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Is this a side-effect of improved dynamic spidering, or have the web developers for the sites wised-up (en masse)?
Random forum posts and PDF's sometimes show up in the top 10 for words that are pricey at overture ($5+).
My hope is that this is just a temporary situation before the full update occurs.
My site used to rank quite good, but now all the top positions are dominated by amazon, and those "so-called" price comparision sites, which contains no information but the list of a few companies and their prices
Do you think is it because these sites are stuffed with the same keyword? Maybe Google have dropped the top ceiling for keywords density, otherwise most of them should be punished!
I like to see different result even if it a pure affiliate site, they are sometimes better then the real thing.
zeus
For me, this view pdf as html does not work. every time google converts a pdf to html you can't read it because it is too small.
and when I changed my screen resolution 800x600 I still could not get a clear image and I have an 18" screen.
Google has done a lot of strange things lately but this has to be the worst. This is the only change can remember when average web users and not SEOs and webmasters have took notice and are displeased.
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.
I'd hate for Google's reputation to be tarnished by Adobe's browser plugin. How many average Joes out there must think "Google just froze up my browser" when a PDF takes minutes to load?
If you want a book from Amazon (for example) you'll go to Amazon and search for it. Or you may well hit it on the site you visit because there are so many darned affiliates.
What the vast majority of people DON'T want is Amazon books (etc) flooding the returns everytime they do a search for widgets. In some areas that is exactly what is happening. Ditto eBay, ditto PDFs, ditto MS-Word docs, etc.
I did a search and there was ONE normal web site on the front page. Yes, ONE! That really is crappy.
Try getting that reality into Google's corporate head though. They seem obsessed, as SteveB infers, in simply sticking in technology for the sake of it without too much regard for search impact. Either that, or their QA department is on strike.
What on earth are they thinking to let this one out?
Amen, Brother!
PDF Arrrhhh! I hate them. So many times I have clicked on them by mistake then have to wait a minute or more for my PC to unfeeze.
Dave
But those Amazon, Dealtime, Ebay, and other price comparision site result is totally un-acceptable
Along with the message that Google will no longer be king in the future if it caries on like this... this is hardly the first time they have goofed their SERPS in the last few months. It's becoming a habit.
As for PDF's and DOCs, they really are a pain. Not so bad when they were infrequent, but now they are bunched and cluttered... just spoilers. Why no tab?
Frankly, for the first time ever, I have started to use FAST today... and I know... there are plenty of people out there who will be telling me "I told you so".
I fear that Google has lost its focus, which is actually a common feature in search engine history.
The main reason for my post - I just can't see where Google's competition is going to come from - in the UK the other SE's / portals have become so heavily involved in PPC - I can't see them being able to afford to compete with pure search- the key feature of Google is that "Natural" search results are still prominent - no other SE's can say that.
Users have done their talking which is why Google is so huge.
And I can't see Teoma taking over either - this is a shining example of buy 50-60 domains, cross link every page and watch yourself go to no 1. - IMO - based on the SERPS I look at.
Just trying to play Devils Advocat - that G still is the best out there!
However, a few comments from GG on the "rolling update" theory would make very interesting reading!
Is this a side-effect of improved dynamic spidering, or have the web developers for the sites wised-up (en masse)?
I assume that this is a side effect of more dynamic crawling. A lot of the pages on these sites are created by a user search and then the site links to this term as a popular search or whatever and as the page is linked to then it can enter the index. (This was discussed recently)
If google can (does already?) start crawling and indexing urls like below then this will open the floodgates (already open?) for dynamically created pages to enter the index.
htt*p://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=widgets
htt*p://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&c2coff=1&q=blue+widget
If you then take the q= result and dynamically change a few terms in <h> tags <b> tags etc I am sure it can get through the duplicate filter.
Is this a side-effect of improved dynamic spidering, or have the web developers for the sites wised-up (en masse)?
It is a combination of both IMHO.
content in no longer king
Er... Hang on. What are these sites providing? Isn't it that they have a lot of content?
If I want to buy a DVD I don't care if Amazon or GSMA (generic small affiliate site) comes up - I want to buy the DVD. I'll check through the results and get the best price, from whatever site. Why shouldn't the big players be allowed to compete like everyone else? We've been doing this for a good while now - they've finally cottoned on, everyone knew it was going to happen - but we can't go crying to our mothers. We just need to get with the program and compete.
Yes, maybe Amazon, Ebay and Dealtime have some sort of special arrangement with Google now, which also benefit all other price comparision sites
That is a very silly thing to say - of course they don't!
Exactly...
And as far as some of the content sites are concerned I am sure that lots of us have asked for a link or got a link or coverage from the content site and are happy enough for the site to exist for that benefit. (But when it starts to rank well!)
