Bobby - 9:18 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

Thanks Brett, I appreciate your well thought out answer as do the others undoubtedly.

The Florida update has actually been good in many ways (though it has hit ME hard personally in my very competitive category. It has forced me to think in other ways regarding how best to present my web site to the public. I have also turned to using other search engines where until late November I only used Google.

While Google's depth is unmatched by any other engine (although ATW comes in a close second) it has speed on its side. Unfortunately the quality of results has suffered in my opinion because of this new filter or algorithm or whatever we want to label it. I say this based on MY searches in the last month as a user and NOT as an SEO.

Google feels it is full speed ahead

Definately, or else they would have remedied the situation when they had time. Now they are in it for the long haul.

While deep down in our hearts we all still love Google (even those of us who have suffered losses) I think we (SEOs) are in a similar position to parents whose children have grown up, and can no longer mold them into what we want them to be.