Quote:
Originally Posted by weslinda
I would like to clarify, if I noted that you specifically were whining, that wasn't my point, it's that so many want so much from a company that is in the advertising business. Google gives you tools to understand what you need to improve your site, free of charge. Google provides you tools to analyze and traffic your site's visitors, again a resource to improve your site, free of charge. Google has developed applications to allow you communicate and run your business, free of charge. No one is complaining about those things. On top of that, expecting Google to communicate with every web site owner in the world, that's simply not a realistic goal from a company that is actually in the advertising business.
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Ironically, those personal experiences in which I found Google's support most lacking were issues related to AdWords, for which I
am paying!
Quote:
Originally Posted by weslinda
Why should Google help every web site owner achieve better rankings in their engine? What is Google's financial return for that level of investment? The ROI simply isn't there. They have put numerous tools in place for a web site to place within their engine. There is mountains of quality information available on the tips to succeeding in this game, and my point is that business owners need to take this responsibility on themselves and make the effort before griping that Google or Yahoo or MSN or anyone else isn't doing enough for them.
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As noted by you, Google is a
publisher; and, no publisher is any better than the works that it publishes. Print publishers, be they newpapers offering classified ads, directory publishers offering various listing services, or traditional publishers of books & magazines all seek to aid authors and potential authors so as to maximize the benefits that are realized. Publishers who fail to provide that which their intended audience desires lose readers, and subsequently, authors.
In this respect, Google is no different; they are not immune to the effects of the dissatisfactions of either readers or authors. Therefore, and to repeat, it is in their own best interest to support their authors, in this case the owner/operators of web sites, to the fullest possible extent.
That having been said, it should of course be obvious that the "fullest possible extent" is quite different from "unbounded to all comers;" clearly practical considerations will not allow for such. And, from a practical standpoint, it is eminently practical to give greater support to those who pay for their ads being published. Unfortunately, as above noted, support for AdWords leaves much to be desired.
As for support for those being given "free inclusion," via the organic listings, Google clearly has a long way to go with respect to their online documentation, with regards to both the use of their online services and their explanations re. site guidelines.
With respect to the former, I have found many instances of, and lost countless hours attempting to fathom, descriptions & instructions re. Analytics (and, AdWords as well) which bear little to no resemblence to the functions as implemented and/or the screens actually presented. As regards the latter, compared to the doucmentation that I have come to expect, based on my decades of experience with IT, dating to the later 50s, when it was known as DP, as being sufficiently complete, accurate and usable, I find Google's documentation is be woefully unsatisfactory; while it provides a plethora of generalities, it contains a dearth of specifics.
And, this lack of specificity carries over into their patent filings as well, althougth, in all fairness, it must be noted that, in this regards, they have much company. While I can certainly understand the desire to retain an edge over ones competition, Google's publicly available documentation and patent filings read more like trade secrets. Patent filings, on the other hand, are required to be sufficiently detailed so that one trained in the state of the art can in fact duplicate that which is claimed to have been invented; in this regards, Google's patent filings clearly fall well short of the mark. And, while trade secrets work well in a market where the users need not know that which one seeks to protect in order to fully use the product or service which is derived from such secret, they are most inappropriate when the users' ability to derive full benefit is diminished by the lack of knowledge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by weslinda
I could fully understand the original posters thoughts if he had worked through the numerous internal issues his site has before looking at and blaming an outside force. Google isn't ignoring him, Google isn't keeping him from making money, his complaint is that he isn't ranking as high as he thinks he should in Google and wants to know how to make Google stand up and recognize that his site is better than anyone else's and should rank accordingly. I looked up a few of the terms on his site, and he isn't doing poorly. He has a number of products being shown through Google Base / Product listings. I would bet that this business didn't exist before Google and the other search engines came along and I would also bet that Google brings him a fair amount of business each month. It just isn't bringing him enough in his eyes and that's where I happen to feel that people don't have the right to gripe and complain.
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Sometimes you have to hit the mule on the head a few times with a two-by-four in order to get his attention.