Google Borg - Why You Should be Concerned with the New Google Editions

Don't forget how affiliates were the pioneers of using AdWords, then the businesses they were affiliates OF caught on and Google really doesn't mind cutting out the middle men who made it possible.

That's why more and more I think organic SEO is the best way to go because even if Google didn't exist, how can you go wrong making more relevant pages with more relevant links. That would get you traffic without search engines even existing.

Of all the things Google does, free organic traffic is the only case where you get something from them for free - which you may as well do because they'll certainly use your content to sell ads on top of, with your permission or not.

But back to the OP's point, I agree - they won't stop with books. Google is the number one search engine - content is what feeds the machine. They want all content. All video, all books, all websites. All of it.

To put ads on. They don't care who buys the ads or who evangelizes them, because all they sell is ads. As long as they sell more, they are happy. So there's no real part of Google's business model that is "safe" for affiliates.

But if you're a direct creator of a product, they have all manner of targeted traffic you can buy very cheaply, all things considered.

Ultimately, everything is made of information. When you are the manager of that information, you control everything. When you render all things into parse-able information, your position as the indexer of that information isn't just nice, it's necessary.

Google has managed to put itself in my pants via a smartphone. It's closer to me than my wife. It's the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. It's the end-all-be-all repository for the whole of human knowledge, INCLUDING all the lies.

It freaks me out that it came about in my lifetime, and I've seen it grow to the point that my relationship to it could be confused by more primitive cultures as WORSHIP.

And to her are we all devoted...

Google's doing a damn good job of stealing content to make their own.

Look at Google local for example, if you search for a hotel you don't even need to leave Google to see reviews all pulled from other websites.

They also provide directions (Google maps) along with streetview images of the place and direct links to book services.

They've done a great job of taking other peoples' content to get people to use their services and CREATE content for Google.

Google is the largest "thin affiliate" in the world and are getting bigger.

They have such close ties to the government I don't ever expect to see an antitrust issue unless it's done for show.

Look at the recent copyright case they won...they exchanged emails admitting they were hosting copyrighted content and they still were protected...

Google is a quasigovernmental body at this point.

You have got to be kidding me. Google has less than 12% of the overall internet marketing traffic. Personally, I think that number is inflated, but hey......

They are far from everything, nor can they do anything they want.

Thanx for the laugh this morning, I really needed it.

Btw, I don't view Google as my enemy. They've help put a lot of money in my pocket. My main point really was to not put all your eggs in one basket which is why over the years we've focused on creating our own networks and building our lists because Google can never control those. Something to think about when you're structuring and building your business for the long haul.

RoD

I remember when I first started using Google. It was back when Yahoo was #1. I don't remember if Yahoo was ever near-synonymous with the Internet, but a lot of people couldn't imagine it not being top dog.

But, some of us started using Google instead. It wasn't a conscious switch. We'd search in Yahoo then check things out in Google if we couldn't find what we we looking for. Eventually, we just started to check Google first.

Yahoo was also doing silly things. You used to be able to get listed free. Then they started charging for faster processing of your request to be listed. It was something like $299 and that didn't guarantee a listing, only that they'd look at your site sooner. You didn't have to pay. You could wait 3 to 6 months or whatever to get listed.

My first homepage was listed in Yahoo in a short period of time. I'm thinking a couple weeks or so. When I started a new homepage with a new URL, I submitted that to Yahoo too. I didn't pay $299. As I recall, it never did get listed, not in 3 months, not in 6 months. Never.

Meanwhile, you could get listed faster in Google. And you didn't have to pay for it. So, that provided extra incentive for webmasters to use Google. Newer, fresher content was getting indexed faster. And we told our friends to use Google, and our clients and everyone we knew that was online.

And Yahoo was knocked out of the #1 position, largely of their own doing, by treating website owners poorly.

Now, however, Google is the new Yahoo.

What this reminds me of it a thread I started last week: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...t-traffic.html

In it, I mentioned that, of the top ten sites I visit almost every day, most, if not all, of them I found through organic links. I didn't find them in Google.

But, you know, how I found them isn't nearly as important as the fact that I keep going back to them. That's the important thing. Once you get someone to your site, you've got to keep them.

A lot of people think that you have to get them on your list. Offer a freebie. Give them a deal. Use a popup or a popover to get them to sign up for your list. Don't let them leave until they have!

But, of the sites I visit on an almost daily basis, not one of them has a list, so it's not a list that's bringing me back to their site each day. About half of them have RSS feeds; I'm not subscribed to a single one of them.

I go back each day because of the content.

Create compelling content. That's what gets people coming back.

You know, I must be on dozens of lists. Probably a dozen or so IM lists. I bet most of them gave me a freebie when I signed up. I don't remember what a single one of those freebies might have been. No clue. There are lists I am on and I have absolutely no idea why I originally signed up on the list, what freebie I may have received, what products the list owner sells, or who the list owner is. I know I opted-in, but why? I don't know anymore.

And I'm on their list! And I receive messages from them regularly. And I still don't remember them.

