Google Content Farm Penalty good for link directories?

With the recent penalty on content farms like Ezine Articles and Squidoo, I have to wonder if SEO companies are going to shift their tactics. It seems apparent that google is devaluing content that has been produced with low quality in mind such as through hiring writers that have no knowledge of the topics to mass produce articles or even article spinning.

That may mean that there will be a shift away from article directories and more over to link directories. Any thoughts?

 

I've never liked the whole concept of articles directories because they are built around promoting and distributing duplicate content. Some of the articles I've seen have been used by hundreds or even thousands of sites. How could Google's indexing the same information 280 times, even if it appears on different sites, increase their user's experience?

I think this is good for quality link directories and the beginning of the end for the weak ones. But, it should also be a warning for everyone to up their game.

• The multi-site, single database directory networks should be worried that they will be targeted.
  
• The directories that don't ensure that they have at least semi-unique descriptions should also be worried.
  
• Directory owners should be careful to not find themselves linking to sites that are exclusively using duplicate content and RSS feeds. I would strongly urge owners/editors to spot check 2-3 articles on each site by searching for oddly worded or highly detailed sentences in Google to see if they appear elsewhere. I realize as a niche directory owner, that's much easier for me than it is for general directory owners but it would seem a logical next step that if a target content farm or otherwise low-quality site is penalized, sites linking to it are going to take a hit too.

As a writer and a directory owner, I'm excited about these changes. I never thought Google would actually do this as I expect it will negatively impact Adsense, at least for the short term.

 

I think it has yet to filter out worldwide, so I haven't noticed any changes. But Incredibill is already calling it the "Update Massacre" because of its impact on directories.

These updates always promise much, but there's always collateral damage and genuinely poor content slipping through still, so it remains to be seen. I don't think it will be as good as Google wants it to be. But another question is, do they consider directories of any kind to be a sort of content farm? I can see why they wouldn't want article directories in the SERPs. But how do they view a site that's just a categorised list of links, no matter how well categorised, carefully chosen and described?

 

I don't think google considers quality directories as content farms. Lower quality directories will be full of duplicate content simply because webmasters submitting to them have a tendency to copy and paste their description across several directories. As a result, they'll probably get hit pretty hard. High quality directories take time to review the site, the link text, and the description before accepting submissions. Thus reducing the amount of duplicate content so they'll probably be o.k.

One more thing, I think that Google actually likes good quality directories simply because they can use them to help their algo figure out which sites are in which niche.

 

google = confusing, i hate with their new algorithm

 

I've gone through all my sites and I don't see any significant changes to directory traffic. I do see maybe a slight increase in traffic to my forums (I have several).

 

it's an inevitable result for a n duplicate content site, right?

 

I got smashed by google, but I was running a blog which heavily featured other people's art and toys. I since noindexed the blog and redid all the unique content and made that closer to the full focus of the website.

I'd imagine directories will be hit for sure, but mainly b/c of duplicate content issues.

 

Google has always said they liked some directories because they were human edited (Yahoo Directory, BOTW.org). It was interesting that business.com took a big serp hit during this past update.
Remember one thing though, these sites got bumped down in SERPS...not deindexed.
Anyway, if Google penalized directories with authority, there would be no human factor in their algo at all

 

I don't see any evidence of this yet with the exception of article directories. As I understand it, the changes in the algorithm have already been applied, so the traffic changes would have already taken place.

 

If other types of websites are demoted, then the RELATIVE VALUE of links from directories will increase. That would make directory listings more valuable.

 

Well said. That exactly the point I was trying to make.

 

Does Google actually know if something is a link directory or article directory?
And if content in a particular article directory is unique and everything is fine with it why it should be penalized?

 

Hold up. Are you saying that ezinearticles.com got penalized by Google, and judged as being a content farm?

 

Yes, they did. Huge decrease in traffic.

 

Directories are nothing more, or should be nothing more than list of useful sites, manually edited, selected sites where the value of the directory is determined by the integrity of the directory master. And if there were enough people with an incentive to work to that simple formula we would be working in an industry that has not only a purpose but one with a future. Have we started turning the corner?

The internet, as did Google, had humble beginnings. Individuals that wanted to build one at a time. They recognised the power of one then and it is still the single most important force driving everything that happens on the web. Links are what powers the web and directories always have been and always will be a useful resource.

 

I agree with Khanter. Manually edited directories are (of course) the best way to go. Google above everything else seems to value credibility of content and it's webmaster's integrity over everything else. It could be a lot worse.

 

There are still directories out there that are carefully edited for quality and make thousands per month. The problem is most people don't realize the work required and just wait for submissions, and don't both editing titles and descriptions of those submissions.

 

You mean editorial integrity?



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