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I have noted more than the usual shifting of pages in and out of the SERPs for the past week or so, and of course we have seen threads about updated backlinks (FWIW).
Anyone else seeing changes?
WBF
FWIW, I'm very gun-shy about facing the next 2 weeks. Some memories take longer to fade away than others...
Google loves to do major updates in late fall - early winter (Florida 2003 - Dallas 2002 - Irvine 2001). I believe we are on the verge of Update vegas. Brace yourself - I have a very strong hunch it is going to be a real hurricane. -Brett Tabke
Ta
Just had an epiphany
sandbox=premoderation
just had a grog too.
Regarding algo updates: Buckle up folks, we are going to Vegas!
Long time no post!
What's going on with Google Directory?
I have a site/page which has been #1 on Google Directory search since February 2004 for most/all of my target keywords. This coincided with similar performance in the Google.com SERPs.
Now my pages do not show in Google Directory Search for those keywords at all, no, nada, not a sausage. On 24th October they were there and this was my last sighting of them.
I'm sure folks here will understand why I'm getting paranoid again. I'd appreciate a few words of wisdom on whther this GD change is likely to impact on the main Google.com SERPS.
One thing I should mention is that I have a couple of links on my home page to the Google Directory categories that are on the broad subject of my site, in one case, and a more narrow category in which my site is listed in the other. I'm wondering if I should remove these as they are part of my reaction to the disaster of last autumn and winter.
Best wishes
Sid
I did see that all of the companies in this category that are listed in the ODP (me included) are also nowhere to be found. Since there has long been, some resemblance to the corresponding OPD cats maybe there is still some kind of updating going on.
anyone has an idea if this update is yet to continue?
I have the same thing going on. Drilling through cats I have sites that are number one in their respective categories, but doing a search in the directory returns zilch, not even when I enter the exact title of the site.
I do see in the search results sites that link to mine.
Now I'm getting worried...
WBF
If they pull off another pre-Christmas Florida, it might be wise for them to hire some more security guards at the plex.
I personally hope they do. This current index is strife with spam (from the cookie-cutter, to the built only for Adsense) - what better time to hit those involved in such practices than right before the 'busiest' online season.
Yes, there are changes in the directory for my cat too. I was happily surprised to see my site in position #1 for all my primary keyword combinations. First time I have seen that. Amazing!
At first glance - (My keywords are "location keyword".) The first page of directory results are showing only sites that are actually in the location. The big multi-location sites that used to own the top of the listings have dropped out of sight.
Does this marry up at all with the changes others are seeing?
And yes, the cookie-cutter/spider-bait/pseudo-directories/for-AdSense, they've got to go. They are really getting in the way of webmasters that work to put real, fresh, and useful content on the web. They are super-optimized because they don't care about useability, and often rank above legitimate sites.
I have to sacrifice some optimization in order to make my site practical for users (especially in my index page) and I pay in terms of lower ranking in the SERPs.
Right now I'm 6th in "free widget plans" and mine is the only site that's entirely devoted to "free widget plans" and I still rank below some real riff-raff. And I'm not in the sandbox.
Everytime I hear "UPDATE" I hope again.
Nor should they (spammers) likely care if the site is banned - chances are they'll have 10 more sites just waiting to replace the one(s) that got 'dropped'.
I sure wish Google had a more accurate, automated way to resolve this issue. Spam reports (even when acted upon) take weeks, and sometimes months... by then the spammer has likely made a nice chunk of money, while sites that should be in the upper SERPS suffer.
Sorry for getting off topic - just wanted to bring to light what I'm sure most have us have been experiencing ... the domination of spammy SERPS lately. Almost makes you wonder if being on the 'dark-side' - financially - is better.
Peter
If so, I wouldn't pay any attention to that. The Directory search stopped working at all a few months ago, and then began working again soon after. There were some threads on this. Besides, the categories are what matter, not any display of search results.
Guess I had forgotten why I never look at the directory.
if they make me rank #1, I will volunteer to guard their plex . Hear that GoogleGuy ;)?
On a serious note: Google doesn't owe me or you a thing and I assume that you probably didn't mean it a threat, but it may considered one.
I find the entire statement to be sad - hope it's not that bad for anyone.
but florida type changes and possibly another later this month are what
1 makes it interesting
2 seperates the men from the boys
3 will not defeat spam because those who spam and use seo will always be 1 step ahead of the G boffs / loaded with degrees
I do feel sorry for the innocents who get trapped in a major algo change / traps
I wonder if the word should be algo anymore as it's more like new filters changes and traps for the latest seo techniques
just ramblings
steve
Although if they do have another shake-up like last year, it won't be webmasters knocking down their door. It'll be shareholders wondering why no one uses Google anymore and their so-called search results.
IMO - I think the increase is to big and the figures does not seem that accurate to me.
Perhaps it has not got rid of all the 404s or something
That old stalwart dinosaur that's been hogging 1st and 2nd on my keywords for half a decade, always had the second listing indented.
It has now collapsed into a single listing, rightly bumping me up one position! Good riddance, thanks Larry and Sergei!
Any other observations of double-listings collapsing?
