Google Changes: For Google Profit or Better User Experience?

[webgeek]

We're all seeing regular roll-outs of Google changing the algorithm for this reason and that reason, with an almost complete scrambling of the top 10 results each time.

I personally believe sentiment is shifting, but would like to poll your opinion on this, and if there's not too much noise in the thread, we might be able to collate the results.

Do you believe the rash of Google algorithm changes is because:
A) Google wants to give the best possible search experience for users? or
B) Google wants to use the unpredictable results to sell more Adwords Pay per Click?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I would say it is a third, and that is Google are preparing the way for their own properties. they have launched their insurance vertical now, they also have the holiday vertiscal, next year they launch their paid product advertising platform, and I believe their aim is to have ALL purchase related search, to result in a Google purchase.

 

[Mystro]

B for me I wrote about this back in February, there is no logical sense to have these many changes apart from profit, they see a niche which some company's dominate, some deserve to then they take that company away and replace with garbage or unrelated sites.

and when i mean changes i am not talking about the general updates for the good, im talking about over optimisation penaltys, (this is like docking a professional a wage because he trained hard to be the best he possible could) and the unnatural links, Google are way to smart to just discount these elements they decided to demote and force the companys to use adwords for a profit

Fair play Google needs to do something to get rid of some the the crap in their index however i feel they are using this for a profit

 

[ChoosyReviews]

No matter what their aims are and how 'noble' their cause - they are always going to have a conflict of interests. Much the same as councils and 'safety' cameras - a great stated cause but can never win over all public opinion while they benefit from fines.

I personally believe there is a moneymaking influence in fighting spam, not only 'purer' results.

 

[Carboy]

Google have got a great product and they are optimising the profit opportunity which is their prerogative, as somone pointed out the other day Google is a free service so why should people complain ?

Its frustrating but if they say jump (or dance ) you just say how high ..........Or use Yahoo !

 

[Ali-v-8]

Google are making way for their latest product which IMO will be targeting the push on nexus phones. IP tagging and custom searches using you location to show local advertisers will be the next step - Oh hold on they have already started (silly me).

 

[fisicx]

Maybe it's me but I still still get great results for the searches I make.

This morning I was looking for water butts and guttering and everything was fine and dandy.

So my user experience hasn't really changed.

PS: trying to get the answer to a tricky php problem wasn't so good but that's because nobody has come up with a good solution yet...

 

[Baz Watkins]

Google is a business...so everything it does is to their own financial profit. If you remember way back, they were the company that grew big by not having pages littered with advertising, we bought in to it, and they built a income generating model around that.

Google are leading us where they want us to go, they will say its for our benefit, but its all about the money boiiiii...

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Google are making way for their latest product which IMO will be targeting the push on nexus phones. IP tagging and custom searches using you location to show local advertisers will be the next step - Oh hold on they have already started (silly me).

I shelved a few projects because I just know that Google will move into the market and push my products out, so there was little point.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Our IVITV product is in launch phase already - but Googles move into the mobile market has help considerably.

 

[360interactive]

Google have got a great product and they are optimising the profit opportunity which is their prerogative, as somone pointed out the other day Google is a free service so why should people complain ?

Its frustrating but if they say jump (or dance ) you just say how high ..........Or use Yahoo !

I think Google has grown to a level whereby so many people rely on it for their business it simply isn't a case of 'it's a free service, they can do what they want' anymore.

Think how many millions of businesses rely (rightly or wrongly) on google for their business? If google shut everything down tomorrow think how hard hit worldwide business would be? Think how many millions or billions would be lost while people recover and try and switch to the likes of Yahoo or Bing?

They are slowly creeping up on every online product. Will we get to the point whereby Google control the internet? Every online purchase is made through Google? It's a scary thought.

I'm not saying that when a business gets to a certain size it warrants intervention, but how far does a company have to go? I don't think Google is there yet, but what about 5-10 years time?

 

[fisicx]

I think Google has grown to a level whereby so many people rely on it for their business it simply isn't a case of 'it's a free service, they can do what they want' anymore.

And that right there is where the argument falls down. If you are relying on one source of traffic then your business plan is very flawed.

 

[360interactive]

And that right there is where the argument falls down. If you are relying on one source of traffic then your business plan is very flawed.

You're missing the point, it's not about whether it's right or wrong to rely on them, it's that so many people do.

When they provide such a massive amount of web traffic and control such a huge part of the web, they hold a lot of responsibility. Does this mean they can do what they like as it's a 'free service'?

 

[steviemac]

we all contributed in making Google into the monster it is today. When we started using the term 'google it' , we all helped to turn it into a virtual search monopoly. Only ourselves to blame I guess.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

And that right there is where the argument falls down. If you are relying on one source of traffic then your business plan is very flawed.

Lets put something stright here. Google get away with bloody muder, they deliberately wrote a hacking programme and went around Europe hacking into peoples private networks and stealing personal data for heavens sake!

A guy gets into the Pentagon, tells them they have a vulnerability, and he is extradited to the US.

How about we put some perspective on this? Google have behaved like common criminals and are getting away with it.

They take content without permission and illegally from sites marked as being covered by copyright, They have stolen entire literary works and placed them online again breaching copyright laws, while at the same time saying they are going to remove sites from their index that breach copyright . Anyone else see the irony here?

Google do not provide a free service, they have a symiotic working relationship with internet site publishers. They leech off the works of others to build their advertising business upon. They are currently biting the hand that feeds them, and if EVERYONE were to block Googlebot from accessing their sites, Google would disappear.

OR

Would they simply crawl them illegally against the wishes of the site owner anyhow?

 

[fisicx]

Lets put something stright here. Google get away with bloody muder...

Agree with everything you say.

My point was that people have become too reliant on google's organic ranking for their traffic. A good business plan will have a range of marketing so if they do lose ranking they can continue to trade.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I agree. what Google have done is akin to the dealers giving out freebies to get people hooked, then turning the screw. I think that the authorities have to put a tight leashe on Google now. The governments don't understand the internet, they don't realise that if google went, commerce wouldn't die. in the same way as they herald Amazon expansion 'creating' jobs, when the reality is they are replacing people who were in businesses with low cost jobs.

 

[I, Brian]

I agree. what Google have done is akin to the dealers giving out freebies to get people hooked, then turning the screw. I think that the authorities have to put a tight leashe on Google now. The governments don't understand the internet, they don't realise that if google went, commerce wouldn't die. in the same way as they herald Amazon expansion 'creating' jobs, when the reality is they are replacing people who were in businesses with low cost jobs.

With the caveat that Google and Amazon are aggressively involved in tax avoidance.

The companies enjoy the benefits of trading in stable economies while contributing almost nothing to them.

And every time they expand their services, they put honest hard-working tax-paying individuals out of work.

 

[dynamic08]

Brian do you still do work for the Nationwide?

 

[I, Brian]

Brian do you still do work for the Nationwide?

No - my company was subcontracted, but later on fired the contractor for non-payment issues. The contractor then did a runner from HMRC. All good fun!

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

It's classic bait n switch when it comes to Google but we've got to remember that Google isn't the Internet (or more accurately the term should be the World Wide Web) and we must diversify and innovate in our businesses in order to survive and thrive.