context to help people navigate in an increasingly complex world.

I can't see news organizations being as efficient as blogs on the news snacks angle. And the in depth reporters are not going to be able to beat out subject matter experts unless they focus on a niche. If they focus on a niche and get a following then they don't need the news organization behind them. Google or Federated Media or some other ad network can do the selling for them.

Could Google Become the Ultimate Commodities Trading Platform?

Many SEO Book readers have seen Google Trends before, but did you know that Google Checkout also has a trends feature? Google has those touch-points, email data (now with a mailing list feature), AdWords bid data, conversion data, analytics data, and search referral data.

A recent research paper reviewed Google's internal Prediction Markets [PDF]. Three key quotes from that research...

Biases

Google's prediction markets are reasonably efficient, but did exhibit four specific biases: an overpricing of favorites, short aversion, optimism, and an underpricing of extreme outcomes. New employees and inexperienced traders appear to suffer more from these biases, and as market participants gained experience over the course of our sample period, the biases become less pronounced.

Arbitrage opportunities

As further evidence of short aversion, in order book snapshots collected each time an order was placed, we found 1,747 instances where the bid prices of the securities in a particular market added to more than 1, implying an arbitrage opportunity (from buying a bundle of securities for $1 and then selling the components). In contrast, we found only 495 instances where the ask prices added to less than 1 (implying an arbitrage opportunity of buying the components of a bundle for less than $1 and then exchanging the bundle). The median duration of these arbitrage opportunities was about 2 minutes.

The effect of proximity

An important caveat to our results is that they tell us about information flows about prediction market subjects, many of which are ancillary to employees' main job. this may explain why physical proximity matters so much more than work relationships - if prediction market topics are lower-priority matters so much more than work relationships - if prediction market topics are lower-priority subjects on which to exchange information, then information exchange may require the opportunity for low-opportunity-cost communication created by physical proximity. Of course, introspection suggests that genuinely creative ideas often arise from such low-opportunity-cost communication. Google's frequent office moves and emphasis on product innovation may provide an ideal testing ground in which to better understand the creative process.

Google's new mailing lists wipes out the need for many boutique email services. They know what features they are going to roll out before anyone else does. And they have market moving data before others do. Google's AdSense is the fuel that drives web innovation. And they can decide at any time if a competing service is no longer viable to push it toward its demise.

Virgin real-time data + arbitrage identification algorithms + understanding investor flaws + algorithms to target mental flaws + direct and indirect market influence = $

As I see it, competitive forces between traditional publishers, market saturation from the bottom, and market influence from the likes of data hoarding companies like Google are going to quickly commoditize anything that is sold as information. To survive you need emotional touch-points that consumers share.

A friend of mine was a leading affiliate for an information product, selling over $300,000 worth of someone else's service. How did they reward him? They cloned his sales channel and killed his business model. Everything that is not a memory, brand, or experience is becoming a commodity. What prevents you or I from becoming a commodity?

You become what you surround yourself with, and when you push out you attract the right people or the wrong people. Threadwatch, for example, attracted the wrong people, or perhaps the wrong mood and tone from the right people. But you could also engineer the silicon valley in your industry if you work hard enough.

In the information age, where marketers

  • have granular controls
  • can remain anonymous
  • can market brands in minutes
  • leverage reverse billing fraud and computer destroying viruses
  • can distance themselves from the fraud via affiliate programs or pushing blame on algorithms

there are a lot of scams to be wary of. Especially when there is so much information being produced to where content is published in biased sound-byte format to whore for attention. The stakes for calling someone out are big, because you need attention to profit, and unfortunately, the structure of the web has changed:

Google and it's copy-tition were designed 10 years ago. But the web has changed significantly in the past decade. Google was built to index a web that no longer exists... a web where people still engaged in social linking behavior, for one thing.

But there are lots of experts who keep learning and change with the markets. Some people give because they like to learn and they are not driven by short term profits. Teach a man to fish, etc.

