Google losing #1 and market waits for the new leader

[freetraff]

You can agree or dispute it, but more and more people lose faith in the quality of Google's searches. Posts in many forums speak as the best prove for it.

This wave of losing faith started with webmasters who were the first to notice strange behaviour.

Then site owners who often don't have much technical talents but who pay money to get better exposure for their sites in Google.

I think soon this might come down to simple searchers who use Google as the best searching mechanism in the world - AND LOSING SEARCHERS IS A THREAT for Google as business.

Take part in the poll to share your opinion on this problem.

[weslinda]

Well...i think people might become disgruntled with some of the Google results, but those same people will feel the same way about MSN, Yahoo, Ask and many others because of the limited "high quality" results that are being produced by these engines.

I think the "local search" market is what will actually drive people in the future. I think people will be more interested in solutions or answers in their town, county, state or area vs. worldwide answers.

As a web master and seo you have to be watching this vertical very closely and tune into the needs of the local users.

[freetraff]

Yes, you are right. But look into the next step. Many local quality searches => one big universal search engine.

But with NEW level + quality of searches.

If there'd be a very good new search engine at the moment, I think that it now would be the best time to take the flag from Google's hands.

[craigmn3]

As a web designer I am always required to bow to the stumbling giant known as google. For Google is life. But knowing the games they play I am assured that I am not going to get the best search engine results. MSN is getting better but they often include low quality sites. So I pay homage to Google, but search Yahoo.

[greeneagle]

I'd bet you can't produce a single stat that shows GOOG has lost any common search ground at all recently! In fact it's been quite the opposite from everything I have read.

Ken

[craigmn3]

Nope, not a single stat. Nor can I find a stat on how my dinner tasted, or what the oxygen percentage is of their air I am breathing. Somethings you just know. Heaven help us if we live chasing the stat tail of life.

I have no stats, I just know, from daily experience that yahoo will deliver more pertanent information to me for my search term.

[weslinda]

Well...twice as many people think that Google will give better results than Yahoo...neat stat. If we were electing a president, that's what they'd call a landslide.

I'm not a fan either way, but I don't think Yahoo does a better job at Google on every search, I don't think Google does a better job than Yahoo or MSN on every search and amazingly, someone, somewhere, always starts this topic every couple of days.

Here comes the demise of Google! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!

[Tubby]

My Stats say that Google has lost a lot of ground over the last 12 months. . But this does not prove anything that could be a reflection of a general trend. If there is a general trend reflected for my own site. . It most likely tells me that I am picking up new web users that are using the search engine that is installed on their computer. My stats have always been a little of-skew from many site-reports offered up at WPW. This is quite often due to my lack of webmaster traffic.
It also says, I have not been overly fanatic at optimising for google.

But I think ken is pretty right. . There is as lot of disgruntled users that are not as content as they used to be. . but the rats have not yet jumped of the Good Ship Google - yet.

Yes. . My stats say I have less google traffic than I have had in the past.

Of course Post Christmass I totally dumped my Top 75 pages and incorporated them into a more user friendly format by meshing them into other pages. This saves my users the hassle of viewing two pages instead of one (my users like it)

I could have predicted the drop. . I did predict the drop in my own traffic. But I had one of those 'long term benefit moments'. . .
The dropped pages were well favoured by google, and google is by far the slowest to recognise or give value to my newer format. .

So looking at my stats, and considering all the information I have at hand. . I realy do not have a clue if Google is losing or not. So I call into WPW and find out what you lot think, and I alway give value to Kens opinion..

[freetraff]

Originally Posted by greeneagle

I'd bet you can't produce a single stat that shows GOOG has lost any common search ground at all recently! In fact it's been quite the opposite from everything I have read.

Ken

Ken, you are right - it is rather difficult to prove the whole stats as only Google can do that - and they will never share.

But I saw you giving positive remark to the post (if my memory is ok that was a post of incrediblehelp) where Google is severly bashed for playing too much in the AdWords game and losing the sense of search. You commented on the stocks which is not about Google searches. But these articles make naive searchers doubt in the quality of the searches. And articles are provided on very reputable resources.

