Google steals over half the world's traffic

[da_marketing]

I agree with @filterframe

The majority of the searches where users find their answers in Google and do not click through to your website are not actually searches for buyer/commercial keywords, so they won't affect you anyway. Also, Google is probably not gaining from this either unless ad click rates are going up as well. Also, they created the market, as @Gogol mentioned. Without Google, there would be no SEO or making money online.

Lastly, take a look at the top sites online and you'll see a single site alone getting 10 million clicks per month. There's enough traffic to go round.

View attachment 119529​

That is mostly thanks to Google's Top Stories boxes. You can strike gold if you manage to feature your website on one of those snippets, especially for high volume keywords.

 

[JetBlack101]

Great thread.

That article had many interesting statistics, including the number that 94% of all search traffic was on a Google product. I don't know how anyone can ignore that and hope that Google doesn't impact their work. Regardless of how we view what Google is doing, they will continue to do it until it is either unprofitable or some exterior actor causes them to change their practices (ie govt or user groups).

The comments to the article focused on changing strategy if you felt that your sites were no longer being seen or clicked on via Google searches. Not really sure how useful that is...

 

[neo]

It's their site, so Google has the right to do what they want.
But they are hypocrites. Like the original poster mentioned, they want us to create original high quality content and they just copy it and show it on their site.

The entire business model of Google is scraping content. It is a win-win model as long as we get traffic from Google.

 

[WIZDAHL]

DUCKDUCKGO

Its influence is growing, though and they have been very successful given their size.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

Yet the same people cried like a babies over EU trying to stop this. Oh well.

I never complained. I think the EU was in the right direction.

Google needs to be hit with tens of billions of U$ in fines until they stop the abuse.

It's their site, so Google has the right to do what they want.
But they are hypocrites. Like the original poster mentioned, they want us to create original high quality content and they just copy it and show it on their site.

The entire business model of Google is scraping content. It is a win-win model as long as we get traffic from Google.

The implicit contract is that they'll return something to the webmasters in exchange for scraping the content.

Webmasters get targetted traffic, Google gets to scrape them.

Now that they're stealing over 50% traffic (one SEO presentation from today mentioned over 65%) it's no longer a good deal. It's theft.

Its influence is growing, though and they have been very successful given their size.

Bing is improving lots too. We need to get users to use other search engines. Google is a disgrace for our business.

 

[assaultclass]

If you don't like what Google's doing, then your robots.txt file is your best friend. This is so funny, like anyone is being forced to let Google "scrape" their content. I see no point in this thread. I would have deleted it if I were a mod (just joking )

 

[alexa_s]

If you don't like what Google's doing, then your robots.txt file is your best friend. This is so funny, like anyone is being forced to let Google "scrape" their content. I see no point in this thread. I would have deleted it if I were a mod (just joking )

Yep, it's funny that OP has 15k posts on this forum and have been here since 2013 (OP) and doesn't know that you can disallow google's robot very easily - they won't touch your content after, and won't even get angry about it. It's in their Help Center.

 

[assaultclass]

I know I was agreeing with you

Oh, sorry. I read your post hurriedly. Looks like I should be the one understanding members' posts before replying

 

[bartosimpsonio]

If you don't like what Google's doing, then your robots.txt file is your best friend. This is so funny, like anyone is being forced to let Google "scrape" their content. I see no point in this thread. I would have deleted it if I were a mod (just joking )

Yep, it's funny that OP has 15k posts on this forum and have been here since 2013 (OP) and doesn't know that you can disallow google's robot very easily - they won't touch your content after, and won't even get angry about it. It's in their Help Center.

Thanks for the amazing insight!!!

 

[Toz]

The money you spend on SEO don't go into Google's pockets, LOL. They are directly making SEO companies richer, not indirectly charging you for SEO.

It's not that they're pocketing the SEO money. Of course that's not necessarily the case. The issue is that it's money that someone is having to spend to rank on G's search results pages. You may not consider this to be an expense that G is essentially forcing us to pay in order to play, but I sure as hell do. Sure, the money may not be directly going to G, but that's not the point. The point is that we still need to pay it. They are making SEO companies richer. You're correct. 100%. No dispute. However, they're doing it with our money.

I understand that profit and CONTROL are the main things that google is after. I am just saying no matter what motives the company has these changes make sense.

