Simsi - 9:10 am on May 4, 2010 (gmt 0)

Simsi: I would have thought this was condusive to the theory that Google's new infrastructure allows them to better measure user behaviour.

tedster: Bingo - that's my suspicion, too. We saw a little bit of this behavior beginning two years ago, but it was rare and it seemed only to be used for URLs where something that helped them rank seemed a bit unnatural - even though it was not at spammy or outside the guidelines. The bottom line for Google is not whether the website follows their guidelines. It's whether their useers like the search results.

It also means what we're seeing is possibly the turning point in Search. This "update" is potentially the biggest yet in terms of impact.

member22: If this happens this is the end of google because if you don't understand how google works ( at least part of it ) you won't ever rank anywhere and by the way remember that unless you are in the TOP 3 on the 1 st page of google you will never make a single dime on the internet.

It won't be the end of Google, in fact IMO it will be quite the opposite. But it will signal the beginning of the end of being able to manipulate Google. You won't *need* to understand Google...you will just need to understand your users.

If your business is SEO, this could have serious connotations if these suspicions are borne out. While "Evolution" might be more apt, the name "Mayday" might turn out to be a very astute choice long term LOL.

[edited by: Simsi at 9:22 am (utc) on May 4, 2010]