IMHO, It's really very simple....Google has convinced most IMers that they cannot survive without PR and SERPS. Bad news....they can. You see, Google wants it all, just as the old Standard Oil Monopoly wanted it all. Everything Google does is in the long term of benefit to Google and no one else. Google is essentially telling everyone that they have to act as scavengers, waiting for something to die in order to eat and that predators, that is, those who go hunting will be mercilessly wiped out by the cute little Pandas, Penguins or whatever other cutesy animal name Google gives to its next massacre. Thousands of sites which never engaged in an sort of SEO have nosedived with ordinary Mom-and-Pop businesses devasted by the "updates". Good SEO is the same thing as good advertising and is not necessarily "spam", which term in itself has been so overused as to nearly lack meaning or refer pretty much to anything that someone doesn't like! I mean, if you want to get found on the Internet, you need as many link, backlinks and references of all kinds. You need a good CAN-SPAM compliant email campaign (More on that one later!). Google doesn't want you to have these as they might take away business from......... (Pensive drumroll) ..........Google, of course! By the way, just when was control of the Internet ceded to Google? I don't remember being asked about it. How about you? Anyone ask you? What do you think?
Incorporatorpro: Google has convinced most IMers that they cannot survive without PR and SERPS. Whether or not that's true is debatable. Perhaps IMers who are marketing products related to PR and SEO are really the proponents of that idea. Like it or not though, you can't escape the fact that Google has single-handedly shaped how a huge portion of the online marketing game is played. And since most players are only aware of the Google playing field, that's naturally where they focus their attention. But, as you point out, there are alternative marketing methods and sources that do not directly involve Google, that can outstrip in traffic delivery anything that the average marketer could hope to achieve via Google... and in much less time. Hermas
What I learned over the past few months is that you can not just rely on the Google search engine to get you most of your traffic. You can be on page for a very competitive keyword for months and even years and then one day, it is GONE.
talfighel: What I learned over the past few months is that you can not just rely on the Google search engine to get you most of your traffic. How quickly people forget that there are other search engines like Yahoo and Bing, direct marketing efforts, etc. that can also drive traffic. Doing SEO just for a Google ranking is really putting all of your eggs in one basket and extremely risky.
The Google Penguin update hit many webmasters hard, slashing their earnings and sending their websites into oblivion!! I was hit hard, but luckily I have other means of income and my most active website doesn't rely on google for traffic.
When I first got into IM I was taught to worship the G, but I just can't be bothered with all that SEO anymore. All that worrying about keyword density and getting links. The G is not fair and I can't play in a game where you don't get to see the rules. I just let it get on with itself in the background, like some great mindless machine. If it benefits me, then good, if not, i'm not bothered. I can't be bothered thinking about keywords and backlinks. I like to write naturally, I link when I want to. Google say thats what they like anyway. And I can't be doing that other website, Facebook. It's a mess. The way I see the internet is, you build a website, then you go to websites where people are talking and you add some value and at the same time direct people to your site where appropriate. I feel it is sad when people are made to feel guilty if they dare to mention their url. Oh no, spam attack! One mans spam is another mans answer to a question. Spam is like weeds. A weed is only a plant that is in the wrong place. One man's weed is another's flower. I can see the G falling because they keep upsetting too many people. All empires come to an end one day when something better comes along. It is good to remember that there is something bigger than Google and that is the internet.