It does not make sense to have a search result have 10 links with only meta descriptions. 9/10 google searches can be answered in a paragraph or less so why make the user do research.

If you had a product you would choose to push updates that will make the UX simpler and more straight forward because that is what retains customers and brings in new users.

To go with your comment on google charging money to be included in SERPS. If you want to rank you can provide worth while content and format it in a way that google likes (this does not have to cost anything other then time). Ads are for those who have a presence already but want to get the edge over their competitors. Sure ads can bring traffic to an empty source but they have a way bigger impact when paired with an established brand.

You have to remember that you choose to run this race and when you run with google you have to play by their rules.

I don't disagree, and I am onboard with both your understanding of these changes making sense. I, too, am a user of G services, and I can (and do) have an appreciation for how easy, effective, and efficient they make their search engine for me as a consumer. It's the reason I prefer G to Y, B, D, Ask, and all the others. I'm often impressed and relieved that my search queries can sometimes be answered without having to click through and sift through filler content, while hoping not to have to back out of a page to find somewhere else to sift through more fluff or those dreadful sites with pages that have a sentence or two and want you to continuously click through to page 50 to get your question answered. I get all that, and again, I'm onboard.

Where I disagree (to an extent, of course), is your perfect world rhetoric about how when "you want to rank you can provide worth while content and format it in a way that google likes". Sure, this sounds good, and it will work if your goal is to rank for the keyword: twelve silvery sunsets over the ocean while eating potato chips. However, if your objective is to rank for keywords competitive enough to make your contributions worthwhile enough to compensate you for your investments spent, simply providing well-formatted, quality content won't get you to page 1 on it's own. Go start a new perfectly formatted website with amazing content centered around payday loans, and please report back when you've organically reached page 1 for that keyword. I know there are much less restrictive longtail keywords you can rank for without any off page SEO and will bring in some traffic, but my point is that we, as website owners, often depend on search engines as a viable traffic source for bringing our targeted audiences to our websites. When the best search engine decides to enhance their service to the point to where its end users no longer need to click through, and while I do appreciate how easy they're making it for its users (as again, I am one of said users), it creates a disconnect.

I don't know what the solution is and I won't pretend to. But, I also will not pretend to not see the issue this causes. Even if it's not such a big deal, today, what happens a year from now? Three years? Five years? G will continue to evolve and none of us knows to what heights their evolution will reach and/or how much said evolution will exclude the livelihoods of the people who create the very content their algorithms are so ready to scrape and deliver straight from their platform.

If you don't like what Google's doing, then your robots.txt file is your best friend. This is so funny, like anyone is being forced to let Google "scrape" their content. I see no point in this thread. I would have deleted it if I were a mod (just joking )

Yep, it's funny that OP has 15k posts on this forum and have been here since 2013 (OP) and doesn't know that you can disallow google's robot very easily - they won't touch your content after, and won't even get angry about it. It's in their Help Center.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

- "Man I got this bad tooth ache"

- YOU KNOW YOU'RE FREE TO KILL YOURSELF AND GET RID OF YOUR TOOTH ACHE.

 

[TheStrandDiaries]

@bartosimpsonio If it makes you feel any better, I just got an email from "Sundar" that was full of complete BS. It arrived on a Saturday at that. I guess that means he's working hard and cares about humanity if he's working the weekends, right?

I emailed him asking for a simple request and his lap dog "Matt" responded with some nonsensical musical chairs garbage. It would have been better if he acted like a real CEO and didn't respond at all. Not responding at all is better than responding with BS.

Considering Google IS their invention, they are allowed to do what they want with it. I don't have a problem with that. The problem I have is that they make their invention available to the masses, then turn around and abuse those same people with an invention that was meant to help people.

I have come to the realization that a lot of these people who run these big companies are deeply disturbed. They aren't like us. If a company will just lie, cheat, and steal from it's customers without warning or legitimate reason, and not provide a phone number to contact them regarding the issue, that means there is something fundamentally broken/corrupted with the leadership of the company.

Because of that, I have learned to stay a step ahead of these weirdos. I normally employ the same tactics as they do, but before they do it. Cyrus pointed out something important, but I don't think people realize what he said:

Yes, they are monetizing your photos, but we as blackhatters should have already had this idea before Google. "Black Hat" means to stay a step ahead.

