Ever get the feeling Google is herding us?

[ThopHayt]

I've been thinking, and looking back at how SEO was 5-10 years ago it amazes me how "by the book" things have gradually become. Google has little by little changed what works and what doesn't, and has essentially slowly herded the SEO community into nearly legit practices.

Let me give an example. With content the user experience used to mean nothing on our backlinked posts. But Google started slowly changing what you had to do to get results, and sure enough now I'm spending top dollar on quality 1,500 word articles for a bribed post on some newspaper site.

At this point it is almost as if Google has coerced the SEO community into becoming quality content providers and following about 95% of the rules.

Is the eventual future of blackhat simply merging with legitimate web practices, similarly to how the mob in Las Vegas eventually became legitimize businessmen? It seems so.

-ThopHayt

 

[blogzandstuff]

I've been thinking, and looking back at how SEO was 5-10 years ago it amazes me how "by the book" things have gradually become. Google has little by little changed what works and what doesn't, and has essentially slowly herded the SEO community into nearly legit practices.

Let me give an example. With content the user experience used to mean nothing on our backlinked posts. But Google started slowly changing what you had to do to get results, and sure enough now I'm spending top dollar on quality 1,500 word articles for a bribed post on some newspaper site.

At this point it is almost as if Google has coerced the SEO community into becoming quality content providers and following about 95% of the rules.

Is the eventual future of blackhat simply merging with legitimate web practices, similarly to how the mob in Las Vegas eventually became legitimize businessmen? It seems so.

-ThopHayt

When I first started you could build a site with Microsoft front-page 2000, stuff it with keywords, add banners all over and make money. Now there are so many rules

 

[helll0a]

Google is only weeding out the short cutters that provide low quality search results.

Quality wins today. But there is soo much to test to never know where we stand in the 0-100%.

 

[pasdoy]

autoblogs, good times

 

[The X-JocKer]

Google wants the best user experience for their users, and for that reason they r always ready to use any type of resources that they can find to shift the direction to there, so good quality content, good structure of the website, leaders in the topic the user searched for, relevancy (obviously), user experience, time on site, interlinking, speed. i don't see this a bad thing, since we're all users of google and blackhat will always be there, take it like security vs hackers

 

[Nut-Nights]

Google is mad bitch, nothing else.

 

[ThopHayt]

The definition of what it means to blackhat is shifting as well. It used to be down and dirty, and now it has become quite subtle (relatively). Eventually I see "blackhat" as being more focused on the technical and tactical aspects of IM, and less about exploiting things directly via links. The big boys essentially play the game this way now. Grabbing mindshare, optimizing return visitors and priming conversions are the battlefields of the next 5 years.

-ThopHayt

 

[helll0a]

Spam still works via links... The way to benefit off them has changed.

 

[syryls]

Google wants the best user experience for their users, and for that reason they r always ready to use any type of resources that they can find to shift the direction to there, so good quality content, good structure of the website, leaders in the topic the user searched for, relevancy (obviously), user experience, time on site, interlinking, speed. i don't see this a bad thing, since we're all users of google and blackhat will always be there, take it like security vs hackers

What google really wants:
1. money
2. best results for user

 

[BrandingCat]

 

[rickydzine]

Blackhat will forever be blackhat and will forever exist. In essence, it's unethical practices. So there will still be persons who use doorway pages and the likes. However, with advancing technology and forever enhancing browser security as well as general users becoming more acquainted to old tricks, conversion rates and such will slowly decrease(something else will take it's place sooner or later).

As for following google's guidelines, It could be fair to say what most persons do could be considered "GreyHat" a matter of exploiting known weaknesses in an algorithm to quickly get to the top just in the name of getting traffic. Doesn't mean the site offers no value but it was highly focused on getting to the top much faster. Rapgenius is a good example of this, they had tons of spam links and now they have become the largest lyrics website after purging.

That said, we'll slowly be coerced into following the guidelines as systems become more 'intelligent' and can detect various ways a user tries to manipulate the system. However, they will never be able to completely stop the exploitation of their algos.

 

[EntrepreneurCure]

I don't think Google is centralizing everybody into a specific category but I do think they are cracking down on quality content. I have to agree with the previous statement made that there will always be black hat methods that will be used but now you are being forced to optimize the white hat method more so in order to retain authenticity to your site. If you are someone who wants to develop a high-ranking in order to eventually sell your site, you are completely aware of the effort and finances that are required to ensure your offering an authentic product. Google wants there AdSense Network to become more profitable based on the real numbers. This could only mean a benefit to those who have real content in the future because it cancels out all of the Riff Raff that only use black hat methods. You seen it listed a million times on this form, you must use an even mix of both white hat and black hat methods an order to reach your projected goal with longevity. The essence of residual income is the ability to obtain this income on a regular basis with a sane realization that your account would not be subject to cancellation due to misuse. Would you rather have websites bring in residual income from affiliates what would you like to continue to try to find your way around the rules and consistently get banned?

 

[Purple Banana]

Blackhat will forever be blackhat and will forever exist. In essence, it's unethical practices. So there will still be persons who use doorway pages and the likes. However, with advancing technology and forever enhancing browser security as well as general users becoming more acquainted to old tricks, conversion rates and such will slowly decrease(something else will take it's place sooner or later).

As for following google's guidelines, It could be fair to say what most persons do could be considered "GreyHat" a matter of exploiting known weaknesses in an algorithm to quickly get to the top just in the name of getting traffic. Doesn't mean the site offers no value but it was highly focused on getting to the top much faster. Rapgenius is a good example of this, they had tons of spam links and now they have become the largest lyrics website after purging.

That said, we'll slowly be coerced into following the guidelines as systems become more 'intelligent' and can detect various ways a user tries to manipulate the system. However, they will never be able to completely stop the exploitation of their algos.

Yes, who could forget rapgenius, they were spam kings and out of nowhere grew into a big brand. I doubt anyone could repeat their success in music lyrics but it does show the power of blackhat.

 

[swords12]

With a dominance of 60-80% in the search market, they are definitely herding us to the things that they see fit. Although this may be good to a certain extent, there are instances where such power is being abused in the process - you can take a look at the lawsuits that they have already gone through, being Europe as the best example set, as Europe has succeeded in cases against Big G.
Although they may be thinking that they could push up a certain quality in search, but if you look closely at some of the searches, you'd still see so many nonsense and repeated things being listed there.
They have moved the goal post so many times, and it appears that they are winning, as SEO tools are now taking the backstage -- it's not matching anywhere the evolution of their search engine at the moment.