Michael Pedone | Expert Author
Have you heard about the latest “sport” in dirty online business?
It’s called Google Bowling and it represents a gaping flaw in
Google’s system that allows your competitors to sabotage your
site to the point of getting it banned or penalized.
This can’t happen, right? I mean, Google would have us believe
their algorithms are not easily manipulated and that your rankings
are safely under your (and their) control. But in fact there’s a
chink in Google’s armor that can have massive consequences for
any web business unfortunate enough to have aggressive and
unethical competitors.
Here’s the loophole, explained
It all began with Google’s aggressive attempts to curb link
popularity manipulation by penalizing sites that purchase
site- wide text link ads to get lots of incoming links in a
hurry. (eg: If the ad selling site had 1,000 pages, the
advertiser’s link would instantly be on 1,000 pages.)
Google began filtering sites that indulged in this kind of
linkage and either penalized or flat-out removed the site from
its database. Bad news for that business. Excellent news for
their competition. Can you guess what’s coming next?
Certain scoundrels began thinking: “If buying site-wide text link
ads en masse will get my site into hot water with Google, why
not buy them for my competitor’s site instead? Then just sit back
and wait for Google to solve my number one business headache…
the competition.” (Cue evil laughter sound track.)
This, ladies and gentlemen, is Google Bowling. Simple. Devious.
Devastating. And not just in theory; it’s really happening out
there.
Here at eTrafficJams.com, we are hearing from a lot of businesses
whose sites once enjoyed great rankings (ours included) and now
don’t even show up in Google for their own company name.
A small loophole has turned into a devastating black hole,
sucking in and wiping out countless quality websites in the
process. And it just may be their competitors sending them into
the abyss.
Is your head spinning yet? I mean, it was bad enough knowing that
with every Google update, your business may go up or down in the
rankings depending on the whims of the Google geeks. But now add
into the mix the fact that your competitors also have a hand in
your search engine health and wellness… well, Houston, we have
a problem.
Although this would be a fortuitous time for me to suggest that
the solution to this problem is hiring a reputable SEO firm
(like http://www.eTrafficJams.com) to watch over your rankings, I shall
resist the temptation. Instead, I’d like to offer Google – as if
they’re listening – a simple solution to this nasty problem.
Right now, Google hands out either rewards or harsh penalties for
linking strategies – good rankings to reward good linking
techniques, and penalties, such as the now-infamous sandbox, to
punish un-cool, manipulative linking practices. But there isn’t
any middle ground.
I say why not create a neutral response… a filter that simply
ignores questionable links, neither rewarding nor punishing
them?
1) Innocent victims of Google Bowling don’t get hurt.
2) If the dubious links actually were perpetrated by the business
at the receiving end of them, Google would exclude those links
and the site would gain nothing. It would simply be throwing ad
money out the window (unless, of course, it was buying site-wide
ads in vehicles that generated relevant traffic). And
3) Google’s reputation for delivering accurate and fair search
results would be restored.
Google needs to do something soon to plug this loophole, not just
for the immediate relief of its users but for its own credibility
Although being “Google Bowled” by a competitor and having your
site removed from the database could ruin a small business, the
consequences for Google could be just as dire. If chatter picks
up that Google’s results are easy to manipulate and consequently
inaccurate, users may be scared away to other search engines.
Fewer users = fewer clicks on ads = lower revenues. Well, I don’t
have to spell that out for the financial wizards at Google.
But just think: a few stories on the big TV networks, say on
MSNBC (*cough* think Bill Gates’ MSN Search, a major Google
competitor), revealing how the new sport of Google Bowling is
sweeping the nation… well, the average user at home may start
to have doubts about Google and maybe decide to try out Yahoo! or
MSN Search.
Is it really that far-fetched to speculate that someone like oh,
I don’t know, Mr. Gates, might take advantage of this situation to
solve his number one business headache… the competition?
So I suggest a simple solution to Google’s link bowling problem:
neutralize suspicious links so they are neither helpful nor
harmful. Problem solved. Sorry, Mr. Gates. © 2005, Michael Pedone
Only $29.99.
Hurry up and act now, because the magic bullets won’t last!
I would like two magic bullets, please. I will use one of them on my new site, dogshitgambling.com!
The only thing that we must care is about the kind of linking partners we have in our “resources” or similar sections.
If one of those sites is rogue, that ¡s a problem.
For that reason those “mini yahoo” directories with hundreds of links are a real trouble.
Some years ago it was a similar discussion regarding the over submission of websites and penalties.
I’ve tried testing various SEO related ideas, at least as much as my time permits, and the only thing conclusive I’ve come up with is there is complete randomness as to whether or not some of these suspect tactics actually work.
I know this may not be the popular opinion, but thats the way I see it.
We’ve done blatant cross linking and had great success as well as miserable results. Done site wide link buys with the same mix of good and bad, tested supposed “beat the sandbox theories” with no success etc.
The only thing I feel confident in saying about the current state of SEO is, links are still the key. Go for quality if you can, but then again sheer volume of links works also if the quality is crap.
Nobody but the Search Engines know for sure what works and what doesnt, and even then I suspect they are somewhat in the dark about how their algo’s really work. Its merely speculation based on our own personal experiences, and my experiences tell me there’s a whole lot of ambiguity from one site to another, one technique to another and so forth.
There may not be a magic bullet, good or bad, in SEO, at least none that I have found. I wish there was…
Kevin – you silly Man. Of course there is a magic bullet.
It works every time. I understand you don’t want to share your magic bullet with the rest of us, but honestly Kevin, the magic bullet is the KEY to seo.
Right now I am having a sale on magic bullets.
Only $29.99.
Hurry up and act now, because the magic bullets won’t last!
Algorithms are not chaotic there is order. greek39
Maybe I need a few of your magic bullets at this point, mine arent working as well as you may think.
I still maintain that I have not found a 100% guaranteed tactic that works 100% of the time. Links are the key factor, that is well known, but even persons who are seasoned in the “dark side” of link building and other tactics have hits and misses.
Greek, I agree with your comment 100%, but disectting Search Engine algo’s for every situation and variable has practicality issues. People doing SEO may be content with understanding the basics of the algo to gain some measure of success, present company included, without ever fully understanding every nuance of the algo. From a practical point of view, the time needed to fully understand it all might not be worth the effort when this time can be spent building more websites, exchanging links etc.
Title each page not only in your source but also in your viewable text. Domain being brandable who cares as long as it contains some sort of gambling phrase, “dogshitgambling”. There is speculation around this but its not the domain that matters its’ the extention does. If you title your page online slots then have it as your entension. Therefore, dogshitgambling.com/online-slots.html. But if you plan on selling a domain having a savy domain is more attractive and probably fetch more cash. But if you have a domain as I mentioned and was a PR7 it could fetch more.
Now that you gave your page a title and a description. Write an essay on the subject. Use good writing skills, have a title, thesis, body and conclusion.
After, pick out your keywords, do not rely on diggers you are trying to make your site honest right? Do not write for SE’s write for your visitors the competitive keywords will come naturally. SE’s want honesty!! Take the time to update your site, just don’t let it rot. Just by entering one relevent sentence could make your site jump.
Then you are ready to optimize you site. But then again I could use that magic bullet. I am no wizard at this but when I visit a website with a bunch of internal and external links that confuse the hell out me, I’m gone.
Why not think of each page as a seprate site, now there’s something interesting. I consider HTML a bastard code, junk, garbage DOS is better. greek39
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