Shaddows - 10:17 am on Apr 18, 2012 (gmt 0)

I honestly think Google has made a massive mistake with this algo. When reading about the SERPs in different forums and seo sites I see much more webmasters complaining than praising this latest update. [Emphasis Mine]

Er, yeah. That's what happens, and has always happened. Yet the results don't ACTUALLY get any worse (for your average non-power user), despite the proliferation of spam websites.

The ones praising IMHO seem to be less clued-in about how SEO works and the purpose of it - both on-page and off-page. Good solid SEO helps make sites better. It helps webmasters make their sites more relevant and of a higher quality. Punish SEO and you are left with exactly what we are getting - garbage.

Frankly, that is misinformed. Google is not trying to punish the SEO you are talking about. They are trying to punish the SEO that MFA use. SEO to get garbage to rank. They may not be succeeding, but that doen't mean you should mistake their intentions.

I know a lot of people were upset by the initial Panda update but at least the results were still relevant. This update has left many of the SERPs in a mess. This algo is definitely broken.

And yet, and yet, and yet. Most users are happy with the SERPs. Panda upset one lot of webmasters, this is upsetting another lot. Some people got hit in both, most by neither. In any case, whether you are affected or not, the updates are not aimed at gaining your approval, just the searchers'.

The SERPs are just NOT relevant in several niches I am looking at and the changes seem to be slowing down. 2 sites that clearly do not have any business being in the results at all have been hovering around the top 3 spots since all this started. A page with a pixelated image as its ONLY content and 5 pages of scanned copy has also been moving up at a constant rate. It now occupies position 11 in the SERPs for a competitive search phrase. I have no doubt it will sneak onto page 1.

I see similar isolated reports, but I monitor a LOT of search terms. There are a few anomolies, but frankly it is NOT widespread.

I don't know about anyone else but I am totally fed up with this. Google releases guidelines for webmasters to follow. We follow them. Then Google changes it's mind and we get penalised.

Unlikely. More likely you have just had your score adjusted. 1 million results means your website has to be in the top 0.001% of published pages. Dropping to page 2 means you are in the top 0.002%. This is not, in fact, that big a drop.

If Google ranked RELEVANT sites instead of convoluting its algo to factor in its own revenue streams this simply wouldn't happen.

Whatever Google does to promote its revenue streams, that does not include the Organic Algo. Pilferred real estate, yes. "Blended" results, sure. "Best Guess" - of course. Barely differentiated "sponsored results", tick. But actually changing the algo? No way.

Google has a monopoly on the Internet and it should be held accountable for the damage it is causing to small to medium business. At the very least it should be forced to be more transparent.

If you paid to be included, then fine. But they do not in fact supply you a service. They can rank who they like, for any reason they like. If the USERS don't like the result, then they'll go elsewhere.

Didn't JFK say in a speech to the press that, "The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings."

Yeah, except that I quite like privacy. And Coke quite like its secret recipe.

I honestly think it's time we stood up to this.

Go ahead and block Google. If everyone did this, Google would cease to exist. But you won't, because you need Google a lot more than they need you.