Has anyone else noticed a lot of ads at the top of the SERPs recently in your niche? I know that Google has been doing this for a while, but it seemed they only did it in certain niches. Now it seems they're doing it in a lot more. I have two completely unrelated niches that this started happening to recently. In one, I have the #1 ranking for a top keyword. When my traffic started to die off, I thought maybe I had fallen out of the #1 spot and so I went to check it. It seemed that two ADS were now above me. Is this a trend all over? Anyone know what the deal is? Is Google trying to make up for some quarterly projections or something? Should we expect this to last? Will the whole first page eventually become all ads? Is Google evil? ... It sucks to try to build something of value up only to have it undercut by greed. Stuff like this really takes the motivation out of you.
I've not noticed it TBH.. i'm #1 for a very competative keyword and i've not been overtaken by adverts yet... PS, love the name, seeing them on the 23rd!!
Ive seen this happening more and more, i guess the ones to blame are the greedy shareholders. I cant really see any solution
Well, it's their search engine and they can even put porn pic in the page if they wish...who the hell are we?
I think maybe you're talking about "trivium" - who I didn't even know existed till I just looked them up. My spelling is different and has nothing to do with them, I'm afraid.
Yep...but we as individuals aren't much significant in the eyes of the big G. People should stop complaining with things like this...they are there to make profit...aren't they?
how do companies get those ads there? I never saw any mentioning of how Google accepts sponsors for them.
Yahoo has 4 ads on their search engine near the top of the results..... Google needs to compete... I think we will see more of this, but as long as their natural results stay top quality like we are all used to them being, it's just something we have to deal with...... So far it hasn't gotten that bad yet...... But I could see it becoming an issue soon as it becomes necessary for them....
Yep number one is actually number three. Not much you can do unless you start your own search engine.
I don't begrudge them trying to make a profit. I'm trying to do the same, and they're helping me. But Google is smart enough to know they need to achieve a balance. They do things all the time that are "bad" for their bottom line in the short run because they know that in the long run it will be better for their bottom line. If webmasters start becoming discouraged because they can't be sufficiently rewarded for their efforts, then that will be bad for Google in the long run. I "complain" because it's important that they know they're affecting me in a negative way - a way in which I believe will be bad for them in the long run as well. Certainly Google is famous for not seeming to give shet about webmasters, and they have been trying to get better about this, but things like this set all that back a few steps in my opinion. Google's day is coming where they had better start listening to the "complaints." It may not come soon, but it is surely coming. That's simply the way business works these days.
I noticed this for one of my niche site. Basically I used to be on the top for my url (split in to words) And they are showing one site above me and that site is not as good as my site. But that site has PR5 and my site is PR3 so, I thought they are coming ahead of me for the PR difference. Looks like big G is too bad a search engine. note: I am still on the top on MSN and Yahooooooo but I still get more visitors from G Don't know what to say.
lol, its called competition. it happens every day on the net and daily life, you the small man owning a corner shop go out os business when chain store opens beside you. There is nothing you can do about it except build a reliable user base who come back to your site again and again. I guess you have to keep yourself 1 step ahead of the competitor by having quality user friendly site and contents and keep it uptodate. The internet is just beginning to become competitive, in the next decade or so its going to get much more competitive than it is now with much more bigger players and huge ads budgets.
One phrase I'm number 1 for in google.co.uk now has three ads and two entries for 'product search results' (looks like places to buy it) ALL ABOVE MY SITE. There's only space 'above the fold' for two genuine search engine results - my site and one other.
Unfortunately, I would agree. The internet, which was supposed to be the great "equalizer," now seems to be reverting back to the old ways of "only the big boys can play." ... Of course that's an overstatement, and it will never go back to the way it was, but things like this small move by Google point in that direction. I don't think that can be denied.
As a Google shareholder, I think it's great. They are trading at 50x projected earnings. If they are going to be trading at near $500, they better be doing things to justify the price. More ads = $$$
As a shareholder, you want GROWTH in a stock. If the company will not grow, then why bother investing in it? It has nothing to do with greed, but common sense. I take it you don't own stocks.