Business Management Consultant - Stuntdubl Search and Marketing Consulting

This has been a post I’ve been procrastinating on for quite some time now, but with the release of the most important SEO related document in the last 5 years according to WebGuerrilla, I thought it was about time to forge ahead, and at least write SOMETHING on this topic. Here is the Google patent that is creating the big stir. A cold war has been raging for quite some time, and it is only getting more intense.

There are some definite gems being extracted from the newly released patent, and I imagine more good working hypothesis will come from it. Here’s the roundup from around my favorite webs of information:

• SE Roundtable
• Webmaster World
• Search Engine Watch Forums
• Threadwatch

The thesis of this post is that there is an escalating information arms race between SEO’s and search engines. The latest patent release from Google is a prime example. While it still reads like a glorified wishlist of functionality, I would likely believe that a lot of the functionality has already been implemented or will be shortly.

Some of my favorite quotes so far about the patent:

• 63. The method of claim 62, wherein adjusting the ranking includes penalizing the ranking if the link churn is above a threshold.
  Game on.

  Later thoughts: [0090] Additionally, or alternatively, search engine 125 may monitor time-varying characteristics relating to “advertising traffic”…

  Let me summarize: We will favor pages that contain AdSense, and we will penalize pages that contain ads from our competitors. don’t even think you can cloak in order to prevent us from seeing our competitor’s code on your site. That won’t work because we will be using our millions of toolbars to track what your visitors are clicking on.
  -WebGuerrilla

• Maybe the patent is a double sly. Good way to throw everyone off the real scent
  Filed it 1 day too early. - SlyOldDog (who also did a very nice roundup in msg #36
• I don’t think any one thing like a short registration is going to penalize you. The problem would come in if you have a series of things that look “less than desireable” from the algo’s point of view.
  The legal firm Harrity & Snyder LLP is registered thru 2010, coincidence?
  - graywolf
• I’ve already got a plan on bookmark spam but I’ll keep that sucka to myself - seomike
• Knowing there are others as paranoid as me is assuring. - caveman

To properly understand the scale to which this race has evolved to, it is necessary to understand the history behind it.
SEO History through 2001 is a good start in this study. SEO’s are the parasites that force SE’s to evolve to become more effective. A few of many examples:

• Alt tags - SE’s use them, SEO’s abuse them, SE’s devalue them.
• Internal anchor text - SE’s use them, SEO’s abuse them, SE’s devalue them
• Links power rankings - SEO’s create “link directories” - reciprocal links are devalued
• Anchor Text - SE’s use them, SEO’s abuse them, well…you get the idea.
• Content is king - DMOZ clones and scraper sites appear - duplicate content filtering is improving

The race to be more informed is becoming even more intense as information is traded over dinner and drinks at conferences, and the information becomes more sophisticated and less likely for the lay person to understand. Of course their is also the potentional for disinformation (misinforming webmasters with phoney PR - both kinds, and untimely, unreliable, incomplete information. This, however, is probably a different topic for a different day.)

While as an SEO, I definitely respect the intelligence and hard work of the search engines, the limitations for cooperation are huge. I saw this well exemplified when Threadwatch discussed building the perfect link analysis tool.

Barry Schwartz summed it up quite nicely:You can’t have a win - win situation on this topic. You either go the WPG route and don’t care (SEOs win - Google Loses) OR you go the API route and limit the users big time (SEOs lose - Google Wins). – rustybrick

Why Will the Race Continue?
Different Goals
SEO Goals
-Create a subset of data and test to produce optimal results (high ranking serps)
-Use this information to maximize profits from commercial sites that benefit from high rankings

SE Goals
-Create a subset of data and test to produce optimal results (relevant serps).
-Profit from clearly identified advertising

SEO Methodology
Use any and all techniques that are most important in creating relevant results by isolating and testing variables, then creating pages that are optimal for the results.

SE Methodology
Study and identify the ways the algorithms are being manipulated and adjust accordingly.

The goals and methodologies of the two camps make them natural adversaries (even though we get along well and like each other often times) It’s an unfortunate, but inevitable occurance. Anyone who has been to a conference and seen a search engine rep sitting down and enjoying several late night pints with some of the most well known and self-professed black hat SEO’s in the industry will understand the true definition of irony. They will also understand the “quid pro quo” nature of the search industry that gives the information you hold an increasingly diminishing value inversely proportional to the time you hold it. The information is ony valuable if you monetize it, or if someone else can monetize it and return the favor when they can. This makes the battle against time and for dollars more intense as well.