And I am sure you saw that with Google's mess results they give recently, posts with the air 'wow, Google is shocking us' are very numerous. I know, different databases give slightly different info, I know, Big Daddy was too hard to get implemented, but I also meet spam 100% dummy adsense sites sitting on top. I thought Big Daddy would be really much better. Why did they introduced it if they can't mount it?

And other people see it too.

Plus, Ken, I know you are very experienced. Perhaps your sites weren't affected by these changes (almost all mine survived with nice ranks, and the new ones go up the ladder). But I am sure you see that Google needs a good doctor, or soon it will need a surgery. And I would not like G to vanish - they were super when they started.

[weslinda]

Freetraff? Who doesn't need this same "surgery"? Show me an engine doing it better than Google. No one can. That's the reason that Google is gaining market share, not losing it.

Yahoo isn't better, MSN isn't better, Ask isn't better. It's an industry that is still in it's infancy, and will take years to get even close to good.

[Pascal77]

If Google keeps on showing results like they do at the moment then they are going to loose marketshare.

But that don't happen in a click. The results(Google use) you see now are the result from the past and they did a really good job then. But it's not that they don't loose now that they still work great. That they don't loose now is the result of the past. The results of now will be reflected in the future stats.

First webmasters will start searching more other SE's. Then slowly some people will follow and then some more will follow. It will slowly rise to big losses but then it is to late. So they have to act now because their SERP's are off very low quality compared to a year before(and taking the step forwards in mind, other SE's take also a step forward that's normal when you are growing sector)

[weslinda]

Hmm...no one is replying to my posts yet.

Lets take a look at a Yahoo result for Maryland Caterer.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=mar...&cop=&ei=UTF-8

First page is a crap page with, you guessed it, Yahoo ads! Suprise! When are the Google / Microsoft / Anything we can come up with Bashers going to understand the conversation?

[RegDCP]

My stats say I have less google traffic than I have had in the past.

But do you have more Yahoo or MSN traffic?

I do not see an upswing in either which I would expect if more were using them.

Reg

[whipnet]

Google is not going anywhere.

As a webmaster, I use search.com. It combines the big 3 for results.

*

[Seminole386]

In my previous career I was a sales and marketing executive for a large consumer products company. We paid attention to each complaint letter because studies show there are 100 other customers who feel the same way and don't write.

Google has its tool bar on lots of pcs. I have removed it in favor of Yahoo. There are many in the corporate world that are advertising "search Google" for something to do with their site. Remember when all the ads mentioned AOL?

Common sense indicates there are too many people complaining about Google for it not to have some effect. I tell everybody that I see no benefit from G anymore and have switched to Y. You appear to be doing the same. Our conversations are slower than email but nothing is as effective as Word of Mouth. Google, if not now, soon will be feeling the results of the negative comments we all express. You can't influence people unless they have the same experience and we all know they are.

[mishj]

Yahoo! search results will improve greatly with the upcoming integration of myweb 2.0 into the search database.. Using user defined tags for every website the users use is ensuring that quality results that are really useful will get to the top of the search results.. Anyone already using myweb 2.0 will know exactly what I am talking about - it is a fantastically simple concept but it works soooo well - its how search engine databases should have been created in the first place!!

And of course, Google updates put a lot of people off of advertising with Google - you never know when your website is suddenly going to drop completely out of the search results because of another Florida , Jagger or other similar updates, see http://www.elixirsystems.com/articles/pdf/a051109.pdf
and
http://www.webworkshop.net/florida-update.html

[termspec]

I am totally fed up with google ruling the rooste...

As a webmaster its virtually impossible to keep up with their little games....one day your top from lots of hard work...the next your in the sandbox !!!

BUT unfortunatly my clients (I run several Cosmetic Surgery Sites) need to be listed so I have to resort to pay per clicks at ridiculously high rates cos we are all trying to be number 1....its a class act rip off auction which the big boys with the big bucks will always win.....

