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Things I like about google in its current iteration:
referer spam (webalizer in this case) seems to be gone. I know, because I did do it on for a non important domain, for the excersize's sake, and it was freaking scary how easy you can bloat g with hundrets of links
Its very current. A new site showed up within 4 days. Since I did submit as well as PR5-linked it, I am not sure what did it. But the site owner is very happy
I am not sure if I was just luckier lately, but I had a couple of cases where google actually displayed _exactly_ what I was looking for as SERP #1. Which is nice
I like what I see, and have no wishes for a return of the dance era.
Better than it was 3-4 weeks ago but still a ways off from what it was. Still a bit stinky around the edges imho.
SEO is a zero sum game
Not necessarily. I think practicing SEO drives webmasters to provide good content and product offerings wherever there is a void.
From my perspective, things are definitely better. Results seem more consistent, and the toolbar and backlinks are updating again. My sites are getting indexed faster too.
MOST important though... my websites are kicking a**!
Any word combo of more than 5 words appears to cause problems. Ist results are total random with a page containing one word then another page containing another. The pages on one serp are totaly un-related in terms of page topic.
quoting "" helps a little but then you might not be looking for an exact phrase.
Mack.
best google ever? I don't think so.
why:
1. Fresh Index ... most pages are 24hrs fresh
2. Improved Algo - easier to find stuff
3. Improved response to webmaster issues
4. Better image search (did anyone notice?)
5. Google News has come into it's own with regionalization
6. SUPERB SPEED ... I am getting better performace than ever before
7. Quick inclusion: new sites are coming in fast
8. Same great interface...no loss of charm unlike other sites
9. Better Toolbar: Pop-up blocker, etc.
10. Improved regionalization of search- improvement of relevancy
11. Improved Advanced search
12. More language translation
13. Many improvements in AdWords
Enjoy folks.
>2. Improved Algo - easier to find stuff
Worse than 12 months ago
>3. Improved response to webmaster issues
Really...where do I go for this?
>4. Better image search (did anyone notice?)
Still returns numerous 404's
>5. Google News has come into it's own with regionalization
No idea what you are looking at....I see Overture ahead in that field.
>6. SUPERB SPEED ... I am getting better performace than ever before
Well it was never slow for me, and isn't now. So I guess for some it maybe better.
>7. Quick inclusion: new sites are coming in fast
Yup, it has improved in this area.
>8. Same great interface...no loss of charm unlike other sites
Yup, but not an improvement, just the same old simple interface.
>9. Better Toolbar: Pop-up blocker, etc.
Now that they seem to have fixed the PR bar it is better, but the toolbar is mainly worthless outside of that IMHO. Given the current emphasis on PR I'm not sure the toolbar is actually of any value at all.
>10. Improved regionalization of search- improvement of relevancy
Long phrase searches, typical for regions, seem far worse IMHO.
>11. Improved Advanced search
I ask for only English sites and still get a huge number of German sites?
>12. More language translation
Maybe, everyone I look at never makes any sense to me, and never has....so is this an improvement?
>13. Many improvements in AdWords
Take your word for it....Never used it for anything but a few stats tests and never will!
Overall is this Google the best ever? No, it was much better 12+ months ago IMHO. I got much more relevant results from 2 billion pages than the 3.3 billion which maybe indexed now;)
Over the last 18 months I believe Google has gone in the wrong direction, meanwhile its competitors have done a much better job. If only the word would spread so that the now "minor" engines could get some exposure.
Considering the fantastic improvement in indexing speed, I think that the change was worth it. Another victory for Google.
14. Bigger index!
Seems percentages may have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
When was the last time you tried searching for info on any city that you didn't get a list of 5,000 spam filled affiliate sites with no useful info other than links to Expedia?
Although it's easier, quicker and less anxiety ridden to get into the index... it's far to easy to spam, and spoof your way to higer numbers.
