Google has exactly the same problems as us

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   makingamarkposted 9 years ago

   Just spotted this on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/googles- … n-nicholas
   
   It explains why traffic is down for everybody including Google
   
   "Google's core business, search advertising, is looking shakier than it has in years. The problem is the rise of mobile. Search advertising is the best way to make money on the web. But people aren't using the web as much on their mobile phones as they did on their desktops. Last quarter, Google's advertising business grew at its slowest rate in six years.
   
   People are searching for products on Amazon, rather than using Google. The only reason search makes money for Google is that people use it to search for products they would like to buy on the internet, and Google shows ads for those products. Increasingly, however, people are going straight to Amazon to search for products. Desktop search queries on Amazon increased 47% between September 2013 and September 2014, according to ComScore."
   
   In other words our hub traffic might be down but that's because Google's search traffic is - for two reasons.
   1) more mobile traffic - less traffic to adverts
   2) people going direct to Amazon and searching for goods they want to buy rather using Google
   
   Thing is - Amazon has a really poor categorisation system..... and that's why curated lists do really well!

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      jodijoyousposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Amazon search is awful.  I just looked for library card socks.  They didn't have them. Some of the suggestions were reasonable (socks with books on them), but some were just wacky: justin bieber garbage, mens snow boots, ipad covers?!

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   Patty Inglish, MSposted 9 years ago

   I noticed this week that the default search engine on my latest edition Firefox browser is now Yahoo instead of Google. Is everyone finding this happening?

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      paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      
      Yep, FF announced they're dumping G.

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         Patty Inglish, MSposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, yodaparadigm!

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      OldRosesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Firefox had an exclusive agreement with Google that was not renewed.  They signed an agreement with Yahoo instead to be their search provider.  I'm so glad because most of my traffic now comes from Yahoo and Bing.

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3. 0

   BarbaraCaseyposted 9 years ago

   Need to think some more about this. For example, do I aim for a higher profile as an Amazon reviewer and write my reviews from my unique niche perspective (which I'm still working on)? Thanks for sharing this one.

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4. 69

   stephenteacherposted 9 years ago

   Unfortunately, we are not google.
   
   The total searches has not gone down across the
   board. So HUBs should still be found at the same rate.
   
   If someone can't find you using google, what makes you think
   yahoo(bing, really) is going to be any kinder, or send more
   volume?
   
   Google's chrome is eating firefox's lunch. Firefox
   took a step to maybe try and trip google up.
   Fat chance there. Google's chrome will continue to grow.
   Firefox's decision is more about not helping their
   competitor. Why keep sending even breadcrumbs to google,
   when they are destroying your product?
   
   Google owns mobile. Android runs more mobile devices
   than any other.
   
   Google's revenue increased. Did our hub's? Theirs
   went up by 20%. Paid clicks went up by 2%. Small
   increase, but an increase nonetheless.
   
   Getting back to firefox. I can't remember the last time I
   typed for a search in the toolbar. Besides, anyone wanting
   google to be the default on firefox, just has to change the
   settings back. I did that as soon as the latest update.
   Yahoo is just a lousy experience using bing results.
   
   Of course eventually I will join the majority and use chrome
   anyway.
   
   Firefox is losing share...not gaining it. Having default yahoo
   is like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.
   
   Google employs the best computer engineers on the planet.
   Something that we don't have either.
   
   I do not rely on google, yahoo, or even hub for my success.
   
   I would encourage everyone else to do the same.

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      makingamarkposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This isn't a Google vs Firefox debate
      
      This is about why Google is slowing in the marketplace - about why its core business of selling advertising is slowing.  It's still increasing - but by nowhere near as much as it has done in the past.

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      OldRosesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Stephenteacher, I beg to differ.  Most of my traffic is now from Yahoo and Bing.  And my traffic from Pinterest is increasing.  Google is a distant fourth for me.

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         justholidaysposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I also get nice Bing  and Yahoo traffic.
         
         Earlier this morning I checked my statcounter account and found out that Google ranked one of my sites for entirely wrong keywords. People looking for cards would get figurines as search results. They'd surely been disappointed. Hopefully they won't be disappointed by me but by Google's intelligent algorithm that is unable to make difference between one keyword and another.

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5. 94

   jansharesposted 9 years ago

   Thanks for sharing that, makingamark. I found it very informative and extremely enlightening. I can now stop tweaking and tweeting my hubs thinking it's going to make a difference.

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      makingamarkposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I suspect tweeting will still work as a way of raising awareness - especially as tweets don't figure prominently in Google search results!

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   relacheposted 9 years ago

   Back when I lived in San Franciso in the 90s, I dated a Yahoo search engine programmer.  A spam hunter to be exact.
   
   All of the search engines actually sell search data and records to each other.  Google was getting something like 30% of its search results from Yahoo then.  In the end, the different engines actually aren't that different, and their search pools have been becoming more similar for over a decade.
   
   The days of ranking better with different engines is disappearing.

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   shellys-spaceposted 9 years ago

   My husband only using Bing on his Nook. He gave me and a Nook to and did a comparison to show me how much better Bing -vs- Google looked.
   
   Bing has my vote for the Nook...it is cleaner, vivid pictures, and much easier to search.

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   LeanManposted 9 years ago

   Google advertising is still growing!! Just slower than it has in past years but then it cannot always grow more and more every year... This is where companies and shareholders have stupid expectations to always do better year after year.. Growth is growth, and when you talk about growing on one of the worlds biggest profit makers that is significant...
   
   That being said the move to mobile does impact most people who earn online.. I have noticed that there are more people searching using their mobile than a desktop now but that there are significantly less clicks on adverts from a mobile search.

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   TonyPayneposted 9 years ago

   I attended an SEO presentation recently, and the consensus was that whereas in the past Google has given everything away for free, now you have to pay to get the highest placings in the search results, so in other words, if we don't pay, Google won't play, and searches will be down.
   
   What I don't understand though is why Google are so slow to remove sites that spam and plagiarize from their search index. You would think that if visitors wanted quality search results that Google would give them that, rather than risk them using Bing or Yahoo.

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