BUT I have tried Yahoo ppc and totally wasted $4000 dollars for virtually no business.....In one month !!!

SO we come back to who is tops ! unfortunatly I have to say Google is the winner in the Search engine stakes...

[italiavista]

Yahoo Search & Yahoo Publishers are a piece of crap, search not relevant, ads not relevant, etc..., Yahoo! lost the search engine war, MSN is quite a very good search but i am afraid it is too late....

Love Google and MSN, Yahoo is just good enough for email that's it...

Originally Posted by freetraff

You can agree or dispute it, but more and more people lose faith in the quality of Google's searches. Posts in many forums speak as the best prove for it.

This wave of losing faith started with webmasters who were the first to notice strange behaviour.

Then site owners who often don't have much technical talents but who pay money to get better exposure for their sites in Google.

I think soon this might come down to simple searchers who use Google as the best searching mechanism in the world - AND LOSING SEARCHERS IS A THREAT for Google as business.

Take part in the poll to share your opinion on this problem.

[Peter (IMC)]

My Stats say that Google has lost a lot of ground over the last 12 months. .

What your stats say is that your website has lost ground in the Google results. :) Unless you have seen a huge increase in visitors comming from other engines.

1 % up or down,.. or maybe even a couple of % up or down,.. what difference does it make? Google results haven't decreased in quality. Maybe they also haven't increased in quality, but for sure Yahoo nor MSN has increased in quality.

So there doesn't seem to be anything different from before that could explain a change in market share.

The only thing that has changed is that it is much more difficult to rank in Google now and with that the complaints by webmasters have increased. But what makes or breaks a market share is the users of the search engine, not webmasters.

Sure, webmasters are also users. But,.. :),... for every webmaster there are thousands of normal users,. so we´re talking 0.00001 % of change in marketshare due to angry webmasters,.. not really a worry for Google.

[creditwrench]

Originally Posted by freetraff

You can agree or dispute it, but more and more people lose faith in the quality of Google's searches. Posts in many forums speak as the best prove for it.

This wave of losing faith started with webmasters who were the first to notice strange behaviour.

Then site owners who often don't have much technical talents but who pay money to get better exposure for their sites in Google.

I think soon this might come down to simple searchers who use Google as the best searching mechanism in the world - AND LOSING SEARCHERS IS A THREAT for Google as business.

Take part in the poll to share your opinion on this problem.

I have a lot of blogs and web sites. While Google seems to get the results into their searches faster at times than others do that isn't always true either.

Over all, Google provides me with very few visitors any more. MSN brings in more traffic than Yahoo does but in reality the vast majority of my traffic no longer comes in from search engines at all but rather from direct hits. My links. I have untold hundreds if not thousands of links all over the internet and that is what gets most of my traffic by far.

But overall, I'd definitely agree that Google is losing ground very rapidly.

[G[dot]com]

I am an all time Google follower. You will rarely -say, never- see me saying something against them, simply because I have been in agreement with their policies and actions so far.

HOWEVER, I must agree with you: lately google, since precisely it began to disperse itself in a million other applications and services than simply being a "search engine", they lost a lot of their performance in that area... while they scored points in others.

I am not satisfied either with the search results they bring -for my personal searches!-, and oftenly I end up searching in yahoo or MSN, something I never did before. As well, my optimized sites get to rank faster and better in yahoo and msn than google the first periods (first 3 months).

This is, as you say, something that it is in the air, can be breathed... smelled... something is getting worse and worse on their search performance... but IMO, as they are far sooo far the best engine and they have become massive, they won´t so easily lose ground.

I don´t know if this happening is for better or for worse, I think we are just witnessing fluctuations in in an arena in which nothing is yet defined (IMHO, I repeat)... there´s a LOT yet to be seen in this Search Engine monopoly dispute and Web 2.0, as well.

My two cents. Thanks ;-)

[krooga]

Originally Posted by greeneagle

I'd bet you can't produce a single stat that shows GOOG has lost any common search ground at all recently! In fact it's been quite the opposite from everything I have read.

