News Source: http://seoroi.com
Published: Dec 21, 2007 - 10:13 am
Story Found By: jeffquipp 1976 Days ago
Category: SEM
Interesting perspective!
10 Comments
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News Source: http://seoroi.com
Published: Dec 21, 2007 - 10:13 am
Story Found By: jeffquipp 1976 Days ago
Category: SEM
Interesting perspective!
10 Comments
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Comments
I liked the point about opening up more communication with webmasters. Does anyone know why Gabriel doesn’t like Google?
@MattCutts:I think there’s been a lot of resentment within the SEO community(myself included) towards Google lately. No offense Matt. Google’s done incredible things. Everytime I finish some experiment, I’m absolutely amazed at the different degrees of consideration you guys put into things.I know this has been addressed time and time again, but it really does feel like Google is starting to try and bully webmasters into how they manage their site. It’s requiring paranoia like levels in some cases. While Google’s TOS webmaster guidelines something along the lines of "Make a site for users, not for Google", this no longer works. People are worried about where they get their traffic, where the link out to(without using a no-follow), and it’s just creating a nasty atmosphere. Meanwhile, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen MSN ask anything of me(other than obvious things like not cloaking). Ask.com took it a step beyond, and their algo does an impressive job of just making the links not matter.I’m sure the anti-google sentiment will die down eventually, but for right now, it’s very much bubbling beneath the(and often above the) surface of the webmaster world.Once again, I have nothing against Google. I think some healthy competition might do them good, but yeah. This was just some observations, that I’m sure are mirrored a million other places.
Just an exampleNofollow on comments has gone from something to fight comment spam on blogs which don’t moderate their comments, to something many people believe should be used on all comments, no matter how much time a webmaster spends on moderating their comments.Personally I am more concerned with spam comments being sent to people who have subscribed by email to comments, or being clicked on by visitors.I visit the sites of all the people who comment on my blog and ensure they are sites that comply to my comments policy, and in some way are personal to them.I don’t mind anchor text. If I am allowing juice to flow, it might as well be a relevant link, but if I arrive at a site and can’t find the name of a person leaving a comment, the link gets deleted.I think Adam stated previously that Google have no problem with links from user generated content, but I think that was in regard to Wikipedia nofollowing links.
Matt, there’s a link in the post’s first line explaining why I don’t like Google. There’s a variety of reasons, including notably the fact that you guys have way too much data on people and you collect/use it in a way most people aren’t aware of. If we’re talking about big brother, your company gets pretty close Matt. Consider this example: If I opt-in to an email list, there’s usually a privacy statement and the use of my email is for sending me newsletters. Sure maybe the open-rate will be tracked and whether I buy from a link in the newsletter will be checked out, but these are things to be expected. It’s common knowledge that a business doing marketing will track how effective it was, even if only to see whether there were more shoppers after an ad in the weekend paper. If I use Gmail, or Analytics, Feedburner, Knol etc., there’s a privacy statement sure, but what’s going on backstage? I don’t care if it’s only used in the aggregate, it’s still scary. And also it’s too much power. I’m very much a checks-and-balances type of guy. You guys keep buying out smaller companies so people are increasingly dependent on Google’s services. I mean, consider this: What free, non-Google, non-ad-supported RSS analytics are there? Answer: none. I spent 2 hours searching - and please believe me when I say I can search - and all I got was paid solutions or else pheedo which puts ads in your feeds (couldn’t tell if it was auto or what, but when I had to choose minimum 1 ad to go in, I was like, nah). The knol play is one more step in this. Why give all that juicy traffic to the Wiki when it won’t take adsense? Besides, develop that then block msn and yahoo and it can be another reason to use G search. Matt, you’re a brilliant guy and I respect you and your co-workers enormously. Your algorithms are great, no douby (except the sandbox, even if it’s not necessarily an algo but maybe just a side-effect; holding up good content from ranking just because it’s new is stupid: e=mc2 was as true in WW2 as it is today, yet if G was around then, it would have been suppressed for at least a year or two!). Certainly your marketing/PR department runs with the best of em. But at the end of the day, you’re dangerous as all hell. I was going to write a post saying "Why Matt Cutts, Power Diggers/SMMers and SEOs are More Powerful Than the President" and make the point that you guys control the flow of information today. A power that most dictators and power-hungry people would kill for (and have; like the Russian spy that got killed in Britain with radioactive poisoning and was all over the news). And in at least one instance, you’ve shown that you’re willing to use that power in an evil way (China). Does that not bother you? MSN? True, Microsoft acted in an anti-competitive way back in the day and their products aren’t always coded as well as possible before release. At the end of the day, Gates uses his power for good (I’m still waiting on the Brin and Page Foundation...) and I’ve yet to hear about MSN censoring information. On a related note, I think you yourself and some of your colleagues have bastardized what G’s founders understood PR to be. I’m not talking about protecting yourself if you sell links, and as I’m not in the market, I don’t care beyond an academic interest. But nofollow? It defeats the point of PR. And, per your own guidelines, it does nothing for users. It’s obvious that short of viewing the code, the average surfer DN see nofollow (or if they have SEO for firefox or such, but then they’re not your regular surfer at that point). Consider: is it not obvious by their small type and inconspicuous placement that privacy links and and that stuff are not where companies want to focus their site’s strength? I’d go on, but my ideas are already in that article I just linked to in this paragraph; I encourage you to read it and respond (here, preferable). I’d like to hear back from you on this, Matt. Especially if we’re going to increase webmaster communications. @Shady and Andy: You guys have an interesting commentary, but those issues aren’t my problem (though the comments nofollow partially reflects my point).
Oh, I forgot to mention. If you really wanted to know why I dislike Google, most of what I just wrote was linked to in the first sentence of the post. And to expand on my point about Google’s anti-competitive behaviour, you guys hire the top engineers like it was going out of style, and produce enough patents for someone to basically make a name for themselves writing about them (Bill, though I’m sure he’d make a name for himself regardless, if you guys didn’t patent stuff so much). And regarding Shady’s point, sure if webmasters don’t like your rules, they’re not legally obligated to play by them. But that point is moot because of your dominant share of search; de facto you guys set out the rules. It’s not the main thrust of my argument, but another reason I don’t care much for your company Matt, and also why I don’t buy the "If you don’t like Google, don’t use them for traffic or your own searches" argument. Consider all the businesses that would go under if you cut their traffic. It’s happened before, when you had less share (Florida or Big Daddy, I think they were called? I wasn’t in SEO then, though, so IDK) so you know I’m calling it like it is.
Wow - that’s a whole lot of anger (and background knowledge) for someone who is "not in the market" and doesn’t "care beyond an academic interest"
I’m not in the paid links market. I’m in the SEO market and good algos make it run smoother. If you don’t believe me, run through my site(s) and find a single paid link, incoming or outgoing. You won’t. But nofollow screws shit up everywhere. My own site has trouble ranking in G for its name because of retarded noffolow links on comments. Yahoo and MSN don’t give a damn and rank me where I should be - #1. Domain age is a screwy ass factor that encourages gaming by the richest - consider all the people who are buying old sites just to develop them more and expand/change markets.
Gab, I left a comment about your China point at http://sphinn.com/story/23951#c27634 .
SlightlyShadySEO, I’m glad for the competition from other search engines. I’d rather have strong competition from big companies and small start-ups to keep Google on its toes. One thing that really encouraged me is that we *are* seeing a few more MSFT folks step forward on communication. There was Nathan’s chat with Rand, and Jeremiah’s chat with Mike McDonald, for example.
Matt, thanks for finally getting back to me. I answered you there.