The problem may be that Google can't see it either. However, how about:
a) Yahoo, once they replace Google onboard
b) MSN... in the unlikely even that they can bypass their greed for quick return and dump the PPC mentality
c) An old timer like AV, with a clean up and prime time advertising
d) A yet to be unveiled newcomer
The point I made above was basically that the decline of a search engine has almost always been precluded with this sort of over-confidence: the assumption that they can take liberties with their returns and get away with it.
Often it has been too many ads. Sometimes accompanied by neglect.
The current situation at Google does remind of this. With all the junk on board (Amazon, PDF, etc) the returns look very poor in many areas compared to FAST. Sorry, Google apologists, but that is true.
The issue though is even bigger than that. The real issue is that this is just the latest in a catalog. A trend... and a trend is usually caused by an underlying change, in this case perhaps a change in attitude and focus.
Maybe, as other engines have fallen partly through over focus on PPC and ads, Google may be stumbling because it is more interested in Adwords/Adsense/etc than in keeping its true engine clean and sparkly. Think about it. Do you think this sort of thing would have happened 2 years ago? I don't.
The company focus may well have changed. As they have concentrated on the DIRECT earners, they may have lost pride in, and commitment to, their core product... which of course would be folly... because as we all know, without that they are nothing. But the same could have been said of almost all the former search engine leaders.
OK, all this is speculation, but the signs are clearly there. Just look back at all the errors and problems over the last 6 months. Look at the state of returns today, with all the junk mentioned above, the index pages that come and go, the toolbar out of date, and so and so forth (SteveB seems to have a good list).
Again, I do hope I am wrong, but one thing is for sure... this ISN'T the Google of old.
I agree this is the side result of more dynamic crawling by freshbot. (Sorry I did make a silly mistake in the previous messages)
I can not see a listing of retailers with prices is good content.
I wonder if users actually agree, some do some probably dont.
But one thing that you used to be able to achieve on the Internet is if you were number one in the serps you could probably get a sale even though you were not the cheapest.
I think a lot of people would say that there are a lot of good content price comparison magazines (Talking offline - Which, Parkers Car Magazine)
I can not see a listing of retailers with prices is good content.
If it is what people want, then surely it is. I want a dvd, I get a page with prices for that dvd from different retailers. I can't see how a search result can get much better than that.
Google apologists
Nope. I know what Google wants, it is the same thing which most of us wouldn't mind some more of - money. If they crawl more dynamic pages they will get better content and better results, simply because a lot of useful content is hidden by the fact that it is dynamic. More useful results = more users coming back = more money.
What is so junky about, for example, Amazon results anyhow? I've seen them coming up when I want to buy various things - which is quite appropriate and handy really - because what comes up is product pages for the products I searched for. This is what surfers want and it is what Google wants.
I've just been checking the SERPS for a Metallica album where the Amazon link was top. The URL given is the Amazon /browse/ URL that appears as you browse though the music styles or new releases. I checked the backlinks and thwere are 60 - and most of these links are to the /obidos/ASIN/ redirect that Associates use to link to an album.
Now, 60 (PR4+) backlinks to a page in Google for a fairly new album is very good and obviously will give them top place. It looks to me as if Google have improved their spidering so that they can conect the associate links and convert all the PR (or link text) to the Amazon browse page. (I may be wrong - perhaps it always worked this way?)
Good on Google for their cleverness, good on Amazon for getting all those links. But poor mislead associates if they have created and promoted a page about that album because they have also guaranteed that Amazon will beat them in the SERPS. Associates are going to have to get cleverer or dump Amazon and rely on Adsense (it pays a lot better at the moment)
If it is what people want, then surely it is. I want a dvd, I get a page with prices for that dvd from different retailers.
Ah yes but that assumes something rather interesting about the "price comparison" / "product review" sector:
1) Those sites offer significantly different prices, if they don't then site a is just a copy of site b to all intends and purposes.
2) The prices being offered are the cheapest you can get, if they don't then there's no point in that site existing.
In my experience a lot of sites involved in these systems don't offer good value for money as they simply poll four or so major sites and offer no real changes to the base pricing. In my eyes this makes them useless results since I can either go direct to a retailer or hunt around for a specialist who sells them cheaper than normal.
If/when I can get rid of the spammy sites like the above from the SERPs the easier it is for me to actually try to find a *good* deal.
- Tony
1) kelkoo.co.uk
2) widget developer (PR9)
3) amazon.fr
4) amazon.co.uk
5) epinions.com
6) amazon.com
7) kelkoo.nl
8) amazon.de
Fine, I don't mind seeing Amazon etc once, but seeing every different country spin-off website they have clutters the results. How many times do I have to see "translate this page"? (How user friendly is this anyways? A look at Google's click-stats would be interesting.)
I would have thought these international webpages that Google knows are in foreign languages would have a sizeable penalty on Google.COM.
I did a search for the proper name of a world famous wizard and amazon was number 7. I then tacked dvd on to the end of the string and as expected amazon was #1.
Almost what I expected.
