TheMadScientist - 4:32 pm on Jun 8, 2010 (gmt 0)

Number 1, Definitely...

Sometimes I wonder how many people compound the issue by 'fixing things' when it's not something they did to remove themselves from the results, or the top of the results anyway?

So much of what Google does is becoming pattern based it's not even funny, and since I've read they compare the current version of pages to the previous version(s) they spidered, all those little changes people make are 'noticed' and I think they might actually compound the issues rather than alleviating or solving the problem. Little 'algo chasing changes' IMO scream SEO & attempted manipulation...

As in most things 'search' there's no one-size-fits-all solution, and there are probably some who are successful with it, but I think some do themselves more harm than good by 'chasing the algo', because if the results are really as bad as people say, then G will make a change again, and the people changing their sites to chase what they are doing are left chasing some more to try and figure out what to change next, or change back, or change again and it seems the cycle would likely perpetuate.

* Obviously, if there's something 'spammy' on the site it needs to be changed, removed, fixed, but that's different IMO.