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This is a recap and a prediction topic.
Recall that GG said that the -sj index would move to the other datacenters, then we would see backlinks/spam filters applied across the board.
If this is the case, and if the d.c. datacenter (-dc) just got the -sj index (I saw it bouncing around last night actually); and the cable & wireless (-cw) datacenter got the index on the 15th. *Then* it seems we have 2 days for the index to be propagated to each datacenter (this is a worst-case scenario, as the datacenters may be updated in parallel and may all pop up with the -sj index very shortly).
Since we have 5 datacenters left to go, that brings us 10 days in the future for all datacenters to given the -sj index...which brings us to the 27th. At this time we should see the backlinks/spam filters being applied at every datacenter as deltas/patches (if you will) and the real "dance" will be underway. It will, of course, take considerably less time.
Notice that the prediction of the 27th is, in my opinion, a worst-case scenario; we will most likely see things happen sooner.
Peter
GoogleGuy, as a searcher, I have not noticed much of a quality difference one way or the other with Dominic. As always there ared some bad sites mixed in with the good sites, but I still find the good sites quickly. With the old data still in There I am getting a few more 404s. Those 404s have always happened, they are just a little more common.
As a webmaster I'm not complaining. Each datacenter you add dominic to gets me more traffic. And since my site is by far the most relevant site on the entire web, there is no question that dominic was a major improvement. ;)
Actually, the B and C (I forget names real easily) were not as good for me as I thought that they should be. They were the first updates where my traffic flattened out. I didn't complain. Different algos will score different, and those just weren't good months for me. I was still happy with the results as a searcher, and I try to grade google from that perspective.
As for the "schedule" that was the original point of this thread, please stick with the "it will ship when it's ready" attitude. I prefer a good update to a quick update. Take your time to make sure that you get it right.
Im new to the forum this month, but hear you loud and clear and appreciate the feedback. I'll save my comments on results til you give us an indication that the bus ride is over.
One question, though. You mentioned that the spammer sites showing up are short lived, so why the need for spam reports? Is this to just cross check the effectivness of the filters?
Bringing in backlinks and other data will be a gradual process over time. It won't be an overnight thing once all the data centers have the sj-type index. Once that index is everywhere, I'm looking forward to us bringing in fresher data--but I want to set expectations that it will take some time.
Is this routine going to become the more standard update practice? Would you tell if you knew? ;)
I recall 2 months ago you stated that Google wanted to get back to a more traditional update schedule. Forgot exact wording you used.
"Dominic- The Never Ending Update"
Be truthful- Homer Simpson got into your control both and pushed every button in the place, right? :)
AW
One of my sites, which was 3 or 4 (out of over a million results) on the main search phrase dropped down to 18 on the new fi index. Of course it is totally unfair and Google *must* be doing something wrong.
On the other hand, that all important search term only accounted for 4% of our traffic, and there were about 600 other search terms that were reaching us each day, so maybe it's not time to jump off of the bridge yet.
Perhaps, when all the pieces of the pie become a whole pie and it's done cooking you will be #3 or #4 once again.
We are looking at all the pieces coming together...no jumping off a bridge is required. ;)
AW
I would say more than days, less than months. That's just my personal take.
Hmm. That leaves us with weeks. Maybe. The Google cookbook is very open.
Pay attention not to what GG states, but what he doesn't state but hints at.
Yoda of Google you are, GoogleGuy. :)
AW
I'm confused as to why I'd move up, while the toolbar is indicating a drop in pagerank.
Any ideas?
I hope you're right and that it is just some weird glitch.
worker, if I were playing Yoda like Alphawolf suggests, I'd say: worry less about PR on the toolbar and more about rankings. And less about rankings for high-profile phrases and more about overall rankings. And less about rankings and more about traffic. And less about traffic and more about conversions. Maybe that doesn't sound much like Yoda though. I think the shorter answer would be that if you're showing well at datacenters like sj/cw/fi, I wouldn't worry much about what the PR says.
I just wanted to say thanks to the other posters who are taking a step back and looking at the overall picture. Please help to remind people that the longer-term view will keep folks less stressed and more productive. :)
teeceo.
Also I sent in a spam report on a site that has hidden links that goes towards inflating their backlinks and pagerank. They come up the same under all searches in all datacenter. Has the spam report been seen or how long does review take?