SEO is getting more difficult by the day, and evolving constantly. Arm yourself with good information, and defend yourself against the disinformation to stay in the know. Remember that SEO’s are the number one SE variable. Reading through it now, it’s pretty obvious they are focusing on reducing the effectiveness of SEO techniques. - one last bit of advice by graywolf who also has a great roundup analysis of the new Google patent

Added resources:

• SEOMoz
• SEO Chat
• High Rankings
• Xan Porter - Search Science

Tags: SEO

This is another great example of why Yahoo is turning out to be cooler than Google. (Who’da thunk it?) They communicate (honestly) with webmasters and SEO’s and they listen to and act upon recommendations. Another congrats Tim. Nice Job.

Tim Announces Yahoo! Launching New Search Index Tonight

Sounds like MSN did well on swipin’ back 1% of search. Courtesy of Adweek and NickDub, MSN swiped about a percent share in search audience according to Nielsen/Netratings. Considering valuation of G, and recent puchases, $150million doesn’t sound to bad for 1% of the search market. This of course was without technology development, but the product is solid and getting better all the time listening to the advice of good people. Gotta say this was a pretty reasonable and swell deal as they continue to grapple for share with new services popping up daily.
-thanks NFFC

Tag: MSN Search

Well, I had a different topic to write on this morning when I sat down with my cup of coffee to write. Then I took a quick glance at my list of sites that keep me in the know on things (now using bloglines which is a fantastic tool), and I see Aaron’s post about Pre-Sell pages (which we had discussed a bit at SES). Since the cat’s already out of the bag on this one, I figured I’d comment on this, since I think it is a great technique worth mentioning, and I had been wanting to write more an this anyhow.

So far, I’ve already heard this method referred to as: content pages, content exchange, content links page, and interactive PR. I’m sure there will be many more creative descriptions for these, but essentially, it is striving for the perfect link. The question posed to SEO’s is, “what type of link will be MOST valuable, for the LONGEST amount of time?” The answer is a pre-sell page, and the rationale for them being closer to link value perfection will follow the description of what they actually are.

Former run of site text link strategy with example site: www.seosite.com:

1.Three words in anchor text (search engine optimization) on the bottom page of a large, high link pop (*cough* PR*), authority site across 10k pages (for demo purposes: www.bigsite.com)
2. All 10k pages link to www.seosite.com - in a month they have 10k backlinks with their targeted anchor text, and high probability for good rankings (depending on competition of course). Rinse and repeat until rankings are achieved.

The big G monster (fortunately not Y and M yet), caught on to this little technique and have relatively devalued it, or at the very least changed the rules for doing it. Evolve or be invisible.

Pre-sell page strategy (finally) defined:
1. 3 word anchor text on www.bigsite.com - search engine optimization
2. 10k pages link to www.bigsite.com/seosite.htm
2. Create a page of unique content with 5 - 7 paragraphs (use a good ontology tool for finding a few phrases of the same theme), for bigsite.com/seosite.com:

• seo services
• ppc services
• affiliate management
• big widgets
• fuzzy wodgets

Each paragraph will have an embedded link deeplinked to the corresponding area of www.seosite.com

Benefits: So why is this so great you may be asking? With the evolution of new search algorithm technologies (namely the advent of local rank, only valueing links from unique domains/ IP addresses, and whatever the hell else is devaluing ROS text links), context is a huge part of the value of a link. Think about the variables that used to be valuable to on-page SEO, and apply those to your partners links pages. You probably don’t have to send the host of your pre-sell page a web position gold report, but you can optimize those on-page factors before you send the page to them. www.bigsite.com/seosite.htm should have good on-page SEO.

There are a lot of things that SE’s can determine from a page (what elements are the content region, navigation/template and/or duplicate content most importantly - these are SMART folks remember), and this is one of the reasons internal anchor text was devalued at some point. What they most likely WON’T be able to “strip out” and devalue, is links embedded inside the meaty unique content that they so desperately need to cache from all the little webmaster’s sites. “On-theme” pre-sell pages should be highly valuable for as long as search engine’s are based on link analysis.

SEO evolves again. Strive for perfection.