Ken

Mind you this seems to show otherwise:
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/tr...www.google.com

Sam

[italiavista]

Yahoo and Alexa SAME CRAP. But I agree GOOGLE is far far away. Only MSN can compete, Yahoo is just a portal and free email service and will remain like this... Yahoo Search is history.

Originally Posted by krooga

Mind you this seems to show otherwise:
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/tr...www.google.com

Sam

[krooga]

Originally Posted by italiavista

Yahoo and Alexa SAME CRAP. But I agree GOOGLE is far far away. Only MSN can compete, Yahoo is just a portal and free email service and will remain like this... Yahoo Search is history.

I disagree with you on this one, I beleive Yahoo has more potential then MSN... Just look at MSN Adcenter... a total flop unlike Yahoo Search marketing which is some what decent compared to Adwords.

Yahoo is innovating around search by building social search such as Yahoo Answers or another application which allows users to select whether they prefer Informative results or Shopping results, can't think of the name, someone help me out here !

Sam

[kevan]

All,
Well, I have added the Yahoo toolbar at home and at work - and they are now my preferred search engine. But, interstingly, every time I do a search for a good answer to a technical problem (anything to do with software problems), I find google in my favourites, and use this! A bit sad really; but they do have the edge on yahoo & MSN even if their content does take a while to update.
My thoughts & actual habits shared, not all bad.
Kevan

[draco777]

I replaced Google with Dogpile for my homepage 3 years ago. Then Dogpile went downhill. I now use MSN for a homepage with a quick access Yahoo toolbar and I never go to 'Gurgle anymore. I also keep other search engines on my favorites for quick access. Using only one tool just doesn't cut it anymore.

Basically the only people who are dead fast Googlers are stock holders. No one in their right mind would put up with the nonsense involved with a Google search these days; except someone with a vested interest. They can get quite hostile on forums defending their beloved Google. (Just watch the flak I catch from this post) They will rant and rave and even go so far as to demand proof that your choice is justified. (As if the right to choose is a felony if it’s not Google.) Then these people will tell you that they don't own stock or that owning stock doesn't bias their opinion. Hmmmmmm.......If you believe any of them then I've got the deal of the Century for you.

See.....I've got this Golden Bridge for sale in San Francisco........

[glenng]

IMHO - Google will remain as the top search engine. Reason, is that, culturally, the average user will use the term "google it". Those that are web site owners or web site masters that constantly use view the DC's, check pages indexed, etc. are probably more aware (err question) what Google is doing and see the results. But the vast majority of users do not see it the way see we see Google.

Another thing is that Google in its own way creates chatter - good or bad - but it is still people talking about Google - this creates more interest in Google. When people talk about a company, a product, whatever - bad or good, it is publicity and does create more recognition.

We actually helped to create the Google empire by praising its worth to the world. IMHO - when I read how people say we can tell people to use MSN, Yahoo, or Ask and that will cause Google to have less searches done - I just laugh to myself. Personally, I don't think Google will lose too much ground, if it does, in the foreseeable future as there is too much cultural "google it" and talking about it, creating recognition.

[tuler]

For my site www.bestmyspaceprofiles.comI'm on pace to triple my traffic this month compared to my last two months. Though, this is in no way attributed to an increase in traffic from Google; it's actually the opposite. I'm getting about 50% less traffic from Google as I was in the previous two months, but about 400% more traffic from MSN.

I've checked the popular Google searches that send me traffic and I still rank in the top 5 of each of those searches, but the traffic isn't there.

I don't think my site which will get about 3000 visits this month indicates that Google is losing ground, but it does say something about this segment of search that is related to Myspace.

[devill]

<<<<<<<<
No one in their right mind would put up with the nonsense involved with a Google search these days; except someone with a vested interest.
<<<<<<<<

I think Google results are superb .... especially for the searches where my sites are at the top of the SERPs!

On a more serious note, it is still the SE I use most - and I haven't noticed any drop in quality ...

