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Google's "Don't be evil" as motivator to fight SEO

Discussion in 'Google' started by Jeffr2014, Mar 28, 2014.

  1. #1
    I recently read that Google's Eric Schmidt called famous "Don't be evil" motto "the stupidest rule ever". Well, he is wrong, this was the smartest thing Sergey and Larry ever did... Companies around the globe spend billions to motivate and retain employees. Yet, with "Don't be evil" motto Google got an army of geeks honestly believing that they are fighting for the "purity of the Internet" against evil SEO crowd. Nothing motivates people as seeing high purpose in their work, many of us will work for free for a good cause. Yet, Google employees are totally oblivious to the fact that their efforts are only to fight any competition to AdWords and AdSense, prevent the raise of competition, and to make profits to Google investors.

    Step by step, update by update Google eliminates all possible loopholes to improve SERP or to change established status quo that is based on Google's dominance. It is becoming a software empire with powers that Microsoft never had. Unfortunately, unlike it was the case with Microsoft, nobody can challenge Google's monopoly in court: among the companies who can afford such a lawsuit there are simply no one who would risk conflict with Google these days.

    Class action lawsuit, anyone? :D
     
    Jeffr2014, Mar 28, 2014 IP
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  2. wisdomtool

    wisdomtool Moderator Staff

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    #2
    When an end user goes to Google to search, he or she wants the best results and not those artificially inflated high ranking sites that are there due to SEO. I support Google stance. As an end user I want to search for something valid and useful. There are too many grey or black hat SEOs out there that makes searching irritating.
     
    wisdomtool, Mar 28, 2014 IP
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  3. Jeffr2014

    Jeffr2014 Active Member

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    #3
    Apparently, Google's motto motivates not only their employees :)

    Well, don't you see sponsored (AdWords) results being on the top of the page and gradually (over the past 3 years) these have become more and more inconspicuous? When SEO and IM is dead, everyone will have to fight for these positions and, in the near future, you will see first few pages of Google search becoming sponsored links only. So it will be not about "valid and useful" but about who has more money to pay. Just think about all the opportunities to manipulate public opinion...

    Trust me, I like internet junk no more than you do, but having a single company (whose main goal is to make profit for shareholders) police the internet is not in our best interests... Here, you act as moderator for DP, but who will moderate Google?
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2014
    Jeffr2014, Mar 28, 2014 IP
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  4. wisdomtool

    wisdomtool Moderator Staff

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    #4
    I agree, Google's monopoly is something that should be dismantled so as to give room for other players. At this point, it is near impossible for any other search engine to put up a good fight with Google. I longed for the days of Infoseek, Altavista etc where each have their own relevancy. At least publishers or advertisers can have more choices too.
     
    wisdomtool, Mar 28, 2014 IP
  5. Jim4767

    Jim4767 Prominent Member

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    #5
    Very well said, wisdomtool. Some posters seem to think that Google is in business to cater to webmasters.

    The internet public will moderate Google. They will do this by choosing to use what they believe is the best search engine. If Bing or some other search engine begins to show the internet public that they offer better search results, then those surfers will switch over to Bing (or whoever). Google does not own any internet users. They have to keep them loyal by providing the best results. If they begin to fail at that, others will take their place.

    And by the way, Google is not a monopoly. I get more organic traffic from Bing than from Google.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 29, 2014
    Jim4767, Mar 28, 2014 IP
  6. Jeffr2014

    Jeffr2014 Active Member

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    #6
    I am really surprised that you get more organic traffic from Bing than from Google, it is an anomaly. My sites get 5-6 times more traffic from Google and it corresponds with general picture on the internet (as reported by comScore in Dec 2013):
    http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2014/1/comScore_Releases_December_2013_US_Search_Engine_Rankings

    I don't think Bing will catch up with Google, there are few reasons to that:
    1. Bing comes pre-installed on many new laptops and mobile devices (through agreements with OEMs), yet vast majority of users quickly change default search engine to Google
    2. Google is at least a couple of years ahead from Microsoft in context-aware and semantic-enabled search, Hummingbird is just a very first step in this direction.
    3. Google is way ahead of Microsoft in AI research, which will empower future search engines. Apple screwed up with SIRI (due to fundamental flaws in deployment topology), but Google learned their lesson from this and doing it right.

    As for the new entrants, well I don't think they have any chances as long as Google controls the doors to entrance. I had high hopes for Wolfram Alpha - when they presented their ideas in my lab in 2008, the ambition was to build a search engine that would rely on factual information database (for questions like "what's the distance to Jupiter?") and Wikipedia-like crowdsourced moderation (vote-based by hired industry experts: re 100+ most established sites in each subject area) for general internet content. This ambition never materialized, they ended as a niche player in answer engines space.
     
    Jeffr2014, Mar 29, 2014 IP
  7. Jim4767

    Jim4767 Prominent Member

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    #7
    Jeffr, I appreciate your detailed reply. Just FYI, my Google organic traffic was way ahead of Bing until Penguin and Panda. I lost a lot of Google organic traffic with the algorithmic changes. I always intend that my SEO be 100% white-hat. But I think my (former, now changed) link profile was skewed too much in favor of lots of worthless directory links, too much social bookmarking, and a lot of internal footer links (which I had innocently put in, not realizing that they would eventually be considered spammy by Google).
     
