Houston, we have a problem.

1. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 5 years ago

   Using StartPage, I checked out my articles.
   
   There were the YouTube videos above my articles. Not surprised.
   
   There was wikipedia above my articles. Not surprised.
   
   There were the specific-topic-relevant domain names above my articles. Not surprised.
   
   ------
   
   I believe it to be a fact that this is not going to change.
   
   I am reducing my expectations. Whatever earnings happen to come my way, I consider it a gift.

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   1. 60

      Randy Godwinposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Are you shitting me, Para? Is this what HP has come to?

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      1. 61

         paradigmsearchposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         A meme came to mind, but HP doesn't want me to do that anymore.

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2. 79

   EricDockettposted 5 years ago

   I checked one of my articles yesterday. It ranked second, which used to be pretty good. Except now, above the actual articles, Google has:
   
   -A large diagram of some kind attempting to answer the query themselves without anyone having to actually click on a page. I assume this is some kind of featured snippet but it is bigger
   -A row of YouTube videos (Google's own property)
   -An extensive "People also ask" section, again trying to answer the query without anyone clicking on a search result.
   -A sidebar with a whole bunch of other nonsense taken from around the web.
   
   
   For many queries, it seems like the only way forward is to try to rank for featured snippets and "people also ask" queries.  The #2 search result (and the #1 result, for that matter) doesn't appear until well past the midpoint of the page. Ranking #2 used to be a good thing. Not anymore, I guess.

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   1. 65

      OldRosesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not lovin' the featured snippet.  One of the pages on my website has the featured snippet.  It is a list of herbs to grow in a butterfly garden.  The article itself lists each herb and its growing requirements.  The featured snippet just lists the herbs with no growing info so theoretically people could just copy that list and never bother reading my article robbing me of income.  Thanks Google!

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      1. 79

         EricDockettposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Featured snippets can bring in a lot more traffic when you can get them. But they do have their issues. There is nothing more frustrating than when the text and link for the featured snipped go to another website but the picture is from my article.

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         1. 65

            OldRosesposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I waste so much time chasing down people who use my photos on their websites.  My website is about herbs and I take a lot of my own photos, especially of herbs that are difficult to find free photos for.  So naturally those are the most "popular" ones to get stolen.  People think that if a photo appears in Google images, they are free to use it.  They don't understand or don't want to understand about licensing.

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            1. 79

               EricDockettposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               The sites aren't stealing my photos. Well, some probably are, but in the case I mentioned about the featured snippets Google will actually mix and mash the info from one website with a photo from another.

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   2. 99

      DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      The featured snippet seems to be the only thing to shoot for now.
      The Youtube videos bother me a lot. When I see that row I check them out, and often find one of them is a copy of my own article, read by a computer. They get more traffic than the original.
      Google will take them down when a complaint is filed. They will, however, inform the plagiarist of your email and name. Good old Google, always protecting the rights of the criminals who steal our work.

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         EricDockettposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         The problem with aiming for featured snippets and "people also ask" is that you end up literally writing to please Google, the very thing they say you aren't supposed to do. If you write a naturally flowing article without structuring it so you can get the featured snipppet you hurt your chances of getting traffic.
         
         Every SEO in the world knows what you have to do to improve your chances of getting a featured snipped and everyone shoots for it. How is that ensuring quality content rises to the top? So frustrating.

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            DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, I agree. The last article I wrote had the featured snippet in only four days, but I put a long list in a TOC form on top, and now I think that the reader just skips down to their favorite breed without reading the information that is written to help them. (View duration has only a few stars.)
            Maybe their new search page should have their real slogan "Google, promoting things you do not want to read for over 20 years"

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