[Tankerdog2002]

"""I think Google results are superb .... especially for the searches where my sites are at the top of the SERPs!"""

Don't listen to that other guy; I can make you a better deal on a Golden Bridge!

[Cyrus255]

I have to come in on the MSN side.

All it could take for MSN to knock Google into oblivion is Vista with a new browser that has the search engine preset.

It will get that 30-40% of the market to try the new SE, and if it can steal that, it's game over for Google.

[zbatia]

Well, it's not a surprise info for me. I switched to Yahoo! 4 months ago including PPC.

[loomster]

Leaders always attract publicity (good and bad) and always get criticized. No exceptions.

Bottom line: Google will be #1 as long as there is no one to displace them. Right now there are no other SEs that provide the quality of service of Google, imperfect as it is.

[amabaie]

That's the nature of forums such as these. Webmasters talking to other webmasters and before you know it they all have each other convinced that the whole world will act as they do. Of course, most people don't act the way forum participants do.

A few months back, the whole webmaster world was ablaze over FireFox, which had gained up to 8% marketshare (according to a very authorative site that is frequented by, wait for it, webmaster geeks!) Anyone who actually knew any real people (non webmaster geeks) would have been aware that almost nobody had even heard of FireFox.

I just placed a tracker on one of my sites, just to determine screen resolution for a redesign. Interestingly enough, browser stats came with the package and in the firt week not a single person using FireFox dropped in. Reports of Microsoft's death were, it would appear, a bit premature and more wishful thinking by certain individuals.

[RegDCP]

Originally Posted by amabaie

A few months back, the whole webmaster world was ablaze over FireFox, which had gained up to 8% marketshare (according to a very authorative site that is frequented by, wait for it, webmaster geeks!) Anyone who actually knew any real people (non webmaster geeks) would have been aware that almost nobody had even heard of FireFox.

I just placed a tracker on one of my sites, just to determine screen resolution for a redesign. Interestingly enough, browser stats came with the package and in the firt week not a single person using FireFox dropped in. Reports of Microsoft's death were, it would appear, a bit premature and more wishful thinking by certain individuals.

I don't know what kind of tracker you are using, but I have a site that gets about 500 visitors a day so it gives a good cross section.
FireFox users account for around 12.16% for a sampling of 145,800 unique visitors.

Want the whole list? Some of these i have never heard of.
Browser Details Unique Visitors
MSIE 6 76.53%
Firefox 1 8.88%
AOL 9 4.56%
Firefox 1.5 2.91%
MSIE 5 1.50%
Safari 1.05%
Opera 8 0.96%
Mozilla 1 0.85%
Netscape 7 0.75%
Opera 7 0.45%
AOL 8 0.37%
Firefox 0.x 0.37%
Other/Unknown 0.19%
MSIE 7 0.16%
Netscape 3 0.11%
Netscape 4 0.10%
AOL 7 0.07%
Opera 9 0.04%
Konqueror 3 0.03%
Netscape 8 0.02%
Opera 6 0.02%
MSIE 4 0.01%
SeaMonkey 1 0.01%
AOL 5 0.01%
WebTV 2 0.01%
AOL 6 0.01%
AOL 4 0.01%
Galeon 0.00%
Opera 5 0.00%
Flock 0.x 0.00%
AOL 3 0.00%
Amiga-AWeb 3 0.00%
IBrowse 0.00%
AvantGo 0.00%
Netscape 2 0.00%
Opera 3 0.00%
MSIE 2 0.00%
PDAs 0.00%

Reg

[incrediblehelp]

Picking your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo and MSN) lately reminds me when I voted for either Bush or Kerry in 2004. The lesser of two evils (in our SE case three evils) concept remains my feelings about this and I still pick Google. Terrible isn't it?

Google gets the most traffic right now, this is fact. I understand that Google is my highest priority for my clients, regardless of my personal feelings on the G SERPS. Until someone else even gets close them, this is the way it is for me.

This thread will turn into the same ones littered on WPW lately with burn fests on the search engine you hate the most.