    Jim4767, Mar 29, 2014 IP
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  8. Jeffr2014

    Jeffr2014 Active Member

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    #8
    Sorry to hear that. I'm also trying to use white-hat whenever possible, but I got really pissed off with Google two weeks ago when received manual action for my non-profit, advertising-free site, that I was maintaining at my own time and expense and viewed this as my "contribution to society". I was "punished' there for allowing dofollow links in blog posts received from MyBlogGuest early last year. While I discontinued guest blogging for over 6 months, the links remained and Google treated it as "unnatural outbound links profile". Despite loosing PR (from 4 to zero) overnight, so far I haven't seen any drop in organic traffic from Google or in SERP standing... Will wait and see.
     
    Jeffr2014, Mar 29, 2014 IP
  9. Rado_ch

    Rado_ch Well-Known Member

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    #9
    That sounds strangely familiar to something Google launched pretty recently...oh wait, it is - the Hummingbird algorithm :)

    Pity that Wolfram didn't make it, but that just goes to show that a great idea is one thing, its realization is a whole other deal.
     
    Rado_ch, Mar 29, 2014 IP
  10. Foxxy

    Foxxy Active Member

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    #10
    You're right, they are not a "monopoly" by definition. However, they routinely engage in business practices that limit a free market. They are the very definition of a company that should have an anti-trust suit filed against them, but it will never happen since they are in bed with the government.
     
    Foxxy, Mar 29, 2014 IP
  11. Jim4767

    Jim4767 Prominent Member

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    #11
    I would be interested in hearing what specific antitrust laws DP posters believe Google is violating.
     
    Jim4767, Mar 30, 2014 IP
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  12. Jeffr2014

    Jeffr2014 Active Member

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    #12
    Restrictive practices and oligopoly just to name the few. Here is from the Sherman act of 1890: "Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony..." Just try searching for search engine and you'll see that their closest competitor Bing shows up at the bottom of 2nd page in Google results.
     
    Jeffr2014, Mar 30, 2014 IP
  13. Foxxy

    Foxxy Active Member

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    #13
    Why would you need my opinion on what anti-trust laws were broken? The Federal Trade Commission completed a 20 month investigation into their business practices, the results of which are a matter of public record. If you are genuinely interested, I suggest you start there. The end result of the investigation was that they routinely engaged in unfair business practices that were designed specifically to thwart any competition from forming in the market. They were let off the hook without so much as a fine simply because they promised to change their policies, but no such changes were ever made, meaning they are still actively engaged in the same practices that the FTC ordered them to stop.

    Bottom line is that they work closely with defense contractors, they provide your information to the NSA, and they have implemented behavior tracking (and predicting) technologies that our government makes use of, and for that reason no one will force them to bring their business practices into alignment with the law.

    Think of the federal case that was made against Microsoft, and for what? Just because profits from their gaming division could prop up their software division during a slump in the market (or visa versa)? They were nowhere near the same level as Google in their infractions and we made a federal case of it, literally. It's like one guy getting jailed for stealing a slice of bread, while the next guy gets away with stealing a truck load just because he promises to not do it again (as he drives off in another bread truck).
     
    Last edited: Mar 30, 2014
    Foxxy, Mar 30, 2014 IP
  14. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #14
    Wasn't it Steve Jobs who said that if he could, he'd spend $50 bn of Apple's money to destroy Google? Apple and FB are the only two companies that could put a chink in Google's armor, but they are not stupid to go to full blown war with the foe who's smart and more powerful.
     
    qwikad.com, Mar 30, 2014 IP
  15. Foxxy

    Foxxy Active Member

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    #15
    Maybe, but they all take their swings at each other. Google is in Apple's face big time with the Android OS, and Facebook quietly adds clout to the Bing search engine, which I'm sure Google doesn't like.
     
    Foxxy, Mar 30, 2014 IP
  16. Jim4767

    Jim4767 Prominent Member

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    #16
    This is for me an interesting thread. I've enjoyed reading many of the comments.

    The real power over Google resides in us, their customers. And I mean all net surfers, not just webmasters. Speaking hypothetically, if 100% of us abandoned Google for other search providers, Google would fold as a search engine. Never underestimate the power of the consumer.

    That said, I still personally prefer Google's search results, so I continue to use them — as do most of DP posters. So I guess it's we who are empowering Google!
     
    Jim4767, Mar 31, 2014 IP
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  17. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #17
    I highly doubt that that's ever going to happen. However, the first two-three free results on each page will be taken by paid ads too (I don't think it will have anything to do with AdWords, though). Users won't even know that those are paid results. Don't remember where I read it, but it all sounded legit.
     
    qwikad.com, Mar 31, 2014 IP
  18. Jeffr2014

    Jeffr2014 Active Member

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    #18
    Will be taken? Isn't it exactly what happens now with AdWords??? For most Google searches you get paid ads (via AdWords) on the first search 4-5 pages.
     
    Jeffr2014, Mar 31, 2014 IP
  19. qwikad.com

    qwikad.com Illustrious Member Affiliate Manager

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    #19
    You didn't read my post well, I think. Where I have the red line is also where the paid ads will be. They'll look like all other free listings. Supposedly, it will be an advertising space for large corps.

    1.gif

    But again, it could be just speculations. That theory didn't originate with me. So, we'll see.
     
    qwikad.com, Mar 31, 2014 IP
  20. Jeffr2014

    Jeffr2014 Active Member

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    #20
    Ok, thanks. Now I got it... Hopefully, it is just speculations though.
     
    Jeffr2014, Mar 31, 2014 IP