Google Promote, Remove and Comment Feature; Is it a death-knell
on all established SEO techniques? What is it's apparent effect on
Search engine optimization? How is it going to affect the SERPs (results
page)? A colossal change has just been made by big G. Google could not
have gotten better at what it does. It revolutionized the search engine
all over again.
To
the makers of Google, it is nothing short of the fairy-tale crystal
ball where they can see everything happening around in the universe.
Everyone online is sort of an open book to Google whether you want it or
not. And just when you thought that Google already knows too much about
people; about what they thought, what they dreamed, what they pursued,
what they shopped, what they searched, Google comes up with another
milestone idea to get people even more personal; the ability to promote,
remove search results by every individual on the planet and add unique
comments to any of your preferred result. Wow, so what if you decide to
promote a website from 50th page to 1st page. And let's say you demote a
top ranking result into oblivion, never to be seen on the 1st page
again. So in one click did you just kill the hype and hoopla of search
engine optimization?
Because the best of optimized pages could
literally be gone out of your sight with this tool if you decided to
have it so. And if it is really so, then this is the END OF THE WORLD.
Is it the END of conventional SEO? Do i hear a pin-drop silence?
No
need to panic yet. If you see the buttons then you must have noticed
that they appear only when you are logged in to your Google account, and
the reprise is that they only affect the results that you see, not what
the world does. Do i hear a sigh of relief? If you want to skip my
detailed analysis and description of this feature, you may straightaway
read the conclusion at the bottom.
How does Google promote/remove actually work? A specific example.
To
check the same, simply log in to your account, let's say you do a
Google search for the keyword phrase "webkinz dollar store", and click
on the promote button next to a result in a subsequent page. You will
immediately see it magically go to the topmost SERP in the 1st page. If
you click on '
promote' for another "webkinz dollar
store" search result, it will move into the second place on the 1st
page itself. You can move the second web page to the first position by
clicking "promote" on it again. Now Log out and search again for the
same keyword, you will see your selected pages dropping back to its
original ranking position. Login again and you will notice your chosen
pages are back to your promoted order. If you click remove on any of
your promoted website, it will return to its previous place in your
Google search results. But If you click remove randomly on any
un-promoted website, it will be permanently removed from any results. Of
course you can get it back to the search results by clicking on restore
at the bottom. The results are associated with your Google account only
so they will be constant across any computes of you account logs.
At
first instance it is bound to give the webmasters a cold feet with the
thought that Google has handed over the fate of search engine results to
people and everything about SEO goes to the dumps. It convincingly
looks like, as if now people are to alter, improvise the worldwide top
results for each search term. But it certainly isn't the case. It's only
for your own Google account, for your own personalized result page
order. And it is important to know that every new search term will have
entirely different promoted and removed results than the other.
I'm
sure even the biggest of SEO experts, guides and critics must have lost
their nerve for a second with their first experience with Google
promote and remove feature just as much as I did. So the big question
still remains, is this the end of our struggle and success with SEO? Is
it really all up to searchers and surfers to decide the ranks of our web
pages? Are we supposed to watch helplessly all the big and popular web
pages get to the top, while the smaller ones vanishing away? Thank the
stars that it isn't the case.
What is Google promote / remove system called?
It's
called SearchWiki. SearchWiki lets users have their own order of
promoted and removed results, and leave comments on specific links.
Google thus remembers changes that are made by the account holder to the
organic search results pages, and subsequent searches will then be
displayed as per the user's customisations and notes. And most
importantly, users will also have the option of seeing how other
searchers have rated and reordered search results and view their notes
as well, making search results a innovative community based initiative.
Who does searchwiki help?
In
course of time, it will surely make a huge impact on how SEO affects a
site in my opinion. Prior to this feature, a webmaster was the only
individual who had an influence on the SEO aspects but now each and
every Google user has the ability to decide where that site should be
listed, making search engine results a different concept altogether. It
may even revolutionize the idea or existing technology like browser
bookmarks and RSS readership.
Customized search result page? Is it happening?
The
way it stands now, it isn't a possibility e.g., a specific page could
be pushed to the top result for everyone just by getting shoppers or
enthusiasts to 'promote' that site a million times. Neither can your
competitors outrank your site by clicking on removal link a thousand
times.
Yes, you can now customize your search results with the
organic rankings, deletions, leave notes against each page for future
reference and see how other Google users have tailored their searches.
SearchWiki notes will be visible to other users, identified with your
Google Account nickname.