[kre8tor]

I find all this discussion on Google loosing ground to be very funny! This may be blasphemy(sp) but the only one loosing ground her for real is the small honest site/business person. The SEs all now seem to allow anyone to BUY thier way to the top of what was once a simple assit to users, researchers, buyers and sellers. Now the porn industry and others with more money than @#$5%6 think they own the web.

If you can not spend piles of money or time to learn to do all this crap your self we seem to fall farther and farther back in the results screens. If we show up at all.

May be we should throw out the dictionary and the phone books and just let those with lots of money get thier listings in. Maybe those that are willing to keep cheating right over the edge of the systemare the ethical ones! You all know what that means!

Sorry for the rant but so many of us legit site owners are very mad aboout this. We just would like a clear playing feild. We do not like an encyclopedia that has been re-writen by those with all the mone. We just want to sell good products at fair prices to people that can find us when they type in our keywords. Maybe not something created to just steal away customers by any means possible!!!

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by kre8tor

We just want to sell good products at fair prices to people that can find us when they type in our keywords.

Sell all the products you want, Google is not stopping you.

Originally Posted by kre8tor

Maybe not something created to just steal away customers by any means possible!!!

Google is also not stealing away customers from you. You can buy placements on AdWords if you want and Google can rank who they want, wherever they want. They owe us nothing. You would just hope that would provide better results to public, which they are having troubles with now, but oh well.

[Cyrus255]

Originally Posted by amabaie

That's the nature of forums such as these. Webmasters talking to other webmasters and before you know it they all have each other convinced that the whole world will act as they do.

As long as all of our collective minds focus onto that belief it will become so!

The self-fulfilling prophecy. Reality is just a manifestation of belief! Though anti-belief is just as strong...

So Google should be careful with forums like these. If public opinion is swayed too much, that could be the dent that destroys Google as well.

[Cyrus255]

Originally Posted by kre8tor

I find all this discussion on Google loosing ground to be very funny! This may be blasphemy(sp) but the only one loosing ground her for real is the small honest site/business person. The SEs all now seem to allow anyone to BUY thier way to the top of what was once a simple assit to users, researchers, buyers and sellers.

I really have to disagree with you there.

I think the ODP, for example is one of the most corrupt places around, and ALL would benefit if it was a paid system like Yahoo's Directory.

It weeds out the poor leechers, puts a RISK factor for spammers, abusive editors, etc.

And by cutting out those spammers, creates a quicker turn around time for honest, high-quality websites.

[mantawebsolutions]

many views have so far been shared, but in my mind Google still delivers (for most of my client sites) the most clicks back from any SE, in fact the ratio is at least 60% in favor of Google.

incrediblehelp wrote: I understand that Google is my highest priority for my clients

This is a fact, Google will remain "Top of Mind" in the minds of most website owners for many more years.

We still have a long way to go in terms of search and this is just the beginning. Google, MSN and Yahoo will always be competitors trying to outsmart, outlast and outwit [ :) ] the other, so we will continue to see changes and inconsistent results.

My personal point of view is that Google is taking the most risks at this stage in testing, changing and updating their DB and the way they index sites. The result being that many feathers are ruffled and guess what..., google is on the lips of everyone every few months. I'd say this is an excellent way to do get people back to Google search.

[arura]

Google has got into bed with China and censors searches to do with the cause of Tibet. Show NO LOVE FOR GOOGLE!!!!February 1, 2006


New York – Distraught and angry Tibetans and their supporters are calling for a mass break up with Google this Valentine’s Day, citing Google's new partnership with the Chinese Government, Google.cn. Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) launched the website NoLuv4Google.com in order to help people navigate the tricky waters of this massive life change, as well as to provide an outlet for widespread anger and grief. SFT is also coordinating protests at Google’s offices worldwide on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, to help channel users’ emotions and, according to the organizers, “to provide closure.”

