A New way to tank your competitor's site? Maybe. Maybe not

[Mike Anthony]

So Google is on the prowl again with some more updates and now if you are logged into Google you can block sites that you don't like so that they never show up in any of your searches.

but according to Google

Hide sites from anywhere in the world - Inside Search

they will also be using the overall data on blocked sites in their algo (probably alongside likes and their user toolbar) . So will we see fiverr gigs soon where someone with multiple accounts will block your competitor's site to cause it to drop?

I got to think they are not putting too much into the algo from this new factor but I am sure someone is going to try it.

[MikeFriedman]

I would like to think the people at Google are smart enough to think about this. However, how do you prevent a competitor from tanking a site then? They can hide behind proxies and VPN's, giving Google no way to track that these accounts are coming from the same person.

I'm thinking they will disregard the actions of an account that ONLY logs in to block sites or has very little activity on their account.

That would cut down some on people abusing this.

They probably will also make it a very insignificant ranking factor.

On the other hand, maybe they have not thought ahead on any of this and everyone better watch out who they piss off.

[yukon]

It's possible it could impact SERPs in the future, as long as Likes is less than Dislikes.

I would assume anyone that does a Google search & doesn't dislike would be a vote for a Like?

Who knows...

[yukon]

I'm kinda thinking G would put less weight on a dislike from a new Google account.

[MikeFriedman]

I was looking at the article again. Google says that they have "begun incorporating data about sites people have blocked into our general search ranking algorithms." However, it doesn't say that they are using the data against those sites in particular.

Maybe they mean more that they are gathering data about what sites had in common that seem to get blocked a lot and incorporating that into the SERPs. Granted, a site getting blacklisted by tons of users will still not have its ranking improve, but maybe it will not be penalized directly.

[ichl13]

If this is true, I'm not looking forward to seeing packages here that can tank people's sites. Makes me feel unsafe lol

[Mike Anthony]

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

I was looking at the article again. Google says that they have "begun incorporating data about sites people have blocked into our general search ranking algorithms." However, it doesn't say that they are using the data against those sites in particular.

True but if you incorporate it into the algo then it will end up hurting the site anyway. IF they do I bet this is a layered thing. In other words it doesn't affect your site unless you have something else that hits you in the algo as well like crappy links or lack of relevant content.

[cmg06]

Personalized search results is a cool feature; however, I don't think Google will ever use personalized search results to influence the main index for the general public.

It would be interesting to see a new ranking function influence one or more websites when a certain numeric threshold has been reached because of a mass downgrading of one or more websites.

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by Mike Anthony

True but if you incorporate it into the algo then it will end up hurting the site anyway. IF they do I bet this is a layered thing. In other words it doesn't affect your site unless you have something else that hits you in the algo as well like crappy links or lack of relevant content.

No I agree. I just don't think it will be a penalty applied to a specific website. It will be something more like they get a bunch of data that people are blocking one page sites with a ton of text (like those stupid IM sales copy pages) that have an exit popup window. Then if a site has those two things, it will be harder to rank.

However, that "penalty" won't follow the site specifically. If the webmaster changes the layout, they would be fine.

It's actually very similar to what they did with Panda.

[Jeremy Banks]

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

I would like to think the people at Google are smart enough to think about this. However, how do you prevent a competitor from tanking a site then? They can hide behind proxies and VPN's, giving Google no way to track that these accounts are coming from the same person.

I'm thinking they will disregard the actions of an account that ONLY logs in to block sites or has very little activity on their account.

That would cut down some on people abusing this.

They probably will also make it a very insignificant ranking factor.

On the other hand, maybe they have not thought ahead on any of this and everyone better watch out who they piss off.

I think this is not a move for them to improve their algorithm, but a move to improve personal search results.

In the long run I think google wants every search result to be different depending on who is searching. They will see the types of sites you don't like and rank those types of sites lower based on previous sites you have blocked.

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Banks

I think this is not a move for them to improve their algorithm, but a move to improve personal search results.

In the long run I think google wants every search result to be different depending on who is searching. They will see the types of sites you don't like and rank those types of sites lower based on previous sites you have blocked.

I don't think you read the article. Google stated that they have begun to incorporate the data into their general search algorithm, so no it is not limited to just personal results.