I have been collecting photos for years that I have either taken myself, or that I have found on the Internet. Thousands of beautiful photos. Well, they are just sitting on my computer collecting dust. The same way Google sees trillions of beautiful photos that you took sitting on their server. What can I/Google do with all these photos? We are going to monetize them of course. But how can I/Google do it without getting in trouble with copyright? I will let you blackhatters figure that out.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

@bartosimpsonio If it makes you feel any better, I just got an email from "Sundar" that was full of complete BS. It arrived on a Saturday at that. I guess that means he's working hard and cares about humanity if he's working the weekends, right?

I emailed him asking for a simple request and his lap dog "Matt" responded with some nonsensical musical chairs garbage. It would have been better if he acted like a real CEO and didn't respond at all. Not responding at all is better than responding with BS.

Considering Google IS their invention, they are allowed to do what they want with it. I don't have a problem with that. The problem I have is that they make their invention available to the masses, then turn around and abuse those same people with an invention that was meant to help people.

I have come to the realization that a lot of these people who run these big companies are deeply disturbed. They aren't like us. If a company will just lie, cheat, and steal from it's customers without warning or legitimate reason, and not provide a phone number to contact them regarding the issue, that means there is something fundamentally broken/corrupted with the leadership of the company.

Because of that, I have learned to stay a step ahead of these weirdos. I normally employ the same tactics as they do, but before they do it. Cyrus pointed out something important, but I don't think people realize what he said:

Yes, they are monetizing your photos, but we as blackhatters should have already had this idea before Google. "Black Hat" means to stay a step ahead.

I have been collecting photos for years that I have either taken myself, or that I have found on the Internet. Thousands of beautiful photos. Well, they are just sitting on my computer collecting dust. The same way Google sees trillions of beautiful photos that you took sitting on their server. What can I/Google do with all these photos? We are going to monetize them of course. But how can I/Google do it without getting in trouble with copyright? I will let you blackhatters figure that out.

I just read your whole post and I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[shieldone]

I am not happy for that. Last month my CTR goes rapidly down, and I was confused why. Then I check some forums and voilla - Google scored

 

[bartosimpsonio]

I am not happy for that. Last month my CTR goes rapidly down, and I was confused why. Then I check some forums and voilla - Google scored

Google is going to take 90% of everyone's traffic soon.

 

[yakuzaemme]

I'm genuinely starting to get pissed at Google scraping our data. This not only hurts our advertising revenue and traffic - but also brand quality for the times their scraper parses incorrectly.

It's one thing if we actually put schema on stuff like opening hours - that's inviting Google to parse it. But then they go ahead and just do it anyway.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

I'm genuinely starting to get pissed at Google scraping our data. This not only hurts our advertising revenue and traffic - but also brand quality for the times their scraper parses incorrectly.

It's one thing if we actually put schema on stuff like opening hours - that's inviting Google to parse it. But then they go ahead and just do it anyway.

Also notice how difficult it is to get through to the actual establishment's official website.

On the local business listing to the right and on maps and elsewhere one thing leads to another inside Google and customers may well never reach your site.

So if you're a hotel and you've got a special announcement or something new going that you announce at your home page, your customers will never see it.

 

[nehinc]

Did they create the traffic? Did they manufacture the content? If you build a website and put it online ,,does Google send you an agreement to sign and have notarized, stating you give up the rights to your hard earned content??? Or do they just crawl your site and take take take?? The issue is incredibly complicated and will take years to sort out ,,and only if google is challenged.
Google just keep the game level, or the issue of a monopoly can be pressed! Several Giants have been slapped down in history , Amazon is another behemoth that is drawing the attention of the all powerful U.S. Gov. I

 

[nehinc]

Exactly.. that is the question.

Additionally, Google totally created this market. What was there before? Yahoo? Ask jeeves? Dog shit (or whatever they were called)? Oh pls...

It's Google's traffic. They do whatever they want to.

Edit: oh and copyright.. lulz. I have one word for you. China. Go figure.

Well with all due sir ,,,China is not a Corporation operating under U.S. Law. And google cannot do as they please when there are millions of other people and companies entangled in the issue.

 

[filterframe]

Well with all due sir ,,,China is not a Corporation operating under U.S. Law. And google cannot do as they please when there are millions of other people and companies entangled in the issue.

I think the problem most people have here is that google can and does do what ever they please.