"It hasn’t been easy but we’re strong and we’re moving on," said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “For five years, I had a meaningful relationship with Google but now they’ve betrayed me. They’ve betrayed all of us and now we’re saying: it’s either us or the Chinese government.”

“It’s been the classic five stages for me, except backwards.” said Han-shan, an Action Coordinator with Students for a Free Tibet. “It started with acceptance that they were just like any other greedy corporation. Now I’m kind of stuck in shock and outrage. Google, I can’t believe you let the Chinese government change you. It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.”

Other jilted users are urged to go to www.NoLuv4Google.com to seek counseling and advice on how to move on… and get even. There, you can post and read “Google Breakup Stories” including a testimonial from Tsering Lama of Vancouver, Canada. She writes, “Dear Google, if you think the Chinese Communist Party (we call them “CCP” for short) will be a good friend, take it from a Tibetan, you’re gravely mistaken. You’ll soon find them to be a fickle partner at best.” The website also provides support for Valentine’s Day demonstrations at Google offices worldwide.

Google launched a web search platform custom-built to the Chinese authorities' specifications that blocks access to and distorts information about Tibet, human rights, and other topics sensitive to Beijing. Google rivals, Yahoo! and Microsoft, have already cooperated with Chinese authorities. Last year, Yahoo! provided information that helped jail a Chinese dissident for ten years and last month Microsoft shut down a Chinese political blogger's site for "not complying with local law."

# # #

[bturner]

When my chess retail site was taken out from number 3 on google.co.uk mysteriously last November and popped back in at number 2 in early January (nicely missing the Christmas traffic and therefore having no option but to increase my already significant adwords costs) - I was full of 'Yeah, the G is is losing it's way, results irrelevant, just a matter of waiting for Yahoo to step up...'. After January it was more of.. 'Ahhh they aint so bad..., maybe it was me doing something on the site that triggered a penalty...'
The point is, that the rank losers in some update tend to think G is broken whilst the winners see it differently. I'll check back in Novemeber time!

BLOG Chess Sales, Chess Piece Design, Chess Retail

[eddster]

amabaie wrote:
That's the nature of forums such as these. Webmasters talking to other webmasters and before you know it they all have each other convinced that the whole world will act as they do.

Spot on. A telling fact is that I had to read this thread all the way through to half way down page 2 before anyone made this point. I was beginning to think I was going to have to write it myself.

Remember people, whatever problems you are having getting your sites ranked or not by the search engines is irrlevant to the average surfer looking for an online shop to buy a new duvet for their bed. They don't know all this, and they certainly won't be reading this discussion and have their opinion swayed.

They open their search page of choice, they type in the term, they go to the relevant sites that pop up. Just because your site doesn't appear above "Big Bad Rons Big Bad Bed shop" doesn't make the user think the search engine is crap. They just buy from "Big Ron" and not you.

I have never met or spoken to a user who has said that they will no longer use search engine A because a group of web designers in a forum are complaining about the search results so will therefore use search engine B instead. Have any of you? (rhetorical question)

Big Bad Ron is a fictional character and any similarity to persons living or otherwise, etc, etc, etc.... oh, and his bed shop is fictional too....

[p.cottam]

Google will be the leader for some time yet, the term Google it is everywhere including in films and TV but for those of us in the know who use the internet for our chosen profession are seeing that Google's results are no longer as good as they used to be

You now often click on search result from google that goes to a link page or some non descript search engine link page , this never used to happen , i find myself now using Yahoo much more than i have done for very long time

There was a time when i could rely on Google to find me the info i wanted straight away but now i am find i have to use Yahoo and MSN for a more accurate result in 30% of my searches

[pagetta]

As a webmaster I would agree that Google is losing its way, webmasters have to regularly respond to its strange quirks, and yet results are not improving despite these constant changes that we see.

MSN update regularly and their results seem to be improving but they don't offer an all over package - I still use the goog for searches but yahoo is definitely my secondary engine because of its complete package. The results may not be the most spot-on, but with yahoo answers and the like, their facility for finding information is great.