Database of presell pages at presellpageman.com

Pre Sell Pages - a Better Way to Rent Sitewide Links : SEO Book.com

Discussion at Threadwatch.org on Pre-sell pages

A Positive Step Forward in Link Strategies

LinkAdage - Content Pages for Text Link Ads

Dan Theis had this figured out a couple years ago - “Trade Content not Links”

Got back from NYC on Thursday afternoon after a return trip on the train. I was a little under the weather when I got back, and now I guess I could say I’m being BURIED by the weather. First time I’ve been sick in almost three years, and I think I have a pretty good respitory infection (gonna find out today hopefully).

Anyhow, it was a good trip and I got to meet some very cool and intelligent people. I was also one of the folks turned away at the MSN party for not having my invite. What a kick in the teeth! I’m not some big shot or anything, but if there is anywhere I feel like I have a bit of prestige it would be in the world of search. That small bit of satisfaction was yanked away from by the gal at the door who was quite adamant that a conference exhibitor badge would not suffice. C’mon guys…learn from yahoo and ante up and have a real inclusive party rather than making us feel like the dorks in the high school and making us turn around at the door.

Without further ado…here are some of the pictures of nyc ses that I took.

MSN Party

‘Quality,’ as described by Pirsig, cannot be directly defined. Likening it with the Tao, Pirsig believes that Quality is a force in the universe stimulating everything from atoms to animals to evolve and incorporate ever greater levels of Quality

“Relevance” and search quality seem to have become fairly synonomous. While relevance doesn’t seem to go quite this deep, it does seem to permeate every crevice of the “search world” these days. Relevance is the new holy grail that everyone is striving for. Search results must be relevant to the user. Sites must be relevant to the search engines. Titles and headings must be relevant to the page, and advertising and text links should be relevant to the body copy.

Relevance has become a huge SE/SEO/SEM buzzword that you will hear out of nearly any consultant/manager/engineer’s mouth in the industry if you listen to them for five minutes. I see and hear it near everywhere I go now, and thought I’d contemplate the term a bit to give myself a stronger understanding of what folks are actually saying when they refer to “relevant”.

I’ve looked at the stem of the word - related…and variations relative and relevance and seem to just get a mindful of wandering ideas most of the time.

My favorite definition is from dictionary.com:
tending logically to prove or disprove a fact of consequence or to make the fact more or less probable and thereby aiding the trier of fact in making a decision Though it seems the search engines have gotten to them as well (see the 3rd definition).

Google has a couple stabs at defining the terms as well:

Google Define: Relevance
Google Define: Relative

Now you may be asking yourself…if relevance is so elusive, then how come Google can define it? Well, my answer to you is that G also attempts to define Robert Pirsig’s elusive term “quality”, and may “see the forest”, but definitely are not catching all the trees. The bigger question is whether or not they will ever ACHIEVE relevance, and what would that accomplishment entail? Perhaps incorporating more logic than most humans do would help.

Let’s take a look at the search engine’s who started this madness of defining relevance as their pinnacle of being.

Search Engine Mission Statements
Yahoo! - Yahoo’s mission is to be the most essential global Internet service for consumers and businesses.

Hmmm…sure sounds like “relevant” could be substituted for essential.

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. - Google Corporate info

Substitute relevant here for “universally accessible and useful”, and I think you’ll see the common theme between SE goals.

Of course mission statements are mainly corporate dribble, but most of us have heard SE reps claim on more than a few occasions that their true search mission was to provide “relevant results for users”.

So basically from a couple hours of reading and considering the topic, I learned that relevance is a large black hole of intellectual time that is great in aiding the explanation of things that most people won’t understand anyways. Relevance is highly relative, and the only ways to get closer to this ambiguous goal is through personalization, specialization, and localization. Don’t be left behind…make sure your new media advertising is relevant.

Okay, I couldn’t resist writing about this one. It seems Google really *is* EVIL…well, in the eyes of M$ anyhow. This is a nice little result that is coming to light throughout the web. You can read about it more at Search Engine Watch. Good Stuff. While you’re their, check out the MSN beta search. I’m actually a bit more impressed with the sliders available in the search settings. Very interesting, and dare I say more “transparent” to SEO’s? Do you think M$ perhaps LEARNED something from the open source community? Okay, perhaps that was a bit of a stretch, but the new search, and this goofy result is funny nonetheless.

MSN Search: more evil than satan