Ex:... just looked at 10 highly competitive search phrases, the top three all have re-directs with the inital google page one keyword appears (it has a 100% kwd).
All of them are like it...
Their back links count?
In keywords of total site counts of 800,000 or more, the leading site in these 10 re-direct pages have 4 links.
The next has 8 followed by 6.
The most legitimate return for the keyword in question, is a major site, brand name, with almost 1,000 backlinks registered.
The best ever? Don't make me laugh.
In fact... because of the findings, I've changed some of my sites to mimick the leaders.
It's all about staying on top... and yes, even though these findings will not remain, the fall season is here and there's money to be made.
Waiting until Big G straightens it's S*** out, could mean a closure of e-comm sites.
I'm doing this for a business, not for ego.
You've got to follow the money.
It looks like the only criteria many of you are using for your opinion of Google is how fast and easy it is to get your sites ranked. If Google were tailored to webmasters rather than surfers, it would be nothing more than one of the dozens of other PFI search engines.
So true. There can only be one site in the top position for any search.
Yes, it may be possible to spam it. But I think that degree of spam is an invetible consequence of leaving the door open to the legitimate webmaster. Would you rather they closed the door so tight that even the legitimate webmaster is affected. Remember, the sword cuts both ways.
But for results absolutely not!
Google is top ranking pages for search results where up to 50-60% of those pages don't even contain one of the search terms!
No I'm not talking about 'and' etc, but widget descriptions, etc key to giving a good search.
They say 'CONTENT IS KING'.
Currently not where Goggle is concerned.
Link text and PR are all that matters to Google, hence search result irrelevance.
Currently it has no competition, but if the competition takes a major step up as Yahoo and MSN probably intend, then the results aren't currently anywhere good enough to fend off the potential competiton.
All they have to do is make sure that page content containing the search terms is a given for the best ranking pages and then they would have a very good thing indeed.
I also find it funny that threads along this exact same subject, but with the opposite view, are blocked from appearing on the forum.
Perhaps the Administrator has a reason.
Perhaps the Administrator has a reason.
Or maybe it's because views from like 'worst google ever?' generally have a "Wah, my rank has dropped" theme to them. The Admin's don't re-write posts here, and I'm certain that posts with the opposite are welcomed (and exist) as long as they are phrased in a way that isn't a 'my rank' complaint.
The Administrators here, in my experience, have been very even handed.
However, no one seems interested in it, though it's a factual statement, not a whinge!
Webmaster or user, I have some very strange results which occure because in high competiton areas, PR + inbound Link Text for some of a keyword phrase outweigh the fact that top ranking pages are missing important descriptive keywords altogether in the page!
While Google ignores this simple concept in its algo workings, results will suffer.
Or maybe it's because views from like 'worst google ever?' generally have a "Wah, my rank has dropped" theme to them.
And the "GOOGLE ROCKS!" threads aren't the exact opposite? The primary reasons I've seen people give for praising Google are their pages get spidered and ranked faster. That's nice, but what does that have to do with the ability of Google to return the best results?
Actually, my rankings are higher than ever. I still don't like the algo when I'm looking for information on a particular city and don't get me started on medical info.
Are you kidding? What have you people been smoking?
As a consumer, when I actually use Google (my passion is music) it returns TONS of spamazon (and it's brethren.) I'm often looking for the artist's site, which is usually WAY buried in garbage listings. Gawd, I hate "affiliate marketing." Hell will freeze before I patronize any of them. Same applies when I'm trying to make a motel reservation.I want to find THE site of the place that I'm looking for and NOT anybody else.
As a professional, I've seen the listing for my most recent site change erratically at the arbitrary and capricious whims of the G-plex. One day, the META description is there, then for a time it was gone.
Right now, it lists the correct Directory category, but if you click on it we're NOT there! (The category shown IS where we are listed DMOZ, but we're not in Google's version)
If this is the best, Google guy had better start polishing on his resume and doing "networking."
