Site nuked - I'm done

thank you google

[Essex_boy]

Well thats it, with the Google fiasco my sites traffic has been reduced by around 50% - 75%. We werent making a fortune anyway and now its even less of one, so I think its time to call it a day.

Im not sure how many other hobby/minor interest sites are doing the same.

Has there ever been a straight answer as to what the problem was/is?

[Beachboy]

Monkscuba is right on target, in my view. One must assure those eggs in that single basket are survivable in case things go south. My love of Google isn't matched by my trust of it.

[troi21]

I ran an Adwords campaign for almost six months. Sales were reasonable but the ROI was shabby because I paid loads to be visible in my highly competitive field. Nothing has brought in the business like being top five in Google. Not Adwords, not Overture, not local paper ads. I don't plan on giving up but I don't like being without direction.

[Essex_boy]

And I think that hits the nail on the head, at the moment a large number of us are without a direction.

The sooner this Google fiasco resolves the better.

[Go60Guy]

I don't know what to say about all the perceived disasters, except that I don't see the current Google upheaval as anything out of the ordinary. I, too, recall Black Monday, which spelled ultimate doom for AltaVista.

Maybe I have enough sites out there now so that with anything from a hiccup to a feinting spell with Google, it always seems I just win some and lose some. And just when I think a site has gone completely dead, there'll be a knocking from inside the coffin. I've had sites make startling comebacks from obscurity.

Mostly, however, it just seems that some pages rise, some pages fall and some stay the same. There's a constant state of flux.

I can see that if you have only one site, or just a few, you may experience the effects of google's machinations more intensely. Once you get a few thousand pages, you won't be quite so affected.

[seekanddestroy]

Percentages - love that post! Mice in the Googleplex then?!

Anyone thinking of throwing in the towel after this little moment in Googletime - webmastering e-commerce sites is one of the easiest ways to make money while you sleep on the planet - get over it, go get some more links and write content while you await a return to normality phase II.

[nell]

When I get down and out my good old friend Jack Daniels cheers me up and makes me forget about being sensible.

Hit yourself hard in the foot with a hammer. I guarantee you'll quickly forget about business problems. Persistent business problems require packing your shorts with fiberglass insulation.

[SlyOldDog]

Just thought I'd chip in about adwords. Our return on adwords must be (puts finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing) about 1000%. In fact our latest project lives only from Premium ads and adwords.

We are not in an exceptional industry. Far from it actually. It's fiercely competitive.

I didn't want to pay the price at first in the days when Overture bids went silly, but now I would pay a lot more than I do today if I had to.

[apollo]

See you later Essex Boy.

It is survival of the fittest out there in the big nasty world. You can give up if you want that is fine. Do you think that google is presenting a blank space where your listing once was? No, there is someone else who has taken your place and another 5 who want to move there.

If any of my competitors are in here, please follow Essex Boy's lead and give up. It's just not worth it! Google is ruined now. Go back to whatever you were doing before and leave the coast clear for me.

[hurlimann]

Pmac don't blame Google. Most SE's are now advertising billboards. At least Google tries their best to get rid of the spam and give quality results.To innovate as Google does always leads to cock ups. We also lost a site,very strange as it is totally clean. No doubt it will come back and if not we will have to change the domain name.

[bunltd]

Monkscuba: It's a question of baskets.

I've got Basket Deja Vu. We just spend a substantial portion of today discussing "having more baskets" that are outside of the net/web/online or technology related world. More baskets that aren't reliant on the Google or any other online method of advertising - or reliant on computer technology. (Gasp!) Yes, we're talking about diversification and the ability to make money from multiple enterprises... It's a cliche, but don't have your eggs all in one basket is truth. Don't.

BTW- We do depend on the web for a large portion of our bread and butter, and we've done okay with the latest update on Google. But more baskets are in the works...

LisaB

[quotations]

>troi21 said:
>My Google based enquiries went from ten a day to four a week.

Our Google based visits have dropped by about 18,000 per day.

It's a good thing Google provides such a small portion of our total traffic.

[abcdef]

if you have to live only by google free listings for too long, something is wrong.

know when to hold em. know when to fold em.

thank you kenny and goodnight gladys