Major Sellers Penalized by Google

[tritrain]

Read this fascinating account in this lengthy NY Times article about JC Penny, BMW, and others being penalized. - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/bu...agewanted=1&hp

Penney’s astoundingly strong search-term performance in recent months. What he found suggests that the digital age’s most mundane act, the Google search, often represents layer upon layer of intrigue. And the intrigue starts in the sprawling, subterranean world of “black hat” optimization, the dark art of raising the profile of a Web site with methods that Google considers tantamount to cheating.

and from Matt Cutts

“Do I wish our system had detected things sooner? I do,” he said. “But given the one billion queries that Google handles each day, I think we do an amazing job.”

It's fascinating to me because so many major sellers were caught.

Also that Google chose to only use "corrective action" on JC Penney, as apposed to a penalty, such as removing them from search entirely. Well, it pays to be a big name that pays a lot for advertising.

[DigiSumo]

I was reading about this when I woke up... lol

Hopefully this news embarrassed these companies and they follow natural methods in the future...

[tritrain]

What's interesting is the claim by JC Penney

Just 7 percent of JCPenney.com’s traffic comes from clicks on organic search results, she wrote. A far bigger source of profits this holiday season, she stated, came from partnerships with companies like Yahoo and Time Warner, from new mobile applications and from in-store kiosks.

.

Do you believe that?

I don't.

Also, organic traffic costs little to nothing. Whereas those partnerships probably cost them, one way or another.

[Chris Kent]

Originally Posted by tritrain

What's interesting is the claim by JC Penney .

Do you believe that?

I don't.

Also, organic traffic costs little to nothing. Whereas those partnerships probably cost them, one way or another.

I can believe it. Real world has seen the value of JVs for decades. Doesn't surprise me that they don't rely on search. JVs probably give them an opportunity to presell, enhance brand awareness by association etc.