On the other hand, I remember to go to these other sites almost every day--the sites without a list. There are places I purchase items from and I'm not on all of their lists either. But, when I need such-and-such an item, I know exactly where I'm going to go look. I don't need to be on their list to remind me; I just remember them.

Usually, it's been because they had entertaining content (even an eCommerce site can entertain) and/or good customer service and whatnot.

I still think content is king. And, however people find their way to your site, once they get there, you need to grab them. You need to give them a reason to come back. Few people remember a freebie. It was free. It didn't cost them anything. Why would they remember it? Create a quality site. Create an authority site. The next time someone wants to find or buy such-and-such a thing, you don't want them thinking, Oh, I need to Google that, you want them thinking, I need to visit [YOURNAME]'s website.

The more Google crosses the line into competing with the webmasters and businesses that pay its bills, the less those people are going to use Google, the less they will recommend Google, the less they will link to Google. Google is not too big to fail.

We can chip away at Google. If you have a niche website, make sure it's the best website in that niche. Once someone finds your site in Google (or where ever), make sure that that's the last time they use Google, Facebook, whatever to find info on your niche. Make sure they're going to think of you first.

Google has often been compared to a phone book. These days, instead of a phone book, people tend to use Google.

However, that's also bad news for Google. Consider the Yellow Pages, for example. There have been surveys done and what they've found is that people often used the Yellow Pages not to look for a business in a niche but to find the number for a business they already had in mind to use. You think they go there looking for a plumber, but really they go there to find the number for a specific plumber their friend or neighbor told them about. If they want to order a pizza, they don't look for pizza places; they look for the number for the pizza place they had already had in mind.

Google's becoming like that. I might not be using Google to find nearby plumbers but instead to find the web address of a specific plumber I already had in mind to use.

Mind you, of course that's not true in all cases. Sometimes you really don't have a plumber in mind and you want to find reviews and comparisons and stuff. But, the point is that there are things already chipping away at Google's importance. When you're trying to find a specific plumber, you don't care about the ads or other websites; you're only paying attention to the listing you want to find.

The long-winded point I am trying to make is that, if you have a quality compelling site in a niche, a visitor will only need to find you once. And once they've found you, they need never do another search in Google for your niche again.

And that's Google's catch-22. If they deliver a quality site for your search, you need never search them for that purpose again. So, the time you spend on Google becomes less and less. And, if you are getting more and more info from other sources, such as Facebook, you need to do even fewer searches than you have in the past. Plus, when you ask for a certain website on a social network, the results you get back have social proof. As such, they are more valuable than a random result from a search engine.

Continuing with Google's catch-22, the flip side is that if they deliver poor sites, you have to do more searches, but you also become frustrated. And, if they inch into more of a content provider role in order to keep you on their site, that's going to potentially cost them advertisers. Of course, maybe they feel cutting out the middleman will be better for them. Why get pennies from advertising when you can get dollars by pushing products directly? Maybe they want to be the Wal-Mart of the Internet; squeeze the little guy out and then run everyone else over.

So, Google is in a tenuous position, and they're not helping themselves. In fact, it seems they have painted targets on their own feet.

Right now, people think of Google as the source for finding things. Chip away at that. Whether you view Google as the enemy or a partner in getting traffic to your website, the key thing is to become the source of information in your niche. Get people to the point where they are going to think of you first, and not Google (or Facebook or anyone else for that matter), when they want info or products in your niche.

So Google has been sucker punching affiliates on adwords because they want the web to be more "user friendly" and now they are doing affiliate marketing by themselves.

Bull S*it

This morning Google announced it is paying $700 million for a travel technology company that will allow Google to make online travel bookings.

This will include airfares, hotels, cruises, etc.

Yet another example of Google leveraging its dominant position in search.

TPW: No need to be glib about the 'sky is falling' because you are correct about Google being interested in Google - and Google positioning itself to go after Amazon.

The question is - what is your market? Maybe this doesn't affect you - today.

But if you are an affiliate promoting books - you're going to be affected.

If you're an affiliate making money from online travel bookings - you're going to be affected.

If you're an Amazon affiliate you're going to be affected if Google takes portions of Amazon's business.

The ultimate point is that Google built it's business by being able to index your content and to steer customers your way.

That is rapidly changing.

If your content is now provided by Google, or rendered moot because whatever you are promoting is provided by Google directly, then your website has declined in value. Perhaps become obsolete.

It that "fair"? You miss the point - and that is to be aware of what is happening, to project the potential impact upon your business, and to plan accordingly.

A parallel:
Guy running for Congress. Man of the People. Family Values. Shaking hands, kissing babies, interviews with press, ribbon-cutting ceremonies, TV ads, high visibility. Willing to talk with anyone who is willing.

Two years later. Now a member of Congress. You're a constituent? No money to contribute? You'll be lucky to talk to an assistant to an assistant. Got a problem? Unless you're someone important, with clout, maybe, just maybe, you'll get a form letter response.

And that's Google. Like the family "pet" turning on a member of the family. Don't blame Google for mauling a "family member" That's just its nature.