However if you consider the general 'jo blow' internet user, who doesn't follow SE news, who doesn't hear murmerings about google, I think that google is still a clear leader. Our SERPS have been consistently high over the last 18 months, however compared to this time last year, the percentage of traffic we get from google has risen from an average of 78% to an average of 85%. Google is undeniably still a market leader amongst the general 'non-webmaster' public.

I don't think we will see google sliding down from that top spot for some time yet, and much as it pains us, as webmasters we have to respond to that.

Sorry this is not so eloquently written, I know a lot of you guys have been doing this for years and can see patterns and changes in SEs that newer SEOs here may not. All these posts are so helpful, I just wanted to give my thoughts after doing this for around 18 months now. It is interesting to see how google's popularity has dropped so rapidly in the last 6 months!

[garyb108]

Interesting variety of viewpoints about Google. I can tell one thing for SURE, and that is that Google has lost me as a paying customer. I used Overture...now Yahoo for 5 years and recently got upset about the outrageous cost of pay per click and thought I would give Google a try. Much to my dismay, Google was WORSE. For a couple of reasons: Number 1, they don't allow you to see what your competitors are bidding...therefore it is BLIND bidding. Have to GUESS to be ahead. Number 2, their method of bidding on keywords is so confusing that you have to be Einstein to figure it all out. Long story short....Google SUCKS in my opinion with their "adwords". And I also think they suck in the free listings too. They come up with so many "dis-related" searches and absolutely non-sequitor listings. AND Google did not get sued for no reason for "click fraud". I for one will stay away from Google like the plague! I really don't care if they are considered number one or not. IF they are, they won't be for long. They have committed too many sins and therefore will bite the bullet. What goes around comes around. Right? At least in Yahoo if you are going to bid on keywords, you can see EXACTLY what others are bidding and know EXACTLY how much you are spending. In Google, it's literally a "gamble". By the way, I wrote to Google with a complaint about the above and I got back the most insane answer, which was as long as a book and made no sense whatsoever. Basically it was a "justification" for ripping people off. One short quote from the answer I got was "Please note that as mentioned in my previous email, you may use our Traffic Estimator tool, which will give you an idea of what the
competitive CPC bids are for your keywords." EXCUSE ME? I don't want an IDEA or and ESTIMATOR, I want to know EXACTLY! Just like Yahoo tells me. So go figure Google.

[justicewhite]

I have the feeling that G lost its attraction to the SEOs due to its recent unpredictable beahviour, however the public is still using G as their main search engine.

I think we need more competition from MSN, Y and other engines.

Monopolies are never a good idea!!!

[jmdlister]

I've been an interested member of this forum for some time now, but this is the first time I've posted...

When I first set up my own site a couple of years ago, it initially did very well on most SE's, but after one of Google's major "upgrades" I fell from page 1 to absolutely nowhere. I know this is a common story, but it started me thinking, and I looked in more detail at the search results ahead of mine. For most search terms relevant to my site (e.g. handbuilt classical guitars), a large percentage of the results above mine were completely unrelated to the search terms. I reasoned that if this was happening to me, then it must be happening for many other sites/search terms. That is why I no longer use Google for general searches (I use MSN or Yahoo).

After much work I've recovered my position somewhat on Google, but I don't really trust it. However, the rest of the world still seems pretty hooked to me...

[dr-tourist]

When was the last time you heard a layman use the term "search"? I haven't heard it in years. . . .. the new verb is "google". . .. .hard to lose when your brand is now the term people use to describe search.

When was the last time I bought band aids by any other brand?

Originally Posted by freetraff

You can agree or dispute it, but more and more people lose faith in the quality of Google's searches. Posts in many forums speak as the best prove for it.

This wave of losing faith started with webmasters who were the first to notice strange behaviour.

Then site owners who often don't have much technical talents but who pay money to get better exposure for their sites in Google.

I think soon this might come down to simple searchers who use Google as the best searching mechanism in the world - AND LOSING SEARCHERS IS A THREAT for Google as business.

Take part in the poll to share your opinion on this problem.