Google Penalty World

Nathan Safran writes at Search Engine Watch:

"There have been numerous instances in the past where users have been up in arms about the latest Google change, insisting they were moving on to other search engines.

Panda, while painful for many publishers ultimately proved itself to improve search results relevancy.

Google Instant and Preview brought with them cries of "SEO is Dead!" and vows to move on to greener pastures. All the while the needle hasn't budged on Google's market share.

But what makes this time different is this is the first time the credibility of their core search results are being called into question.

Without question, social is an important part of how online users will consume and spread quality content.

But it has to be integrated in a manner that doesn't degrade core search functionality, or worse, sully searcher trust in what is still the most utilized search engine in the world.

Because this, more than anything Google's core competitors can do to them, could prove itself to be the tossed pebble that brings the mighty giant to its knees."

Interesting, informative. 8/10

Read the full article: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2141766/How-Google-Could-Threaten-Googles-Core-Search-Business 

(Curated by Robin Good)

John Battelle writes in his blog:

"Given that Google+ results are dominating so many SERPs these days, Google is clearly leveraging its power in search to build up Google+.

Unless a majority of people start turning SPYW (Search Plus Your World) off, or decide to search in a logged out way, Google has positioned Google+ as a sort of “mini Internet,” ..."

...“Google has decided that beating Facebook is worth selling their soul.”

...

"...If a large percentage of people are logged into Google and/or Google+ when they are searching for stuff, ...Google+ pages are going to rank well for those people.

Hence, I really have no choice but to play Google’s game, and tend to my Google+ page, be I a brand, a person, a small business…. are you getting the picture here?

If you decide to NOT play on Google+, you will, in essence, be devalued in Google search, at least for the percentage of people who are logged in whilst using Google."

Read the full article (and the comments below): http://battellemedia.com/archives/2012/01/our-google-conundrum.php

Excerpted from the article: "How much of an issue is this?

It's a seriously large issue, because it immediately limits what I see to a small subsection of my actual world.

I'm not seeing content from all my contacts, just those that Google chooses to show me.

If you think that there are anti-trust implications in this you would be right.

Only those contacts of mine who are active in Google+ are showing up, and this is one of the reasons why I have been encouraging people to get G+ accounts and to become active in that arena.

I don't like it, but Google is essentially doing its best to force everyone into that service. As long as Google remains the key search engine out there, and as long as we continue to use it, we're going to have to play by their rules.

Now, if this just hurt other social networks, I probably wouldn't have that much of an issue, but it doesn't, it hurts me. This is not a helpful service at all.

Now, you can argue that I'm making a fuss over nothing, since I can simply click on the world icon and see everything back to normal again.

That's true, but we've only got half the story so far.

What happens when I try and use Google without being logged into my account - when it doesn't know who I am, or anything about me?"

Find out by reading the full article: http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2012/01/why-google-search-plus-is-a-disaster-for-search.html