Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Daniel Brandt
Anti-spam is only one of several theories concerning the reason behind Google's filter. It's not even the most popular theory. For every spammy site that properly dropped in the rankings, others rose to the top. And for every spammy site that dropped, more than one non-spammy "mom and pop" site in a niche business lost their ranking. That's why the anti-spam theory isn't very compelling.
|
Where do you see any evidence that the filter is yet in its final form? that the changes initiated by Google have finished? Is there any chance that
that could be the reason that things are still in flux?
Quote:
|
The leading theory is that Google wanted to increase their earnings figures just prior to an IPO by forcing ecommerce into Adwords, and felt that they could get away with what they've done. So far the U.S. major media have not picked up on this filter story they way that major British media have. Google may be correct in their assumptions about getting away with it. The second most popular theory is that it's an over-optimization penalty. This is known as OOP. I'd have to say that it's a distant second. One reason why it's attractive is that there seems to be a random element in the filter behavior. Such an element would be very compelling as an antidote for spammy techniques. However, the random element also lends itself to the "Google in incompetent and/or broken" theory, so the OOP camp starts splitting off into the "broken" camp and has yet to emerge with a coherent explanation.
|
I'm not going to even attempt a word-by-word rebuttal here. I'll just point out that I'm not convinced that the goals of the Google changes are at all random, nor that they are incompetent. I think all the
real evidence is that the "OOP" theory as you call it is exactly what has prompted the changes. But I'm aware that that wouldn't provide much in the way of fodder for your website so I'm not very surprised that you find any alternative theory that hints at conspiracies and nefarious activities and even collusion with secret government agencies much more exciting than the truth, which is much more mundane - how many articles could you write and how many visitors could you get to visit your website and how many people would emerge to contribute to your organization if all you were discussing was Google's attempts to protect the integrity of its search engine?
Quote:
|
My main problem is that I'm ahead of my time.
|
Interestingly, this seems to be what all conspiracy theorists believe - other people just don't get it - I'm the only one who knows the truth.
Quote:
|
But I must say, I didn't expect to be criticized on the grounds that no one even has the right to investigate Google. That's a real surprise to me.
|
Can you show me where anyone said that? What I said was that you have every right to investigate whatever you wish, and to state your criticisms, etc., etc., but to expect Google to reveal everything about its search algorithms to you or to anyone else would be to destroy the integrity and therefore the utility of the search engine - so go ahead and demand that if you wish but please don't act surprised or cry "foul!" and "conspiracy!" when Google ignores you...