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Kackle - can you explain the "dictionary" for me? And how I might benefit from it - Im reading your posts hard but dont see where youre coming from.
Sure. But you have to act quickly. Google will fix this one just like they fixed the hyphen.
1. Google is depreciating pages/sites that are over-optimized for certain keywords or keyword combinations. It does this by looking up search terms in a dictionary of target keywords or keyword pairs that it has compiled. This dictionary is Top Secret, because if you knew what was in the dictionary, you could avoid these words in your optimization efforts.
2. If the search term or terms hit on a dictionary entry, the search results for that user's search are flagged. This means that before the results are delivered, the order of the links, or even the inclusion of links, are adjusted so as to penalize pages that have overoptimizated for those terms. Most likely the title, headlines, links and anchor text are examined. It's possible that external anchor text pointing to that page has also been pre-collected and is available for scanning, but this is much less likely. (Besides, external links are not something within your immediate control, so don't worry about it right now.)
3. You want to find out which keywords that are relevant to your site are in Google's dictionary. Compile as many relevant keywords you can think of that searchers might use to find your site. Now take these words singly and in pairs, according to how users might search. Run two searches for each combination and compare the results.
4. If the results are strikingly different for the pre-filter and the post-filter search on a particular term or combination of terms, it means that some variation of those terms has been flagged because something was found in Google's dictionary.
5. Do lots of searches and you can come up with a list of "sensitive" words that you'll want to avoid when you re-optimize your pages.
It's a nice weekend project.
In my estimation, it is over. The fat lady has sung. We are now again in the continuous update mode.
I've found much of what you have contributed tonary is mostly "money" words or terms."
Could you point us to some of this evidence please. Like everyone who is affected I want to know what to do next.
To test the idea of a dictionary I wonder if otheres here could share, what evidence they have found that all/some of this recent Google effect can't be explained by on page text and link back keywords?
My site sells widget insurance. I have those two words in that order in the title, h tags, image alts, anchor text, out bound URLs, first words and a high percentage of all words on one page in question.
My page has been dropped. If I search for -fufufu widget insurance I'm back in at number 2. If I search for category widget insurance where category is a particular type of widget I go back in at number 1.
The one thing that the pages that fill the top ten slots for widget insurance now have in common is that 8 do not have <h> tags and the other 2 have style codes inside there <h> tags so they are not properly formed in terms of what many beleived Google previously required.
My point is this, the new algo could work like this: If two word term occurs in both title and <h> headings then if this two word term occurs more than x times and/or at a density more than x% drop the page from results for that two word term. This would work without a dictionary. So what evidence is there that this no dictionary hypothesis is wrong?
Please understand I'm not trying to start an argument, I'm simply trying to gain a level of confidence in what is right and what is wrong before I decide what to do next.
Many thanks in advance to anyone who can provide further enlightenment on this one.
Best wishes
Sid
Some of my previous post got missed out, not sure why.
Anyway the first para should have said:
I've found much of what you have contributed to this discussion very interesting. I then referred to your statement about evidence for a dictionery.
After this bit I hope that my post makes at least some sense.
Best wishes
Sid
Is anyone else out there looking into the abyss of $0 income? Anyone else trying to decide how to find gainful employment to pay the bills?
And seriously, is SEO a viable career path if these alterations hold? I am reading a lot of theory and hypotheses but nothing that resembles a coherent assessment of the new standards established by Google. I feel that, based on the SERPs that I have seen, there is still nothing to react to. Content has not been validated as the critical component and spam has not been invalidated as a promotional method.
Seriously, based on the current status, is there a future in independently developing and maintaining a commercial website? I, for one, am one more strong body blow from throwing in the towel.
I agree by midnight the FAT lady will have sung! So go out and bid up adwords, or start redirecting your google hits to a "google sucks" page and bury them like they buried you!
have you looked at my message #392 at [webmasterworld.com ]? how does this compare with your theory? (i'm not saying it does or doesn't, as at this point, i'm not sure of anything).
Well I'll be up the river without a paddle if We don't get a top listing back on Google.
They didn't go. They weren't in this thread.
When Part 3 reached about 70 pages, the last 20 pages were cut off and became the first 20 pages of Part 4.
A few dozen "me too" posts were deleted along the way though.
***
You all still have only two choices.
1. Google is broken - Not completely broken mind you, but very messed up.
2. Google is displaying these results on purpose, for whatever reason.
<edited> cuz I made a statement I could not back up.</edited>
[edited by: BradBristol at 9:15 pm (utc) on Nov. 23, 2003]
Baloney. If political correctness was the issue, then Google would quit selling Adwords to pornographers. If the IPO has anything to do with this, the motivation is raising profits, and not being PC.
