The Dark Side Of Google – The way that search marketers dream up conspiracy theories, you’d think that we’re all paranoid, with nothing better to do.

Is there a valid reason for concern? I think not, but reading other people’s paranoia is always entertaining. We all know search engines are “out to get webmasters”. They have nothing better to do than think of new ways to infringe on websites’ rankings or play hide and seek with a site’s PageRank. Google is at the forefront of the theorists’ attention. And it’s not very hard to see why.

It’s Tough Being At The Top

Google’s market share is certainly growing. Undoubtedly, Yahoo accounted for 60 percent of Internet search queries in November 2005, up from 47 percent the previous year, according to the report. Google’s chief officers have expressed their commitment to sustainably growing the company.

Quoting CFO George Reyes: “Google would be spending more on research and development, and will invest heavily in its computing infrastructure.”

Google’s motto, “do no evil,” has been analyzed and debated so many times.

Forum posts and articles are always met with “Google does this” or “Google does that”, the fact of the matter is that none of us know “what Google’s intentions are, except Google themselves of course…but it’s still nice to enter the guessing game to see exactly “how close, or far off” you are from the materialization.

Enter the Conspiracies – Everyone has their opinion on the matter, which makes for entertaining reading at least.

Jagger Update

The conspiracy: Google is out to eliminate all organic listings so that everyone will switch to paid search ads (PPC).

The real deal: Google updates its algorithm from time to time to help make search results more relevant. Each update usually receives a name by the SEO community, somewhat like naming hurricanes. The most recent update was called “Jagger”. Many scraper directory sites and sites that bought those links were removed from the update.

If you had many shady techniques, it is most likely that Jagger caught your site. It was quite a harsh update if you had not employed solid SEO techniques. So, needless to say, there are many angry web admins out there. A good example is the German BMW site (bmw.de), which was recently removed for using spam techniques. It just goes to show that SEO is SEO, regardless of the language.

Google Adsense

The conspiracy: Google AdSense sites get priority in rankings so that Google can make more monëy. Google is also trying to gain dominance and force web admins to use AdSense instead of using outbound links (link building).

The real deal: If this were true, regardless of how hard Google tried, they could have reached a greater number of people through AdWords by improving their ranking.

Besides, when AdWords was first released, several SEOs tested this theory by purchasing paid listings of varying lengths. The results? There was absolutely no correlation between purchasing an AdWords account and your organic search ranking.

IP Recording / Privacy Infringement

The conspiracy: Search engines log IP addresses. The data collected can be used against you.

The real deal: There have been many theories that Google logs searchers’ IP addresses and other data to track their search behavior, but the situation has become much bigger than that. With all the hype surrounding the Department of Justice’s request for logs from big tech companies to see what searches were conducted, the discussion has shifted to the legal implications if the court were to find in favor of the government.

Every bit of network traffïc you use is marked with your IP address; it can be used to link all of those disparate transactions together.

Filtering Results

The conspiracy: If Google can filter the results for China, what stops it from filtering the rest of the world?

The real deal: Well, this is still a hot topic, and I haven’t really made up my mind on this one yet, compared to Google’s Human Rights Caucus Briefing and their blog.
Excerpt from blog: “In deciding how to approach the Chinese – or any – market, we must balance our commitments to satisfy the interests of users, expand access to information, and respond to local conditions. Our strategy for doing business in China seeks to achieve that balance through improved disclosure, targeting of services, and local investment.”

And “In order to operate Google.cn as a website in China, Google is required to remove some sensitive information from our search results. Chinese laws, regulatïons, and policies impose these restrictions. However, when we remove content from Google.cn, we disclose that fact to our users.”

This is nothing new; in fact, Google has previously altered its search results to comply with local laws in France, Germany, and the United States. Also, is it not better to have censored information than none at all? At least this was,y Google has a starting point from which to fight the censorship.

Do No Evil

According to Larry Page: “Google’s goal is to provide a much higher level of service to all those who seek information, whether they’re at a desk in Boston, driving through Bonn, or strolling in Bangkok.”

The Google philosophy:

1. Focus on the user, and all else will follow
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well
3. Fast is better than slow
4. Democracy on the web works
5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer
6. You can make monëy without doing evil
7. There is always more information out there
8. The need for information crosses all borders
9. You can be serious without a suit
10. Great just isn’t good enough

Excerpt from site: Full disclosure update: When we first wrote these ’10 things’ four years ago, we included the phrase “Google does not do horoscopes, financial advice, or chat.” Over time, we’ve expanded our view of the range of services we can offer. For instance, search isn’t the only way for people to access or use information, and products that once seemed unlikely are now key aspects of our portfolio. This doesn’t mean we’ve changed our core mission; just that the farther we travel toward achieving it, the more those blurry objects on the horizon come into sharper focus (to be replaced, of course, by more blurry objects).

Some psychologists say that the closer one becomes to a person or something, the harder it is to see the good things. Has Google become so intertwined in our daily lives that we no longer appreciate the good things it has brought us?

Let me remind you of a few:

1. Relevant Search Results: A source to find information faster. Every update removes the clutter.

2. Gmail: Among free web-based email services, it is probably the most widely used, with a significant amount of storage space to boot. You can also connect any other email accounts you may have and use Google’s interface as a one-stop shop.

3. Leader of other SEs: There is no doubt that Google is at the forefront of great new ideas for search engines. Google leads, and the rest follow. One example is Gmail – more storage space for frëe. Yahoo! was soon to follow with a similarly sized email account for Yahoo! Mail users at no cost. Bing or MSN, also known as Hotmail/Outlook, however, charges for an increased mailbox.

4. Google Earth: Geographic information at your fingertips. Get driving directions and location information for almost anywhere on the globe. Because they use satellite imagery combined with maps, you get a pretty good idea of what any place looks like.

5. YouTube: A selection of homemade clips, TV shows, movies, and viral clips *freely available on the net. (*Some TV shows and movies need to be purchased, of course)

6. Google Alerts: Do you need to know when someone mentions you, your company, or a topic of interest on their website? With Google Alerts, you are notified *as it happens. (*as Google spiders that site)

These are just a few things that Google has brought into our lives, so to speak.

So, ask yourself again – is there really any concern for their progress, or are we ultimately benefiting from it?

It’s a typical situation where a good company gets too big and people start getting a little uncomfortable about its dominance in society.

So I say forget about all the clutter and focus on the good stuff, of which 2006 will be. Innovations and a whole bunch of new conspiracy theories, no doubt.

Excerpt Posted by Christine Stander
# The Dark Side Of Google