What are the implications of Google searchwiki on SEO?
It
is like an alarm bell for everyone to straighten up their act,
specially thin affiliate sites, spammers or the ones resorting to black
hat stuff. Yes sooner or later there will hardly be a scope for anyone
to deviate even by an inch from the core of search engine fundamentals.
That is relevance and accuracy.
Yes, many things will be affected
from sales to delivery and reporting. SEO won't be dead but it will have
evolved and more oriented towards content than techniques .
Google
has been remarkable in preventing spam and this new tool on the
prima-facie would not only generate more direct data for Google analysis
but would also also initiate a mass spam removal movement worldwide. As
far as promoted and removed data is concerned, Google obviously is wary
of SEO masters using proxy servers running multiple alias sites and
redirect pages and unethical methods that can easily used to promote a
single page. Hence they will never make a mistake of simply considering
all the votes gained for a page to it's ranking algorithm for organic
searches without due verification. All of this will give Google a whole
new perspective to search user habit and patterns by allowing the user
to mix and alter the organic results itself. Unthinkable but true that
it is already happening.
What if Google decides to apply the promotional and removal data to page ranks? Dooms day?
Top
10 ranking results will be flooded with the sites that the majority of
people prefer. The hottest and most popular existing pages will fill up
the top slots overnight, for every imaginable keyword search phrase. The
scope for newer, smaller, unpopular websites will virtually perish with
no place in the top noticeable positions. As a result it will hardly
ever gain a promotion. And slowly it will stand as good as removed even
if it is not.
It might be great to force people to look at the
most popular websites, but the small ones which are less marketed or are
comparatively of less value or quality will never stand a chance.
Lesser traffic can never be the final diagnostic indicator.
But
look at this from the perspective of a person who's looking to find
something out. If I need to learn about the "webkinz dollar store", I
don't frankly care whether that comes from a small blog or a an unknown
forum page, as long as I find the info I need, and its reliable. And I
can always find them right where i need from anywhere in the world.
For those concerned about SEO.
The
agony or the anxiety about it's effect on SEO and rankings could be
erased in a second just by reminding ourselves of the one and only
governing factor about search engines, that their existence itself
depends and will always be on it's ability to offer accurate and
relevant information to the users and not anybody else. Even searchwiki,
this new Google tool is intended with no other intent but relevance.
Isn't it so common find relevant content even after page 10 at times? ( I
don't know about you, but I do search deep when I need information ).
In such a case one would either bookmark that page or copy the content
for future reference. I always sympathize with quality web pages nowhere
near to the top ranking positions. That proves that just great content
alone can not guarantee top ten results. A multitude of factors like
SEO, backlinks, sandbox are responsible to drive a page to the top. And
the process itself is slow.
Relevance will now be "of the search
(Google), by the search (Google) and for the search (Google)." Sounds
quite like a democratic definition of a search engine.
Not so long
ago when webmasters saw the immense potential in harnessing people's
bookmarking habits, the craze of social bookmarking sites diggs,
del.ico.us erupted overnight giving search relevance a completely
relative meaning.
Things will now change. What better to bookmark a
page from within the searches in just one click with no further
accounts to log in to.
Backlinks and quality links are still the
driving forces behind a websites rise or fall. It is equated as votes
earned from other sites. As far as Google's stand point is concerned, a
natural promotion of a webpage from different un-suspicious IP addresses
can count as votes of relevance for a search phrase.
Scientists
are maybe still trying to unify the forces of nature into one formulae,
but looks like Gnogle almost successfully unified the world.
Welcome to Google monopoly. Look how it gets bigger by the day.
One Account: Where your world converges.
(Oh if you haven't got a Google account yet. You will be compelled to have one sooner or later)
One
Search Engine: The keyword manufacturing unit. Keyword demand supply
chain. Unlimited Manpower at work for the biggest keyword market. From
where internet business and ecommerce are governed.
One Search
Tool (External keywords tool) : Manufactured keywords put on window
display. Who does have a better authority to declare than Google itself,
about what people are exactly searching for? Take it or leave it.
One Traffic Estimator: (Google lets you judge the cost of your keyword too) Window shopping for keywords.
One AdWords: OK so interested parties can shop for keywords from the keyword store.
One AdSense: Auctioned keywords recycled back to the people (searcher) working in the keyword factory.
One Webmaster Tools: The manufacturers of keyword money are now the safekeepers of all your keyword rich belongings.
