Why I won't be using Google in January • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I won't be using Google in January

#11

Post by wiwillia » Wed, Dec 25, 2013, 11:06 PM UTC

zoltar92 wrote: post #9

wiwillia wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also re: your P.s., it doesn't matter if they were only retweeting blogs they interested in or supported. They were asking people to add links (for SEO) that had zero relation to the article, in exchange for a tweet (which they wanted the blogger to write for them). Does this interview about YOG$ have any relation to Justin Beiber? http://hiphophundred.com/yog-explains-his-new-mixtape-everyd... . Again - I'm a huge f…

I agree... to an extent. But does blacklisting them help get more relevant search results? Seems like the best scenario would be ignoring the extra links... My point is that, yes, Rap Genius did something wrong. But a punishment like this is equally as wrong- And it's Google showing the world that they run like a bureaucracy not a "start-up"* which I feel is how they portray themselves. *I obviously KNOW Google's not…

I agree the penalty is brutal, If they had dropped 5 ranking vs. 5 pages I think the punishment would suit the crime (provided that Google didn't look at their links and find that their were other egregious violations). I think part of that is that the abuse was exposed so publicly and not really fully denied/remove by RG, and part of it is that RG has a big reputation and everyone has heard of them. For Google, it's a great time to make an example of someone and help push the risk:reward ratio in their favor, so more startups think twice about trying black/gray hat tactics.

I'll be 100% honest, I've been approached more than a few times by people with approaches to SEO that are somewhat black/gray, and I've been really tempted to work with them because of the promise of additional traffic/business. It's always the fear of a JC Penny style backlash that kept me from engaging. If the punishment was more of a slap on the wrist, there would be a certain point at which it would be worth it for startups to try and game the system (how many startups are currently trying to game the system? I would argue a good %, just most don't end up with it out in the open like this.

From everything I've been told, however, they'll be able to get the penalty lifted as soon as they remove the bad links and get back to even footing. Shouldn't be more than 2-4 weeks.

Re: Why I won't be using Google in January

#12

Post by mempko » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 7:07 AM UTC

lingben wrote: post #6

Everyone is free to use whatever search engine they wish to use. Google isn't forcing you to use them. That being said, Google has pretty clear guidelines about what it will accept and what will result in a penalty. RG knowingly broke google's rules. They got penalized. That simple.

As the old saw goes, rules are meant to be broken. That simple.

Re: Why I won't be using Google in January

#13

Post by FiddlerClamp » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 4:39 PM UTC

Is it okay for a site to use black-hat tactics to rise to the top because they've got the 'best' content?

If they've got the best content, shouldn't it rise to the top organically? Or is the argument that 'everyone else is doing it, so if we don't do it, our organic rank will be jeopardized'?