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Has The Google Panda Become Self-Aware?

by creature
7 replies
No - I am not talking Skynet here, but I am noticing a disturbing trend on Google search that it keeps trying to "guess" what I am searching for and returning those results rather than simply returning results for the actual search term entered.

Case in point; I have a site whose home page (with most of y backlinks) is "low glycemic foods". On that site, I have a page named "low glycemic foods" and optimized for that keyword. If I search for "low glycemic foods", the first result I get (at #13 currently) is my HOME page - my page on the exact search term is nowhere to be found.

I've seen that with other searches as well. WTF is going on here? Does Google really think it knows better that I do what I am searching for? Give me a break.

Google is getting to be "Search Results For Dummies" instead of a search engine.
#google #panda #selfaware
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    Originally Posted by creature View Post

    Google is getting to be "Search Results For Dummies" instead of a search engine.

    It has always been "search results for dummies".

    They have tools for advanced users, but the vast majority of people who use google don't even understand that the results can be manipulated, by the searcher or listed website owner.
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    • Profile picture of the author creature
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      It has always been "search results for dummies".

      They have tools for advanced users, but the vast majority of people who use google don't even understand that the results can be manipulated, by the searcher or listed website owner.

      Or by the Great Panda himself...but to what end?
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    The Google Search Engine will become self aware on August 19th, 2012 and will soon take over our own nuclear weapons stock......at least that's what John Conner told me.

    RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author Miguelito203
    Originally Posted by creature View Post

    No - I am not talking Skynet here, but I am noticing a disturbing trend on Google search that it keeps trying to "guess" what I am searching for and returning those results rather than simply returning results for the actual search term entered.

    Case in point; I have a site whose home page (with most of y backlinks) is "low glycemic foods". On that site, I have a page named "low glycemic foods" and optimized for that keyword. If I search for "low glycemic foods", the first result I get (at #13 currently) is my HOME page - my page on the exact search term is nowhere to be found.

    I've seen that with other searches as well. WTF is going on here? Does Google really think it knows better that I do what I am searching for? Give me a break.

    Google is getting to be "Search Results For Dummies" instead of a search engine.
    Have you tried turning off Google instant? Also, I don't know anything about your niche, but your keyword search terms seems a bit broad to me. It also has a good amount of competition. That's probably why your home page is showing up rather than the actual page that you attempted to optimize for the search engines. I would go for a long-tail keyword that's targeted towards buyers.

    Just for the heck of it, I added two keywords to the end of the phrase, based on what came up in Google search. The keyword is much more targeted for a product that I'm sure you could find on CB or something. It has really low competition. It didn't show up in the Google keyword tool, but there are 8 major companies like Nutrasystem paying for ad space. You might also be able to pull in traffic from multiple keyword phrases.

    You might want to try "low glycemic foods diet plan" just for fun to see what happens. Again, this is just an educated guess. I figure if 8 companies and paying for advertising space, it must be worth it--even though it doesn't show up using the Google keyword tool.

    Good luck,
    Joey
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    • Profile picture of the author creature
      Originally Posted by Miguelito203 View Post

      Have you tried turning off Google instant? Also, I don't know anything about your niche, but your keyword search terms seems a bit broad to me. It also has a good amount of competition. That's probably why your home page is showing up rather than the actual page that you attempted to optimize for the search engines. I would go for a long-tail keyword that's targeted towards buyers.

      Thanks for the suggestion - good idea.

      Actually, my domain name does pretty well already against very stiff competition (South Beach Diet, etc.) usually ranking between 3-5 on Page 1 of Google for "low glycemic foods").

      The thing that is really bothering me is that my home page keeps showing up way ahead of other targeted keyword phrases that I have opimized entire pages for when those keywords are entered.

      In otherwords, Google keeps showing the same results for multiple variations of related keywords, even some that are almost opposite in meaning. And I checked this by using the "incognito" feature of Chrome.

      Seems like this is very different than what I've gotten used to over the years, and seems to mark a real change in what Google is doing right now.
      That's the reason for my Skynet metaphor for what "The Panda" is up to.
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  • Profile picture of the author Miguelito203
    I know what you're talking about now. I put up a blog post about 4 days ago to get ranked for something. At first, my blog post showed up for the keywords like normal. Now, when I type in the same keywords, the home page of my site shows up on the first page instead of the actual blog post. I don't know what's up with that. It's never happened before.

    Joey
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    Learn How to Snipe in 2015 and Generate $750+ per Month in Record Time (Product Launches) - Great For Back-to-School, Fall & Holiday Seasons!
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    • Profile picture of the author creature
      Originally Posted by Miguelito203 View Post

      I know what you're talking about now. I put up a blog post about 4 days ago to get ranked for something. At first, my blog post showed up for the keywords like normal. Now, when I type in the same keywords, the home page of my site shows up on the first page instead of the actual blog post. I don't know what's up with that. It's never happened before.

      Joey
      Glad to know I am not alone - thought I might be getting paranoid or somethin.

      I think this indicates some sort of substantive shift in the Google algorithm, but no one else seems to be commenting on it.
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