Webmeister - 3:45 am on Oct 19, 2005 (gmt 0)

I hear a lot of people talking about one-way linking, creating new content, proper internal linking, whitehat SEO as opposed to blackhat tactics, etc. We all spend a lot of time learning what it takes to get up the ranks in Google. These are strategies that webmasters have figured out the hard way. Then, once we figure them out - we get deranked by an update like Jagger that is supposed to be curbing spam. Yet, most of the spam remains.

The fact is, Google doesn't want anyone to be able to "manipulate" the search engine listings - so they don't make it very clear what it takes to get to the top. Unfortunately, there are not really any legitimate ways to make it to the top of very profitable and popular phrases without first figuring out how to climb the ranks and then second - doing it (which is "manipulation" any way you look at it). Here's the first definition that comes up when you lookup "manipulate":

To move, arrange, operate, or control by the hands or by mechanical means, especially in a skillful manner.

Can anyone name one webmaster who hasn't achieved a number-one ranking under a high-traffic search phrase without doing this? I can't. As a matter of fact, this is the way you can climb to the top in any business or organization. Those who don't learn the system end up stuck at the bottom where there is less risk involved.

Guys like me don't have the big corporate bank accounts, so we have to learn the system the hard way and then try to compete with millions of other webmasters along with the big corporate websites. Without learning the tricks of the trade, I would still be lost at the bottom of the search results. Did Google tell me how to get there? No. But when I did finally get there, now I get bumped by the big corporations that don't even know what the term SEO means.

I know that Google needs to curb spam. But a lot of the sites that lost out so far in Jagger were not spammers. They were the hardworking webmasters who frequent these forums. They are the developers who live and breathe to hear the next words that come out of GoogleGuy's mouth, and then they act on them. For the most part they are willing to offer content, whitehat linking, and great-looking sites that comply with Google's guidelines. I can only hope that when the sky that *didn't fall yet* is lifted back off of them that we can find some kind of recovery from this catastrophe.

If Google wants to start curbing spam, they should start with those crappy sites that are created solely for the purpose of making money off of AdSense ads. Most of them are filled with useless links and worthless content, and they fill pages and pages of search results on tens of thousands of phrases. Google has created this spammy nuisance and allowed it to thrive. Whatever happened to cleaning out your own house first? Removing these sites would clear out at least 25% of the spam in the Google index (but would also put a dent in Google's wallet).

Let's just hope that this update reverses itself at least in part. If not, this place will become like a nest of mad hornets.

[edited by: Webmeister at 3:52 am (utc) on Oct. 19, 2005]