Each day we chose who we want to listen to, who we want to be like, who we want to like us, and why we want them to like us. Those relationships are the only thing that prevents us from becoming commodities.

"You're lucky in life if you have the right heroes. I advise all of you, to the extent that you can, pick out a few heroes. There's nothing like the right ones." - Warren Buffet

My web heroes thusfar are Tim Berners-Lee and Seth Godin. Who are yours?

Google Ranking #6 Penalty / Filter

A New Google Filter is Born

In early December some astute webmasters noticed that some of their longterm (in some cases many years) #1 or #2 ranking pages in Google now rank at #6. Just like with the Google -30 and the Google -950 penalties, some people will maintain this is fiction, but too many smart people experienced the same thing at the same time for it to be such.

Background Information

Tedster started a WMW thread on the topic on December 26th. From Tedster's post, some of the sites that were hit:

  1. Well established site with a long history.
  2. Long time good rankings for a big search term - usually #1
  3. Other searches that returned the same url at #1 may also be sent to #6, but not all of them
  4. Some reports of a #2 result going to #6.

My Site That Got Hit

My site which saw a ranking dive on December 18th had the homepage hit, and interior pages hit for some (but not all) related phrases. Here are some noteworthy conditions with my site that was hit:

  • The site was entirely ranked on SEO. There is no ad budget outside of PPC ads or link buying, and no brand recognition outside of the search results. Outside of one linkbait there is nothing remarkable about the site.
  • The homepage did not get any new quality links in over a year.
  • Much of the link building was done years ago when I was far spammier and far more aggressive with anchor text than I would be today, though I did use some semantic variation to pick up rankings for many different keyword permutations.
  • The internal pages still rank #1 for some semi-related longer queries, while they are also filtered and ranking #6 for some more obviously connected shorter search queries.
  • The site continues to buy PPC ads and gets decent conversion rates for the keywords that were hit, and gets great conversion rates for more focused related terms, some of which the site was hit for and some of which the site still ranks great for. This conversion data is being sent to Google via the AdWords conversion tracker.
  • This affected alternate permutations of acronyms (letters strung together or pulled apart).
  • For my site this affects rankings on alternate versions of words (ie: single vs plural). For at least one person on WMW they did not see it affect both single and plural versions of their keywords.
  • This affects words if mixed into a different order.
  • This affects many longer search query containing the core words or closely related words.
  • This did not affect obvious domain name or brand related queries, even if the brand contained one of the words overlapping with the penalized set. If a filtered word outside of the domain name / brand name is appended to the query then the rankings are killed, and the site is stuck at #6.

Usage Data or Improved Phrase Relationship Detection of Anchor Text?

Why I do Not Think it is Usage Data

Based on feedback in the WMW thread it is hard to isolate this to any one variable with certainty. Two possibilities that have been thrown out are rolling more usage data into the search results or a better understanding of word and phrase relationships. It is easy to think of usage data as a possibility given my site's lack of marketing and lack of integration into the organic web, but that would not explain why some pages and queries were hit while some similar pages and queries still rank, with Google getting strong conversion data via AdWords on some of these pages. Also, for that homepage I wrote an aggressive page title and meta description that draws in many clicks, and the landing page is exceptionally relevant for the query.

Why I Think it is Phrase Relationships

I think this issue is likely tied to a stagnant link profile with a too tightly aligned anchor text profile, with the anchor text being overly-optimized when compared against competing sites.

The fact that some related queries were hit, but not all, makes me think that rather than being about usage data this is about word and phrase relationship improvements. I think if Google got better at understanding word relationships, many of the pages that once fit the criteria to rank may now have anchor text that is too focused and too well aligned with the target keywords, especially if they compare your anchor text to the anchor text of other sites competing for the same phrases. Once possible manipulation is identified via artificial anchor text your rankings across the site can be suppressed for a basket of semantically related terms, as noted in some of Google's phrase based indexing patents.