Thanks for providing any info you can.
So are we beginning to see the end of the once per month massive update and the move towards and much more fluid database continually being updated?
Doug
This probably won't make you feel any better, but it might help you put it into perspective.
Before freshbot came along, it was perfectly normal to have to wait two months just to see your home page listed and then it might take a couple more till your entire site was in. Freshbot not only gets the fresh pages listed faster, it also seems to make the listing of sites in the main index faster.
You are no worse off than before freshbot came along. In fact you are better off in that at least some of your pages can show up even while you are not in the main index.
It's a bummer that you seem to feel that you are being screwed out of your money, but it isn't a very good way to make your arguement to someone else. The amount of money in your wallet makes no difference to me. You would make a much more convincing arguement if you were to point out how the searchers or google would benefit from getting your site listed.In fact once you bring money into it you make it sound like you think you deserve to be listed *because* you spent the money.
First, allow me to express my utter admiration to the endless time you seem to be spending on this Forum and to your ability to read and comment to the extent that you do. Most people can’t even cope with READING the whole thing, let alone making useful contributions to it.
Having said that, I was deeply disturbed by your last lengthy post. Please consider the following points...
Let’s start with the simple question: It’s clear that many people around this place are very stressed. Why? What causes this stress?
You suggest the following explanation:
I would say that stepping back a level of detail would give better insight and less stress. Suppose you're on a long bus trip. If you scrutinize the road for every bump, pebble, or sharp turn, you're going to be more stressed than you need to be.
That comparison is misleading. You see, when someone takes a bus, in MOST cases, they know the destination, they know the bus and they know the road. They don’t NEED to pay attention to the details – as they don’t matter. Now, let me ask you: If you were to take a bus trip with a vehicle you have never seen before, to a destination you have never been to, on a road that can be mined and full of holes, deep pits and loose boundaries with high cliffs and you would hardly be able to see anything through fog and darkness – would you be relaxed? Would you not try and strain your eyes to see through the semi-darkness for any sign of danger? I certainly would – even if I had no control over the bus driver. And in this case, the driver is a well respected veteran!
Why, then, ARE people stressed? Why DO they pay attention to every minute detail?
Quite simply, because their livelihood depends on Google. With the undisputed dominance of Google in the Search Engines area, a drop of 20 places in the SERP of some critical keywords can have a MAJOR effect on the survival and/or prosperity of a site. People have invested countless time, effort and money to develop an online business, and they see the possibility of it being badly affected. Sure they are alarmed!
You then cite the discussions way back in September, and how no one is talking about the change anymore. You then conclude
We still use the scoring improvements from last September, but you don't hear people worrying about it now.
Well, that doesn’t prove anything, other than the fact that people are highly adaptable creatures. What’s the point of talking NOW about the change that took place THEN? And what can be meaningfully said about it anyway? Does anyone have ANY yardstick to compare the SERP now with what it COULD have been with the old scoring algorithm? No wonder no one does. I guess that those that have benefited from it are/were happy, and those wounded have licked their wounds and worked harder to improve their lot. If it is any consolation, I can assure you that no one will mention this update 6 months from now :)
Finally, you say:
the fact that I've said 5-6 (9-10?) times that we'll be bringing in better filters and fresher data, and most people should feel better, I hope.
Why do you think that they ‘should feel better’? What exactly are you promising here? I understand ‘fresher data’ – but until we get to see the results of the ‘better filters’ we can’t really tell. And what if while vigorously fighting spam you have also managed to throw out the baby together with the bath water?
Now - a suggestion. I cannot stress enough my conviction that Google should strive and improve their search results to the best of the company’s ability. This is what you do best – and this is what brought you to the position you have. However, showing the world a half-baked product is something you should consider very carefully. I am sure you must have gained something from the exposure – but you have also lost. Personally, I don’t care much either way – que cera – cera. For many people, so it seems, this causes a lot of distress. You should consider keeping fundamental changes under wrap until they are ready – and roll them out in one go as before. There will be gasps of amazements and disappointments, but they will quickly subside and life will go on.
And very finally. This is NOT a personal attack. My aim is to just emphasize that being the best and the most widely used search engine brings with it responsibilities too. It just comes with the territory :)
Respectfully,
MC
teeceo.
P.S. we can't say that google index's websites in the same way it did a year ago (sites going in after 2 months then dissupering a week later only to come back in the next update).
