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Wackmaster. Understood yet GG has also said numerous times that there will be more spam in the index for a time as all the spam filters if any were not being applied and not to worry about it...So, I expect to see a lot of it cleaned up during their next update taking us into their "new system".
Also, the refrain that "backlinks, etc still need to be added" doesn't help me feel better because that seems mainly relevant to people who've done a lot of work on their sites in recent months, then saw a pop from it, then sank again after Dominic, and now don't like it.
Just using a Feb index with a freshie overlay shouldn't produce more spammy results.
There's no way for me to know quantitively how many good sites are up and how many are down and if more good sites are up or down or what. All I know is that in our group of 20 categories, the results are noticeably worse...spamier.
I, also, am very bothered by the increasingly nasty tone in here. But with so many webmasters saying that something is wrong, I find it hard to believe that every one of them is a spammer. I think a lot of people just genuinely see worse results.
I have made no serious changes to my site based on dominic because is not complete and to do so might cause a bigger problem once more filters kick in.
Nor have I. In fact we've made no changes yet (and we don't use H1 tags for the most part, so I can't even test that theory ;-) ). We do however feel we've learned a few things about where Google might be headed, and if the next go-round doesn't show an improvement in the SERP's, we'll start working on the 1/3 of our sites that got hurt, and be happy about the 2/3 that stayed the same or went up.
At last, someone else knows the effects of a backdate -;
You think the backlink data is quite new? :)
Well, GoogleGuy stated that they have not used, nor do they intend to use April deepcrawl data (except as a backup). Also, he said that the new system of gradually adding backlinks is still being tested so we should still see the traditional crawl/index cycle.
So, where do you figure this new backlink data is coming from?
Also, why did GoogleGuy repeatedly say that more recent backlinks will be added if, according to you they are already there.
Sure, some pages do great from freshbot stuff, but I think you are quite wrong in your guess that backlink data from the past two months is factoring into ranking.
Water off a ducks back..google is broken.
If it isn't give us a valid real explanation, please no BS
I basically put all my eggs in the Google basket, I will admit. This is my biz and I understand the inherent risk. I feel the rewards far outweigh them. There is tons of free money just sitting there for someone to grab, and I try to every month. I have been fortunate enough in this game to do well for some time now, so I can now afford very bad months/years
From a searchers perspective, I still think Google is the best, although this is the worst it's been in some time due to the amount of dead links and the apparent death of PR.
Once Yahoo goes with Ink, which is expected at some point this summer (at least partly), than I will have my eggs in 2 baskets :)
I think you are quite wrong in your guess that backlink data from the past two months is factoring into ranking
I think ciml is right: since May 5th, on a "link" check, I've been showing the one original backlink to my February-born site that now has 50+ solid links.
Even though my home page has been missing in action most of this month, my traffic and conversions have steadily increased since May 5th. Each wacky day seems to better the last.
I think they're slowly sneaking them in; we're just not allowed to see it yet.
Thanks,
Ken
After the September Algo change, I rebuilt my website accordingly and began looking for ways to diversify my traffic sources, knowing something like that would happen again. Diversification has become my religion.
When this recent event with Google occured, my diversification saved me but I still have more to go and I've got big plans (non spam) for that. If one just thinks about it long enough, they can come up with ethical ways to diversify traffic sources.
If Google gives me back the two home pages it pummelled, great. But by the end of summer, I won't be as vulnerable. When something like this happens again a year from now, I won't care. My goal is not to make $10,000, or $7,500 to $12,000 per month as these big boys do, I am searching for longevity through diversification. I'll take my humble $2+k per month and leave the volatile swings to the "big boys." I haven't become greedy and I am not a gambler.
Zapatista
PS. It'll be nice when Yahoo offers another basket for me to put my eggs in this summer. I still like Google, but I like another basket even better.
When did this ugly update that you're are all talking about occur?
Ken,
It started around May 6th when new data appeared at the -sj data center. The process is not complete yet.
Beth
