Is it just me or WW devolved into how to game Google, or G bucks?

In Foo so no message counts for any

[tangor]

The web has changed. Webmasters have changed. Might even be called web wranglers ropin' whatever G dollar there is.

Recently the top ten posts of any given day are 6-8 g related. Most are whines about income with many begging for help to get out from a penalty.

Where's the webmastering part we joined (and remain) to push and educate?

Just wondering if it is me only who has seen this grand place becoming just another get rich with no work kind of place?

I haven't given up yet. Yet.

[londrum]

I've been here years and these threads have come up occasionally, and the same things get suggested every time but very rarely get implemented

It would be nice if we could review products and services and webhosts and things. You could allow a person or company one thread to plug their product (give it a full-on sell), and then allow us to freely discuss it underneath. That would be genuinely useful, because webmasters and tech people might be looking to buy these products and would appreciate independent feedback on them.

It would be nice if we could post a URL to a website (not necessarily our own) and ask for feedback on some feature or implementation. Apparently you've got some kind of site review bit in the supporters section, but it is such an obvious and necessary thing for a webmaster forum to have that you need to move it.

And we really do need images and screenshots — not just links to images, but uploading images so we can see them in the thread. It is very hard to talk about some layout or CSS issues when you can't see a picture of the problem (or even give a link to the site in question!)i
Images can be used for other stuff as well like people showing off their hardware, or get togethers and speakers at pubcon

The ironic thing to me, is you always argue against these things because if people drop links, or search terms, then the link might change, or the search rankings might change, and then people won't find the thread useful later down the line... In case they want to read it in 12 months time (which they probably won't anyway). But you are shooting yourself in the foot because all you are doing is making the thread less useful NOW. The people who need the answers are the ones asking it now, not some imaginary people in the future, so why not let them leave links to help other people understand the problem.

...the same old ideas that have been suggested for years

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

A very good post Londrum, the best yet on this subject.

[Hoople]

Another long timer here. Started as an Electronics Tech in the 70's and switched to software support in the mid 80's. So much for the day job.

Beginning as a hobby (mid 90's) I found WW early on as an authoritative source of actionable methods for HTML, CSS, how to be found, building traffic and server tech in general. Lots of the new things that I learned were about long term in sustenance and had universal application. By this I mean an adoption of new technologies that are usable by a growing mass of new site users as well as the returning users (to my sites).

Too many other web experts forums sites revolve around 'churn and burn' type of tactics or are about the latest 'in fashion' coding language. Not useful for my small niche in a small niche of a very small niche. (~100-1,000 visits a MONTH)

What I do find valuable about G00gle talk is knowing what older tactic of 'getting found' have now been frowned upon and in some cases got you a penalty (I got a -30 penalty once, no T-Shirt or certificate). This as a sub topic I find very useful. Not so interested in the monthly Google trend so much as I'm not trying for #1 as my 'competitors' fumble so badly at the aforementioned that I get above them by virtue of their penalties <G>.

WW is the ONLY place I find the means to sort the useful from the overwhelming noise 'outside' of get rich quick MFA on Wordpress on topics they largely don't even care about. Without my passion in my niche there would be no need to maintain my sites! The 'knowledge' these others have to share elsewhere is unable to be used in my niche whereas a LOT of what I've learned here from the present users and some that have drifted away I use daily. The resource of past 'Library' posts here is immense. Many times 'site:WW Keyword1' gets me the good information I seek.

[Hoople]

On verge of lurk mode. Watching a slow death.

Already started that on one minor forum on WW as the 'gatekeepers' are beyond grumpy. Their loss......

[jmccormac]

I don't post on WW as much as I used to as it has become very much Google orientated. The other aspect is that there are extremely pro-Google posters who seem to consider any view that does not kneel before their great god Google to be some kind of heresy. Others tarpit any threads that are cynical about Google actions with mindnumbingly stupid and blatent trolling. (It got to the stage that I was whether I should renew my subscription to WW.) Some webmasters have become increasingly dependent on Google and Gbucks and it is no surprise that WW has become more Google-orientated in recent years.

Regards...jmcc

[graeme_p]

You can discuss anything,

Where? If there is no forum where people interested in the topic will see it, what is the point? Where could I post a thread on most of the topics I mentioned?

The other aspect is that there are extremely pro-Google posters who seem to consider any view that does not kneel before their great god Google to be some kind of heresy

I see more who regard Google as the Great Satan and regard any positive view of anything Google does as heresy.

[lawman]

>>Where?

[webmasterworld.com...]

If enough people post, a new forum will follow.

[graeme_p]

Webmaster General rather too general - it would be more useful to have things like "other languages". It is very quiet and has only had ten threads that that have had a post this month, of which one has been moved, and one has not had any replies after two days. I will try it for those topics and see what happens.

[lawman]

A good topic in an otherwise slow forum (Foo for example) can have legs.

[tangor]

A good topic in an otherwise slow forum (Foo for example) can have legs.

True. But foo is the goofy stuff. :)

New forums with new bents might generate from foo, just might, but more likely from webmasterworld general (and that is for the other kiddies to think about)

But more than anything else, this might have become a reminder to all even if g gets in the way from time to time, there;'s the rest of the web. Maybe all we needed was a reminder. These last few days the variety of posting at ww has been grand.

[lawman]

Wasn't proselytizing for Foo, T. Just pointing out the obvious.

[Marshall]

On verge of lurk mode. Watching a slow death.

Have been for a while. I know G is omnipresent, but good discussions like "what is the best font to use" or "what quirks does browser A have over browser B" seem long gone. I know making money is important, but the fundamentals of web development are a major factor in that and should always remain the core focus of WebmasterWorld.

[graeme_p]

I think this proves it

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[ogletree]

I have been an active member since 2003 and things have changed quite a bit. Back in the day WebmasterWorld was a lot smaller and many of the big names were involved in the site. A few years later I noticed that everybody got their own blog and twitter account and some even got radio shows. This was about the time that SEO became a respected job and there was tons of work. A large portion of the quality members quit coming here or posted a lot less. I'm not saying we lost everybody I'm just saying we lost quite a few. If your real good at SEO you probably don't have much time to hang out on forums.

This is nothing new WebmasterWorld changed many years ago. 2002 to 2005 or so was the golden age of WebmasterWorld. Times change. Forums are just not what they used to be.

[3zero]

I'd like to see more attention to Bing