Websites to Google: 'You're killing our business!'
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Google made one of the biggest changes ever to its search results this week, which immediately had a noticeable effect on many Web properties that rely on the world's biggest search engine to drive traffic to their sites.
The major tweak aims to move better quality content to the top of Google's search rankings. The changes will affect 12% Google's results, the company said in a blog post late Thursday.
"Our goal is simple: to give users the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible," said Gabriel Stricker, Google spokesman. "This requires constant tuning of our algorithms, as new content -- both good and bad -- comes online all the time. Recently we've heard from our users that they want to see fewer low quality sites in our results."
Typically, Google's algorithm changes are so subtle that few people notice them. But these most recent changes could be seen immediately.
How to test the change:
The IP address 64.233.179.104 displays Google search results as they would have appeared before the recent algorithm change, according to several webmasters posting to the WebmasterWorld.com forum.
Google would not confirm that IP address uses the older algorithm, but comparing searches of trending topics on google.com with searches using the special Google IP address reveals how the search engine now seems to be favoring certain content.
The changes appear to be affecting so-called "content farms" the most, which are websites that amass content based on the most-searched terms of the day. Demand Media, AOL, Mahalo and the Huffington Post have all been accused of such tactics, including a notable "story" from HuffPo about the Super Bowl that Slate.com media critic Jack Shafer called "the greatest example of SEO whoring of all time."
Tests using trending topics show Google's tweaks in action.
The current top Google result for a search of Charlie Sheen rant target "Haim Levine" is a New York Daily News page, followed by a story from gossipcop.com. The old algorithm would have featured two Huffington Post stories at the top, with the New York Daily News story not appearing appear until the second results page.
A controversial decision: Any change to Google's algorithm is a zero-sum game. Some websites win, some lose.
Comments from site operators lit up on the WebmasterWorld.com forum starting on Wednesday. Many webmasters complained that traffic to their sites dropped dramatically overnight, and others expressed concern that they can't adapt quickly enough to Google's changes to its algorithm.
"Why is it that every single time the search engine result page starts to stabilize and sales return, Google has to throw a monkey wrench in the system again?" asked commenter backdraft7. "Hey Google, this is not fun anymore - YOU'RE KILLING OUR BUSINESSES!"
"My God. I just lost 40% of my traffic from Google today," said commenter DickBaker. "Referrals from Yahoo, Bing, direct sources, and other sources are the same, but Google dropped like a rock."
There are many legitimate ways content creators optimize their sites to rise to the top of Google's results. But Google has been cracking down on what it regards as inappropriate attempts to do so: The company recently penalized Overstock.com and JC Penney in its search results after the companies were found to have set up fake websites that linked to their own, causing Google's algorithm to rank them higher.
When it comes to site content, the lines get very fuzzy. Operators like Demand Media (DMD) -- which now has a market valuation of $1.9 billion, more than the New York Times Co. is worth -- sit right on the ever-shifting boundaries.
"Sites of this type have always been controversial," said Daniel Ruby, research director at Chitika, Inc. a search advertising analytics company. "On one hand, they often do produce extremely informative, well-written articles. On the other hand, they put out countless articles on a daily basis, and some claim they exist only to generate the top result on as many keywords as possible."
Demand put out a very carefully worded response to Google's changes.
"As might be expected, a content library as diverse as ours saw some content go up and some go down in Google search results," Larry Fitzgibbon, the company's executive vice president of media and operations, wrote in a blog post. "It's impossible to speculate how these or any changes made by Google impact any online business in the long term -- but at this point in time, we haven't seen a material net impact."
So will Google's changes have a lasting effect on search quality? Perhaps. But it's an arms race: Any time the company adjusts its algorithms, those determined to beat them immediately adjust.
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Site Rankings Drop as Google Changes Algorithm
February 26, 2011
In an attempt to thwart content farms, Google has changed its search algorithm. As sites across the board suffer, the media wonders why they did it.
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BY STEPHANIE STOUFFER
You're watching multisource business news analysis from Newsy
If you’ve seen some changes in your Google searches recently, you weren’t imagining it. Google made some big changes to its algorithms. The search engine giant is trying to push up high quality content and according to CNET, declared war on content farms.
Tech analysts are saying right now it might be too soon to tell the extent of the changes, but Google says in a blog post that close to 12% of searches will be effected. For those websites that will ultimately be pushed down in search rankings -- those so-called content farms -- Google says, it’s just the way it works.
“We can’t make a major improvement without affecting rankings for many sites. It has to be that some sites will go up and some will go down. Google depends on the high-quality content created by wonderful websites around the world, and we do have a responsibility to encourage a healthy web ecosystem.”
Content farms like eHow that publish content and links from other sites to increase Google rankings are said to be the target of the changes. But other companies are being affected. More than 500 angry site owners have spoken out in a forum on WebMasterWorld.
FalsePositive writes “I was hit with a 50% traffic drop. I built my business from the ground up, and now it's demolished.”
And FredOPC says, “Our rankings generally dropped 5-20 positions across the board. What has replaced us is larger sites with general information, rather than the niche, detailed information we provide.”
A writer for TechCrunch is convinced this change isn’t just for better search results. He argues this could be a PR move and Google’s way of saying they’re still on top in the search game.
“There’s a feeling that Google’s algorithm is falling further and further behind ... It’s an arms race, and Google is losing that arms race … Google hides behind their mighty and mysterious search algorithm. If good search was as easy as analyzing simple clicks of a mouse on a web page, all the magic could vaporize.”
And CNET agrees -- pointing out the role Facebook has in this battle of the tech companies.
“With pressure from the 'social search' trend fueled by Facebook's success and from search rival Bing inching up in market share, this decision may be more pressing for Google than it appears at first glance.”
But AdWeek says Google is just simply recognizing a problem and figuring out a way to fix it.
“Google is finally admitting it's got a quality problem, and the Web giant is doing something about it. Essentially, it's dropping the hammer on content farms.”
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