Come on, man!

1. 86

   cryptidposted 12 years ago

   You know, I try to think deep down inside that Google is doing the right thing when it comes shaking up the search results and keeping everyone on their toes, weeding out the junk and all that, but times like this just make be want to chuck my laptop at someone. 
   
   I'm trying to do research on some guitar stuff and no matter how I phrase my search the results keep coming back to sites where I can buy something.  Guitar Center.  Amazon.  Musician's Friend. Sweetwater. It's almost like I have to outsmart them to find the info I want.   
   
   It would only be slightly annoying if I didn't know there was some poor schmuck out there who runs a website with the exactly the info I want but its buried on the 19th page behind Amazon results and YouTube videos.
   
   Hey, maybe you even have a Hub that meets my needs, but I might never find it. 
   
   I'll just have to dig deeper to find the info I need and ignore the useless junk, but isn't that the opposite of what G is supposedly accomplishing here?

   replyreport
   1. 64

      prettydarkhorseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Don't bother searching, go directly to amazon.com, G is scared of them, :-)

      replyreport
   2. 81

      Georgie Loweryposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Pssst. I have to whisper so noone will hear me say it and I hate to say this, but USE BING. Yeah. There. I broke the addiction.

      replyreport
      1. 86

         cryptidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         LOL!  Bing is looking better and better, but that doesn't change that the majority of people out there are using G, and they seem to have really made a mess of things. 
         
         I think about my dad who ran a little golf shop.  Just a hole in the wall, but he built up a nice reputation in the community.  In the olden days he used to sell stuff online too and it became a good source of additional revenue.  Today, I'm not sure he'd even have a chance of getting found.

         replyreport
   3. 66

      Marketing Meritposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      If it's a hub you're looking for then you'll probably never find it on Google...well, not the way things currently stand!
      
      Sadly, I don't share your optimisim about Google's motives Cryptid.
      
      I believe they have far too much of a monopoly over search engines and recently, have demonstrated bias towards their own sites and promotions.
      
      I've seen one of my niche  income sites, with 100% uniquely written articles, drop from page 1 into oblivion. The new sites on page 1 comprise only a landing page. Not only do they have less content but they also have less quality content . It seems totally illogical to me.
      
      I'm all for competition, but let's make it a fair fight eh?!!!
      
      The Panda updates seem to be having the exact opposite effect to that allegedly desired. This results in a far less satisfying user experience, as you have demonstrated in your opening post.
      
      I'm off to write a Blogger blog now and start a fund raising mission to buy a one way ticket to the moon for Matt Cutts.
      
      Think that may be the only way I'm going to get back to page 1

      replyreport
      1. 86

         cryptidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I hear what you're saying.  I've been reading a bit since I posted this thread and I'm getting a little less optimistic with each site I visit. Ugh!   
         
         I picture Matt Cutts spending a lot of his time sitting alone in the dark, wringing his hands and cackling maniacally to himself.

         replyreport
2. 74

   Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

   What kind of guitar stuff?
   
   I meddle in that a lot. 

   replyreport
   1. 86

      cryptidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I was doing research on Les Paul (the guitarist) and vintage Epiphone guitars and other instruments they made back in the early part of the 20th century.

      replyreport
      1. 74

         Reality Bytesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         http://www.lespaulbiography.com/
         
         
         http://www.epiphone.com/History.aspx
         
         
         Maybe this will help.     
         
         I enjoy surfing them search engines.

         replyreport
         1. 86

            cryptidposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks RB.  I was looking for more obscure stuff, but I did eventually find what I needed.

            replyreport
3. 60

   zulumuscleposted 12 years ago

   They say they are trying to make searching for stuff easier and more helpful, but a few months ago some scraper sites were actually ranking pretty highly. I am sure with time things will get sorted (google must surely know that things are not working as planned). There are always other search engines like yahoo and bing in the meantime.

   replyreport
4. 79

   CyclingFitnessposted 12 years ago

   Ironically I've found my work seems to do best when there's a lot of competition.
   
   I have hubs which are high competition google keywords which also used to show with sales type shop sites that now show with my hubs on page 1. Not at first but over time.
   
   If people are looking for info they're not looking necessarily for a shop so quality shows- long term!
   
   My biggest competition for some hubs is Livestrong.com and the content on there is pretty dull and formulaic (demand media) so by improving on their work I have long term potential for many hubs

   replyreport