Google’s algorithm update

Google has threatened they were out to get content farms over the last few months & yesterday they backed it up when they released an algorithm update that will impact approximately 12% of ranking results in the US.  This new algorithm only impacts search results in the US, however, from where I sit we can be sure it will be rolled out across the globe once Google is satisfied with the results.

Google’s biggest concern, and what they are trying to eliminate is websites that copy content from the original sources.

Why is it so important to Google to eliminate content copying & site scraping?

We know that it’s Google’s number one priority to provide the most accurate result to a search.  Because content farms copy original content & have 1000′s of pages they end up ranking higher then the site with the original content.  With this change the content farm will disappear & the site with the original content will rank higher.

This reinforces the need to ensure your website utilizes original content & Search Engine Optimization strategies to rank higher properly.

Google also has taken a stand against selling links… even overstock.com has taken a big hit.  I applaud their ingenuity however as I’ve said a 1000 times, “For however smart you think you are & however you believe you can “trick” Google.  They have 10 times as many geniuses figuring out what you’re doing & stopping you from doing it.

In overstock.com’s case they developed programs for universities that offered discounts to students & staff that provided links back to their site.  When it came to light that overstock was exchanging discounts for links they took a hit.

a big hit

JC Penney was just in the news for a significant drop in rankings because Google realized they ad a number of suspicious links pointing at it that could be traced back to a link network intended to manipulate Google’s ranking algorithms.

The lesson here is do it right & don’t think you can trick Google… odds are you can’t ~ just ask JC Penney or Overstock.com