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Is Google manipulating search results?

by Samuel Adams
8 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Google operates with supposedly transparent rules (if you read the Webmaster TOS and help pages). They say if you produce good content and stay away from bad badlinks, then you are assured of a high place in search results. But, does it really work that way? There are many high quality, good content sites that never see the light of day on Google search due to much more 'authority' sites ranking consistently for popular keywords.

What about all those big shopping networks (Amazon included) online that rank well for every keyword? Is it that Amazon is truly deserving of such a place? Surely there are many other multi-conglomerate shopping sites online that offer a comparable selection (think eBay and OverStock).

Is Google manipulating who can get into the top results?

They can flip a switch and change the rules on a whim. Are these changes tailored to sites like Wiki and Amazon that already exhibit those qualities anyway so that the sites that Google wants will always appear in top results?

Maybe that's just conspiratorial thinking but I'm not the only one who thinks maybe Google has a little too much power in determining who appears in their top search results and thinking somehow all this is designed to manipulate algorithms to exclude small/medium sites so the owners of those sites will have to buy ads to be seen by their audience.
#google #manipulating #power #results #search
  • Profile picture of the author SEO-Dave
    Originally Posted by Samuel Adams View Post

    Is Google manipulating who can get into the top results?
    No, you don't understand off-site SEO.

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  • Profile picture of the author abrahamkornel
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    rather than manipulation, i would say, those providers and mammuts are paying big amount of cash to Google to rank higher...yes for almost every keyword...till others need to achieve this rank or less by clicks
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    • Profile picture of the author SEO-Dave
      Originally Posted by abrahamkornel View Post

      rather than manipulation, i would say, those providers and mammuts are paying big amount of cash to Google to rank higher...yes for almost every keyword...till others need to achieve this rank or less by clicks
      No, authority is built via aged backlinks, the likes of Amazon and Wikipedia have countless millions of HIGH QUALITY backlinks, we mere mortals are lucky to generate a few hundred quality links in comparison.

      It's a level playing field, but WE are up against giants with sand as our ammo.

      David and Goliath analogy there for yer :-)

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  • Profile picture of the author dvdmaker11
    Yes, Google always manipulating seo result on the basis of site performance of targeting website and daily Google crawler crawl website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Blaine Smitley
    Originally Posted by Samuel Adams View Post

    Google operates with supposedly transparent rules (if you read the Webmaster TOS and help pages). They say if you produce good content and stay away from bad badlinks, then you are assured of a high place in search results. But, does it really work that way? There are many high quality, good content sites that never see the light of day on Google search due to much more 'authority' sites ranking consistently for popular keywords.
    Does Google really assure Designers that if they produce good content and stay away from badlinks then they're assured of a high place in search results?

    And even if they did? Then what is high?

    High is a relative term. If there are 200,000 returns for a key phrase querried. And you're in position 37... That is relatively high in relation to the amount of competing returns of 200,000.

    Only the top 3 spots on the first page get truly meaningful traffic.

    I don't want a high rank. I want a piece of the top 3.
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  • Profile picture of the author danparks
    Originally Posted by Samuel Adams View Post

    Google operates with supposedly transparent rules (if you read the Webmaster TOS and help pages). They say if you produce good content and stay away from bad badlinks, then you are assured of a high place in search results. But, does it really work that way?
    Originally Posted by Blaine Smitley View Post

    Does Google really assure Designers that if they produce good content and stay away from badlinks then they're assured of a high place in search results?
    Beat me to it. That's exactly what I was going to question. If there are thousands of web pages that match some query, and most of them were "doing things right" per Google, how could Google "promise" each one they should rank high?

    Instead of "assured" maybe think "you'll have a chance" to rank high. You'll still need to do more than abide by Google's thoughts on what's "right" (namely, you'll need to get good backlinks to your site).
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Originally Posted by Samuel Adams View Post

    They say if you produce good content and stay away from bad badlinks, then you are assured of a high place in search results.
    Please show me where they say that. I'll save you the time. They do not say that anywhere.

    And of course they are manipulating the search results. That is what the whole algorithm is. It is a way to manipulate the search results to show users what they feel (through research, polling, and market testing) the users want to see.

    Originally Posted by Samuel Adams View Post

    What about all those big shopping networks (Amazon included) online that rank well for every keyword? Is it that Amazon is truly deserving of such a place? Surely there are many other multi-conglomerate shopping sites online that offer a comparable selection (think eBay and OverStock).

    Is Google manipulating who can get into the top results?
    Why is that bad? Stop thinking like an internet marketer who feels like they are getting an unfair shake.

    If I am just an average person looking to buy a new TV, am I more likely to browse and buy from Best Buy or Amazon, or am I more likely to buy from www. best-hd-tvs-over-50-inches-reviews-discounts-please-buy-here-so-i-can-get-my-7-dollar-affiliate-commission.com?

    You can whine as much as you want about Google being evil. They are simply trying to give users what they want. If their users were so upset with seeing big companies dominate many of the SERPs, they would go elsewhere. Clearly they are not.

    Originally Posted by Samuel Adams View Post

    Maybe that's just conspiratorial thinking but I'm not the only one who thinks maybe Google has a little too much power in determining who appears in their top search results and thinking somehow all this is designed to manipulate algorithms to exclude small/medium sites so the owners of those sites will have to buy ads to be seen by their audience.
    Are you kidding? Google has too much power in determining who appears in their own search results? Who else should have that power? That's like saying that Nike has too much power in designing their latest Air Jordans. It's their product.

    The whole AdWords conspiracy thing always makes me laugh. Every time one site gets bumped off, another takes its spot. How do you know the one taking its spot was not previously a big AdWords spender and now decides to trim or entirely cutoff its AdWords budget?
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnnyPlan
    Wouldn't you say that Amazon is the 'authority' figure on almost every kind of product? And, they've been building this reputation for twenty years (since 1994.). How much more time should a company need to invest to be considered the leader in shopping?
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