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Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

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Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#121

Post by notastartup »

bichiliad wrote: post #69
benologist wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I greatly prefer AZLyrics - they give me the lyrics on a page with just the lyrics, that's all I want nearly 100% of the time. It's not even a contest: http://i.imgur.com/H1QixcN.png

Don't forget that rap genius didn't / doesn't want to just be a lyrics site, they also do the whole "what do these lyrics mean" deal. I'd have no idea what 2 Chainz was going on about half the time were it not for RG.

> Don't forget that rap genius didn't / doesn't want to just be a lyrics site, they also do the whole "what do these lyrics mean" deal.

Do we really want to know the true meaning behind Dr. Dre's masterpiece? Is it so important that it needs $15 million dollars? Seems to me the wheels were being reinvented and being sold as square.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/drdre/bitchesaintshit.html

    Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks
    Lick on these nuts and suck the dick
    Get the fuck out after you're done
    And I hope in my ride to make a quick run...

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#122

Post by deelowe »

jonahx wrote: post #115
sanswork wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are clear guidelines and due process. Amazon and iTunes aren't paying you for the link they are paying you for the sale. In the second and third cases it is no different if you're paying for a keyword link and if Google found out about it you would be penalized.

Where can you find those guidelines?

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#123

Post by dpatrick86 »

crazygringo wrote: post #97

I find Google's actions to be bizarre. Getting people to link to you is what SEO is all about. Basically every site concerned with SEO does it in one form or another -- I thought this was what most every blog affiliate program was about! So Google decides to "punish" RapGenius just because its program got a little bit of public notice, while 99.9% of other sites which do the same, continue doing the same thing, unpun…

The problem here is inherent with anything that can be fairly characterized as "prosecutorial discretion." Human editing is going to be inherently biased, and it's unfortunate to see a move away from the use of clever algorithm hacks as the preferred way to achieve clean results. You'll find no argument from me against SEO tricks being punished... but taking shortcuts will just result in favoritism at one point or another.

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#124

Post by graeme »

aliakbarkhan wrote: post #119
ddw wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I consider myself sophisticated and I still use Google for something like Rap Genius: "rap genius kendrick lamar swimming pools" would get me there quicker than any other way. It's incredible that now that search string sends me to other pages that link to RG's lyrics but not directly to theirs.

If you actually knew how to use Google this wouldn't be a problem. The `site:` filter is your friend.

How is that faster? You're adding five characters + the .com , and will get exactly the same result.

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#125

Post by smackfu »

jonahx wrote: post #115
sanswork wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are clear guidelines and due process. Amazon and iTunes aren't paying you for the link they are paying you for the sale. In the second and third cases it is no different if you're paying for a keyword link and if Google found out about it you would be penalized.

Where can you find those guidelines?

Besides the other links, here are the ones for link schemes, which are the issue in this case: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#126

Post by smackfu »

baldajan wrote: post #38

What I find shocking is a single company (Google) has the power to cause such a dramatic decrease of a website it deemed "unworthy". Sure, it can justify its actions by saying they broke the rules, but pressing the a "death button" for a website is not a solution. I feel as though Google needs to re-examine their core principles and determine how to better handle an issue like this. Otherwise, I suspect Google might…

Fundamentally the problem is that a lyrics site is going to mainly get hits from a search engine. Not many people are going to type rapgenius.com and then use their search to find the song they want.

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#127

Post by someguyperson »

devanti wrote: post #84

If RG thinks they're so great (and all the bandwagoners on HN), then they should prove it by playing fairly. My suspicion is that the vast majority of people who search for lyrics don't care about song meanings or annotations. Azlyrics does just fine, which is why they've always been at the top. If people wanted song meanings they would search for song meanings. My theory is that RG wasn't able to grow as fast as the…

The difference between RG and songmeanings, and really any other lyrics website in existence, is the quality of the annotations. My habit of listening to rap has changed quite dramatically since I have discovered RG - I don't have to speculate about what a line might mean, because now there's a whole community of people who love rap collate their collective wisdom and tell you what it means. The verified annotations are also amazing...I mean seriously, what other site has artists themselves explaining what they meant for their own songs? I think the $15 million can be justified if you look at their long-term plans. They've built a model with rap and now they're expanding onto rock, pop and poetry. I see it this way: the sell for RG is for their whole slew of websites to become the wikipedia for literary/artistic interpretation, a position they have already locked down with rap. Whether that is worth $15 million is of course up to you, but it looks like it was worth it to some big name investors.

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#129

Post by hayksaakian »

tzs wrote: post #90

Microsoft should jump on this. Run ads promoting Rap Genius as the best lyrics site on the web, and noting that you can find it easily with Bing, but not with Google. Kind of like those Visa ads that highlighted some cool place and then said don't bother of you use American Express, because the cool place doesn't take AmEx, it takes Visa.

I wish I was a Microsoft marketing exec so I could take credit for this idea.

Re: Rap Genius Traffic Has Dropped By Over 80%

#130

Post by yoseph »

devanti wrote: post #84

If RG thinks they're so great (and all the bandwagoners on HN), then they should prove it by playing fairly. My suspicion is that the vast majority of people who search for lyrics don't care about song meanings or annotations. Azlyrics does just fine, which is why they've always been at the top. If people wanted song meanings they would search for song meanings. My theory is that RG wasn't able to grow as fast as the…

Their ambition isn't limited to the song meanings / annotations market. They wouldn't have raised $15m on that. Look at how they're branching out. PoetryGenius, NewsGenius, etc. They want to annotate the world's information.

That's a huge market and with RG's excellent execution so far (everyone has missteps - remember that), it warrants a $15m bet.

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