One Analytics: Realtime live tv telecasting keyword news to keep the buyers and sellers interested.
One
Web history: Refined fuel for the keyword engine machinery. Everyone's
web habit and online track records are well kept with Google. They
exactly know geo-specific, cultural specific keyword needs. Well who
better to assign a price-tag to a keyword up for auction?
One
Homepage (iGoogle): If all these have become second nature to you, then
iGoogle is the way to stay hooked. You will get a handful on your finger
tips.
And Now Google searchwiki: Google taking control of what you thought is best for you.
It
is like, you have helped manufacture some great and moderate keywords
so far, so why don't you manufacture some great result pages with your
click votes too. After all there are a free gazillion keyword workers
(search engine users) in the factory (Google) at any given point in
time. Keep working a bit extra and Google shall know what exactly the
gazillion wants to see or not see. The fairytale crystal ball is for
real now.
Where do you stand? Your best kept secrets are the best
resources to the Google rulers. Google knows what buyers want, what
sells most. Google knows what sellers want, what buyers are willing to
pay, how much are they willing to pay for, where do best buyers come
from and the sellers too. The world wide web is not so entangled for the
big G anymore. They conquered the world faster than Alexander.
Everyone's Top 10 Pages will look different for the same search phrase. Scary to even think about it.
Google
has gotten perfect at eradicating it's imperfections. And if you
thought you had a reason to point a finger at them due to erroneous
relevant results, they gave the baton to you to improvise. Google may
use 20 million algorithms in a millisecond to offer what is relevant.
But now they will have a gazillion more from an entire planet to vote
for and review their own definition of relevant searches.
Conclusion.
What are the future projections and it's impact on SEO practices?
1. Analysis of top ten projections and reporting is likely to change based on a world consensus.
2.
The definitions for pagerank and rankings for single phrases and
e-commerce variables could change. If a considerable number of people
are not seeing a particular result in the first pages because they have
it custom configured for a particular phrase with pre-selected results
crowding the top, then definitely there would be lesser click-throughs
as even the top sites will be pushed back further. Thus resulting in
lesser visitor count for subsequent pages and affecting pagerank
algorithms.
3. Marketers and SEO experts will have to look at a
bigger picture than being obsessed with pagerank and rankings for single
phrases.
4. Google AdWords will become more eminent as an assured
method for topping the results with paid rankings, even if the user's
result page is highly customized. This means more revenues for Google.
5.
When everyone starts to promote their favorite sites, the quality of
content will definitely become even more undeniable (as it should be),
and "classic" SEO techniques will need a complete re-orientation.
6. Marketers and SEO industry now thriving on Google, will be more proactive on Yahoo, Quil etc as alternative options.
7.
Since this feature is only for Google user accounts. As of now the page
rank and result pages outside logged Google accounts will very much be
based on the organic SERPs. Especially given the fact that yahoo still
owns more account user bases than Google. But eventually they will
dominate even more with search engine market share, because of their
unlimited customizable features.
8. As this Search Wiki tweak can
be highly prone to spams, we won't really see any sea change in the PR
status radically soon until the rest of the planet not on Google account
register and start using the feature.
9. Analytics will be even
more laser focussed. Google will harness immense amount of personalized
data and use them to improve relevance of results. You now will have to
option to know your promotion vs removal ratio for every indexed page.
You will soon know your popularity rank as much as your PR rank.
10. You will soon be presented with realtime reviews on your web pages moderated or not moderated by Google.
11. Websites with genuine content and relevance will now be a super must to even fair anywhere near.
12. SEO will spell "Authority pages" more than "Optimized pages".
13. Survival of the fittest will be the new Google theory.
14.
All onsite testimonials and reviews on products, services often
clinically engineered or manipulated will matter less because you will
have realtime online reviews even before you land on that page. (Google
comment feature = Realtime reviews)
Millions of webmasters and
people must still be biting their nails, trying to figure out what is
wrong or right with our big Google. How is it likely to affect the
already established businesses, websites and SEO? But I hope this
article gives you enough insight about our fate or growth on Google in
near future.
Another search engine revolution has begun with Google Promote, Remove and Comment Feature. Are you ready for the change?
But it's not just amateurs that upload content to Google
Video, television networks also participate by making whole shows
available and Hollywood studios are also putting up some movie trailers.
Because of all that, the video quality is inconsistent, depending on
who uploaded it. There are all types of video files, copy-protected or
not, with or without ads. Google screens out any sex related material,
so Google Video is totally safe for the children.