Matt Cutts Does Not Know What Happened

This filter was also called the minus 5 penalty, but many of the sites that were hit still rank at #6 even if they were ranking #2 or #3 before they were hit. When Barry posted about this Matt Cutts said "Hmm. I'm not aware of anything that would exhibit that sort of behavior," but some past SEO issues, like the famed Google sandbox have been accidentally introduced as a side effect of Google upgrades:

What's a sandbox, Matt?

"Some people have asked, "does this apply to newer sites?" Essentially, the way to think about it is, around 2003 Google switched to a new method of updating its index. Before that we had monthly Google dances. So as a result, new data is always being folded into the index. It's not like there was one pivotal moment when anyone can say, "Hah! This is the change!" In fact, even at different data centers we have different binaries, different algorithms, different types of data always being tested.

"I think a lot of what's perceived as the sandbox is artifacts where, in our indexing, some data may take longer to be computed than other data."

Great Comments About the Filter

3 great posts from the WMW thread:

Your Feedback Needed

With my sample set of one site my current hypothesis might be out to lunch. If you have any sites that you feel were hit and want to share them for helping everyone figure out what is going on please do so in the comments below. If you have any ideas or feedback on what happened please leave a comment with that too.

We Will Not Make Editorial Judgements, But We Desire to Rank Our Content #1

With the announcement of Knol, Google displayed their desire to become a publisher. Why? To make free information more accessible. It doesn't hurt that publishers dominate other industries, like music - where in some cases giving artists nothing, while some artist get less than nothing, even if they made millions in sales.

Danny Sullivan had some reservations on Knol, as does Rich Skrenta, and just about every other successful results oriented independent web author.

While claiming Google will not make any editorial judgements of quality, and Google will treat Knols like any other web pages, Google's Udi Manber had this to say:

A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read. The goal is for knols to cover all topics, from scientific concepts, to medical information, from geographical and historical, to entertainment, from product information, to how-to-fix-it instructions. Google will not serve as an editor in any way, and will not bless any content.

They desire it to be a starting point for searchers and yet they will not promote it?

Think back to the YouTube purchase. After Google bought the site, did they start blessing / featuring any YouTube content? Yes they did. Google's Uinversal Search integrated YouTube so tightly in their search results that now people add YouTube to the search query for many music searches . Don't believe me that they shifted user behavior? Try using Google Suggest for music searches and see where YouTube shows up.

Manber wrote not to worry about spam, as Google has that issue covered:

Our job in Search Quality will be to rank the knols appropriately when they appear in Google search results. We are quite experienced with ranking web pages, and we feel confident that we will be up to the challenge. We are very excited by the potential to substantially increase the dissemination of knowledge.

Sure they will filter out some of the garbage people submit, but the good stuff will rank better than it should. I am not a betting man, but if I were I would bet that Knols get ranked right at the top, next to Youtube. As John Andrews describes it:

As TrustRank (the Google version, not the Yahoo! version) takes hold as the #1 or #2 ranking factor for SEO, this Knol thing steps in and bingo… who could be more trusted than Google itself?

Wikipedia has amazing momentum in Google, and is poised to rank for everything. How will Google compete?

How can Google come late to the game, offer no pay, desire to throw their ads on it right out of the gate, and expect to win marketshare UNLESS they rank this content better than it deserves to rank on merit? Put another way, what person who gets paid to create content is going to prefer putting it on Google Knol for free UNLESS Google gives Knol preferential treatment? If you are producing content out of passion with no profit motive, why would you put it on Google instead of your own server? If you desire peer review with your name attached to it why not publish it on YourName.com?

Offline media has always been biased and aggressively consolidated, it looks like the web is going to suffer the same fate, but worse, unless you are a Google stakeholder. Or, if Google gets too aggressive with this cross integration maybe they will hurt their relevancy enough that people search elsewhere.