[edited by: teeceo at 8:52 pm (utc) on May 17, 2003]
Thanks for your comments "BigDave" but, my question was for googleguy, not you!
Well I suggest you use personal e-mail then instead of posting in a public forum. It is the nature of the medium, and within the TOS for anyone to respond to your query.
Peter
No site review requests or direct requests for Google techs.
teeceo.
And, precisely what is this other data that will be brought in over time? I notice that my main site still has a steak through its heart and buried on the most important SERP because the allinanchor: command shows that all the anchor text is MIA still. Curiously enough I see this site got its PR6 for the home page back (which is all kinds of good for the topic in question), after dropping to PR5 last update. I'd rather have the anchor text back and last months #4 position for the key SERP rather than a more impressive looking extra green in the toolbar. How come all the other sites got their anchor text credited but mine? Perhaps I should have more faith in Google, but at the moment it appears that Google just doesn't like this poor little site and wants to kill it off. :(
Googleguy has his sticky mail off
Yeah he does, and we don't know his e-mail address. And as pmac said, specific requests of him are against the charter. GoogleGuy is free to to be anonymous. He is free to ignore or answer questions. There is a reason that his sticky mail is turned off and he doesn't give out his e-mail address.
And worse than the requests, are the demands for answers that are always being thrown at him.
He is an active, informed and incredibly helpful member of this community that just happens to work for google.
GoogleGuy is not responsible for whether or not there is food on the table of other members here, or the placement of any of the websites within the index. I am responsible for all my websites and the pages on those sites. I am responsible to make sure that there is food on my table.
Let's remember that while GoogleGuy is being very gracious in taking time to answer questions and clear some things up for us, which is greatly appreciated, as he's stated, it's on his own free time. Besides, there's an awful lot that can be answered by other people here.
So let's give GoogleGuy a break and not ask directly; we're sure he helps us out as much as he has time for, considering he works full time also.
</Sidetopic>
mrdch, I understand why webmasters may be anxious--mainly my post was meant to bring out a few points that people may have missed. WebmasterWorld is great for the micro-level view ("I dropped from #4 to #16, but only in cw!"), but not always for the larger landscape.
We don need no steenking backleenks.
Peter
Why, then, ARE people stressed? Why DO they pay attention to every minute detail?Quite simply, because their livelihood depends on Google.
FULL STOP.
I had the same view a while ago. It's a bad view to have.
You _cannot_ put all your eggs into one basket as people are seeing with this update. Google will always change...always tweak and test.
You may be riding high for 3 or 6 months then an algo change may cause your site to go to Page 2 instead of being in the Top 3.
My view now is as follows:
If one can get thier site into some juicy rankings on Google take the 'free' profits and invest in other marketing ideas.
Take Brett's report [webmasterworld.com] and make use of it.
He took time to put that together for a reason.
It's understandable for folks who have good rankings see them go to junk get upset.
You never know what a good thing you have until you lose it.
Diversify your market exposure or you will forever be at the mercy of Google's whims.
Never become complacent with your rankings in Google. One day, you will become disappointed, distraught, and be at a loss if you depend on the free "natural" rankings.
Adapt and embrace the myriad of opportunities the WWW offers.
Otherwise, you may start to feel like throwing yourself off a bridge and so forth.
If this update turns out HORRIBLE for you it is a blessing, not a curse.
There's not a damn thing you can do to *quickly* react to a google algo change. NOTHING
You can have AdWords, Overture and affiliate advertising up and running rather quickly.
It's a waste of time to complain here.
Go think of new ways to expose your website(s)!
Focus on what you can do, not what you can't do.
The world is not a shiny happy place and nothing is fair.
Become a pessimist realist like me and presume the worst. Be thrilled if someone gives you something for nothing. Plan for disasters because sh*t happens.
AW
So you mean that I shouldn't give up all hope yet? ;) For some bizarre reason, for like 10 minutes early last night my site hit #1(?!) for that SERP on -dc, before plummeting back to oblivion. Might be that Google is trying to drive some webmasters insane. And, in my case I think Google is succeeding.
Nice post there bro....
Completely agree that complaining does nothing here and has given me a good insight into gaining exposure in other se's and areas....
Here's looking forward to when all who have fallen are back up top......not just in Google.....
