Apr 20, 2012
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Why So Many Changes?
The Purpose of a Search Engine
By nature, we as living creatures have a lot of problems and a lot of needs. We get tired. We get hungry. We get stressed. We get fat. That’s pretty much why search engines exist. They act as gateways in finding solutions to those problems and needs. A search engine’s existance is solely based upon making sure you find exactly what you’re looking for as easily and quickly as possible.
Let’s say you need new guitar strings but you’re not sure who may provide them around town. It’s obvious by now that you’ll probably go to Google and type in “Guitar Strings [Your Location].” Google already has some answers ready for you to choose from. The business that they feel best matches your need will be at the very top of the list (at least that’s what they’re aiming for). So this leads us into the conversation of why Google and other search engines often change the way those businesses are ranked.
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, etc.
This world is filled with honest people who like playing by the rules. They see the reward in that, and they receive that reward sooner or later. There are also people who take the easy ways out of everything, dodging certain guidelines and creating their own path. In the Internet world, those people are called spammers.
Spam exists because search engines exist. Internet marketers and SEO experts have 2 choices:
- Work hard to create lasting relationships with their target markets (which results in slowly gaining high rankings for life)
- Pay a few offshore people to throw up a bunch of content and links throughout the Web (which results in quickly gaining high rankings for a season)
High rankings are like crack cocaine. People will do anything and everything to get them and keep them, even it that means cheating a little. This is where those geniuses over at Google step in and throw down the hammer. This is also where black hat marketers start crying and wondering where their precious rankings have gone.
Google has become more human than ever. Have you ever seen The Truman Show? Pretend the guy watching Truman from the control center is Google. He can see everything that Truman does around his little town. He knows when he wakes up, what he eats for breakfast, how long his showers are, and when his pants are ready at the cleaners. Maybe Google doesn’t know quite that much, but you get the point.
The tricks and short cuts of search engine optimization (SEO) are about to be thrown to the curb. Those who have been sorely affected by Google’s new algorithm updates are witnesses of that. More than 50 algorithmic updates have already taken effect since the beginning of 2012. It’s expected that Google will rely less on back links as a way to determine the value of websites and more on the user-friendliness of those sites. SEO’s and Internet marketers should see this as an opportunity to do some real “work” for a change.
We Have Evolved
Another reason why Google is changing so much is because we as human beings are changing so much. Like we mentioned before, Google’s whole objective is to cater to us. What we like and enjoy, Google wants to provide. The flaws we see in life, Google wants to make right. They have so much in their arsenal that they have almost become a one-stop shop. Search, Social, Maps, Videos, Images, News, Games, Books; the list goes on and on.
You also have to take a look at Google’s competition. Facebook has a big chunk of our brain right now. They know a lot more about us than Google does because we let it. We give Facebook so much information. That’s what scares Google more than anything. That’s the one thing they don’t have. So Google is going to do all it can to gain that information (i.e. Google+). We can expect some significant changes in the near future, probably even larger than the ones we have experienced in the past few years.
The latest 2012 Google algorithm changes have given us more of a reason to quit making websites for search engines and start making websites for people. That’s the only way to win.