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Open Letter to Google About Rap Genius SEO

news.rapgenius.com

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Re: Open Letter to Google About Rap Genius SEO

#31

Post by jlebron2 »

gmisra wrote: post #20

This is complicated. 1. rapgenius is probably the least spammy lyrics site on the internet, and definitely so amongst those on the first page of search results. As a consumer, I would not have a problem with Google, et al giving rapgenius results a special algorithmic bump to move them up. I also know that this is an opinion - it may be a popular opinion, but it is still inherently subjective. 2. If I was in rapgeniu…

I have to agree that rapgenius has a great product but their "juvenile and occasionally offensive" demeanor tends to overshadow this. Would love to see them turn their image around but I'm not sure how likely that is. I've always wondered if that is a front they put on to relate to their user base. But then again I love rapgenius and I don't see it as being effective at all.

[EDIT] grammar

Re: Open Letter to Google About Rap Genius SEO

#33

Post by [deleted] »

gmisra wrote: post #20

This is complicated. 1. rapgenius is probably the least spammy lyrics site on the internet, and definitely so amongst those on the first page of search results. As a consumer, I would not have a problem with Google, et al giving rapgenius results a special algorithmic bump to move them up. I also know that this is an opinion - it may be a popular opinion, but it is still inherently subjective. 2. If I was in rapgeniu…

[deleted]

Re: Open Letter to Google About Rap Genius SEO

#35

Post by joelrunyon »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #10

Well played. The Bieber song linked in the first paragraph is the one they wanted pushed in the first place to get their page rank up. Looks like an apology but is a huge SEO push.

Pushing traffic to both the Bieber page & the Beyonce page. Both HUGE numbers of search terms.

Interestingly enough - they weren't very specific about getting penalized and/or when it happened.

Re: Open Letter to Google About Rap Genius SEO

#37

Post by yeukhon »

revelation wrote: post #29
yeukhon wrote: post #16

Can someone actually explain or try to convince me why paid links are bad? What about non-paid SEO links? I am not familiar with the arguments. Say I am running a blog and I am asking my friends to include my blog link in everyone one of his links regardless what. And we are just doing this to get each other noticed. Say he's writing a C++ tutorial and I will also cook up a Python equivalent and say "hey guys if you…

Your scenario isn't exactly what happened here. Rather, how would you feel if your friend asked you to link 10 Justin Bieber songs in your Python tutorial?

But two site owners decided that they can benefit each other if they provide links to each other's site.

As I said, I am asking my friend to link my Python's and I link his C++.

I can treat him a lunch when I get some ad revenue later. Or just a bro hug.

I understand it may not actually be showing what is happening here, but there is some gray area I want to explore.

I can also be a celebrity and every week I feature a couple links showing what my friends and my other celebrity friends are doing or writing or making. I may or may not get $$. Maybe just to be friendly (think Youtube, how channel owners help other owners...) Will that violate Google's ToS? I am famous and so helping a few people out shouldn't hurt, right?

Re: Open Letter to Google About Rap Genius SEO

#38

Post by justinbeaver »

The chart at the bottom is the most interesting part of this blog post.

Rap Genius has raised $15M from a group of premier investors including Andreesen Horowitz and yet their comps (according to Rap Genius, themselves!) are a bunch of black hat, spammy link farms containing music lyrics.

Re: Open Letter to Google About Rap Genius SEO

#40

Post by davemel37 »

gmisra wrote: post #20

This is complicated. 1. rapgenius is probably the least spammy lyrics site on the internet, and definitely so amongst those on the first page of search results. As a consumer, I would not have a problem with Google, et al giving rapgenius results a special algorithmic bump to move them up. I also know that this is an opinion - it may be a popular opinion, but it is still inherently subjective. 2. If I was in rapgeniu…

1. If Google would penalize their own sites for link schemes (i.e. Chrome) done by third party agencies, certainly they should for Rap Genius. This isn't about whats the best site, this is about maintaining credibility in their index. The moment Google plays favorites manually is the moment I switch to another search engine.

2. Gaming SEO is attractive to almost everybody. Google needs to make it so painful to get caught, that people won't bother risking it in the future. The way I see it is...even if Googles algorithms havent caught up just yet to surface the best quality content, they will eventually, why not speed up the process of meeting them in the middle and focus on legit link acquisition and traffic acquisition strategies...

3. I have no opinions about Rap Genius or their founders, I think their actions deserve a massive penalty...let them run ppc for those long tail lyric lines, I doubt those clicks cost more than a nickel. Let them clean up their act, and go through the channels to request a reinclusion in the index.

The game is the game is a poor excuse. give me $15mm and a site like Rap Genius and I'll get it outranking everybody in the space in 9 months, with only legit strategies.

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