Google, Subdomains, and Branding

In the past any large company could use subdomains as an effective reputation management strategy. As eBay and others have aggressively used subdomains to dominate branded AND unbranded search results, and Google has improved their sitelinks technology, any relevancy gain by treating subdomains as a separate site has gone away. Google is going to start treating subdomains like subfolders, and limit the number of results from any site to two.

There is still an upside to using subdomains because they allow you to feature standout content, but that upside relates to how marketable the content on that subdomain is, whereas in the past using lots of subdomains allowed eBay to get 20 of the top 30 listings for some queries, even if the subdomain was recycled garbage.

This move adds value to regionalizing sites and creating niche brands (like MobileCrunch), since currently I believe ebay.ca and ebay.com will be seen as two separate sites. If sites are too aggressive with regionalization or creating niche brands and start double dipping that way then Google might eventually look to devalue that move as well, although that will be more of a challenge because it would create a lot of collateral damage.

Official announcement by Matt Cutts at Pubcon, reported first by Barry.

By Far, The Worst Gmail Ad I've Ever Seen

Post by Giovanna Wall

I really like Google's Gmail program. It's truly my favorite email service. They also do a great job scanning through my emails for relevant keywords and phrases that they match with their advertisers. However, recently they have fouled and have gone out of bounds. In my recent emails to friends and family, I've used the terms "wife", "husband" and "happily married" a lot referring to my recent marriage.

This was Google's response:

google promtes infidelity

Perhaps I'm a little sensitive or maybe it's because I was raised as a conservative Catholic. But regardless of anyone's background, why would Google, with their "Do No Evil" policy promote cheating and infidelity? It's also ironic that the Google founders recently got married (I think one will wed next month).

It is an issue of money vs. morality when exposing disturbing ads to married people for ad revenue.

Google P2P Network? (or, Its Easy to Score Relevancy When You OWN the Network)

Google, already has a near infinite number of data points to compute relevancy for the active parts of the web, and is looking to gather even more user data information. The WSJ has background on the story:

Google is preparing a service that would let users store on its computers essentially all of the files they might keep on their personal-computer hard drives -- such as word-processing documents, digital music, video clips and images, say people familiar with the matter. The service could let users access their files via the Internet from different computers and mobile devices when they sign on with a password, and share them online with friends.

They also mentioned the C word:

Google will likely have to address copyright issues. Allowing consumers to share different types of files such as music with other users could trigger the sort of copyright complaints the company already faces over videos on its YouTube video sharing site. One person familiar with the matter says Google is discussing with copyright holders how to approach the issue and has some preliminary solutions.

This is going to move Google up the value system by

  • giving them a unique data source
  • giving them unique relevancy signals
  • keeping users locked into their services and using their services longer
  • shift power from copyright holders to Google
  • eventually allow Google to sell content (if they want to - the Google Video trial did not work too well)

But there will also be a big upside, especially to marketers and content creators who are willing to give away high value content to gain mindshare and marketshare. By creating content that people would want to store and share on Google, you get cheap or free exposure for your business interests.

As DaveN said, Google eventually has to move away from links because links are too polluted. What better relevancy signals can they come up with than attention data and how often people cite and share data ON THEIR NETWORK? Feedburner, Google Reader, iGoogle, Gmail, and Youtube are already part of the Google network. Soon your hard drive will be too.

Understanding Google's Mindset on Classifying Spam

If...

  • people would not notice it when Google removes your site from the search results
  • Google can clone your business model without paying writers to produce content or carrying physical inventory

... then your site is spam. Maybe not by today's standards, but eventually.

As the web evolves, a once whitelisted site can become a site that is easy to penalize. Evolve with the web, or grow irrelevant by the day.

This could sound like a scaremongering post, or it could be taken as a sign of the importance of connecting with people on an emotional level, and offering an experience worth sharing.

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