arubicus - 9:05 pm on May 10, 2007 (gmt 0)

Yes, but they don't necessarily need your "something" or my "something."

We weren't talking about the necessity for Google's survival we were talking about traffic being a gift.

Let me put it this way. Take your site and block google. Now watch your site go bye bye in the serps. Why because you are no longer making a trade. You are not providing Google with value as a trade for indexing.

If the majority of Webmaster World members blocked Googlebot with robots.txt tomorrow, what would the overall effect be on Google's index?

You or I alone nor do all WebmasterWorld members' sites make up the sum of the value of the internet. BUT as a WHOLE (all sites, businesses, etc.) we CREATE the internet and the market in which Google THRIVES. As a whole we can give any one search engine it's power.

If a site blocks Google from their site it in turn decreases the value of their index. The impact a blocking site is determined by the value they produce. Sure other sites will take it's place - but - if the VALUE of the blocking site is greater than the value of the sites that takes it's place then the difference of the two values is lost. (Realized or not). The greater the value the greater the impact.

To me you are belittling the value roles your site, my site, and WebmasterWorld member sites may have in Google and the internet as a whole. Even it is so slight in the grand scheme of the internet...it still would be value lost.

[edited by: arubicus at 9:12 pm (utc) on May 10, 2007]