Search Engine Optimization SEO News by Bay Street SEO Services

January 11, 2005

Hello,

Welcome to Bay Street SEOs' search engine optimization news blog. It appears Google has updated both Pagerank and backlinks recently and that's good news for everyone. Now our sites will be indexed more frequently, albeit inconsistently.

Some sites have seen their PR and backlinks shrink and it looks like a filter has been stepped up or a new one has been developed. Many poor quality backlinks, especially dynamically generated ones seem to be less in view now. Google's found a way to stop these links.

Some of the results were inconsistent last weekend so there could very well be another update coming.

Are you looking for ethical SEO companies? Try Bay Street SEO for well planned and effective search engine optimization. From keyword research to content development and link building, we'll make your site's visibility outstanding.


Google has just introduced a new search feature they call Google Suggest. The new service uses an autocomplete function to show additional search keywords to the user as they type in their search query.

Some suggest the database for these suggestions is one based on numbers of searches performed, however that remains to be validated. SEO companies hope that this is the case since Google does not publish the number of searches per keyword phrase conducted on their search engine sites.

Google suggest is very useful for the average searcher who may not have the popular phrases in mind as they do their search. The resultant search quality is very good.

Google won its court case today involving its right to allow ads to be triggered by trademarked names. Geico, an insurance company said their brand was being diminished by advertisements being shown when someone searched for information about their company. Of course, the courts struck it down. This may stop the flood of frivolous Google law suits that are making many lawyers rich. Last week, Overture apparently settled a suit from Geico with a settlement.

Yahoo Search

Yahoo's new crawler-based search engine is producing very good results.

MSN Search

MSN has launched its new crawler based search engine and the results are very good. There was some controversy or rumors, that MSN was seeding its new index with Google results. The results produced by the two search engines are surprisingly similar however.

MSN has embedded their new search box into their popular MSN messenger product.

Till next time,

Gord

Bay Street SEO Services

Blogarama

Blog Search Engine

Google Pagerank still Relevant

There has been a lot of speculation about the role PageRank plays in rankings on Google since September of last year. A well known post by a blog user named Jeremy Zawodny is often refered to as proof of the death of PageRank. His stance on this issue was based on the ranking performance of his blog site versus his own web site. His blog had more incoming links so he felt it should rank higher than his home page. However, his home page was ranking higher.

The reason for this change is that Google is implementing PageRank differently than it used to. The Google search algorithm is evolving and becoming more finely tuned and complex. Google has to stay one step ahead of search engine spammers and SEO practitioners for that matter. This complexity is a welcome improvement by SEO specialists because it means there will be less irrelevant competition for ranking spots. In making it much harder for amateurs to comprehend, it ensures that SEO professionals can help both their clients and Google produce the best results for Google users.

PageRank is being implemented relevant to keywords, so that the number of links pointing to a Web site isn't really the issue, nor is the collective Pagerank of those links. Google is working on a new algorithm improvement that would see PR be funneled through links on pages that are on a related keyword topic. For a link to be really valuable to your site, it would need to be from a site on the same topic.

Web sites that have a high PageRank on the same topic as your targeted keywords would provide your site with a good ranking boost. These sites are typically called authority sites since they have a lot of links pointing to them. These links carry something called link reputation, an attribute Google gives a link. It interprets all links for their meaning.

There is some indication that Google may drop the major Web directories as authority sites, but it appears they aren't doing that after all. Those directories will simply be treated link any other big Web site. A link from directory section of Yahoo may not carry the same boosting effect it once did however. After all, Yahoo is about many keyword topics, and may only have a couple of pages about a particular keyword topic. That means Yahoo's link reputation and corresponding PageRank won't be as high. For instance, if Yahoo has only one directory page on the topic of "new automobiles" this single page may not have the rank boosting effect it once did.

As the major directories have difficulty keeping current and relevant to searchers, their pre-eminence may diminish, to be replaced by other Web sites that contain a rich amount of content on particular themes. So, the race now is to build a site with high authority value (lot's of incoming links on a particular keyword topic). This is a lot of hard work and requires considerable resources so many attempts will be in vain.

Google continues to work on the Hilltop addition to their algorithm so we may see any number of changes to the Google search engine indexing scheme in future. Google's move appears to be a progressive one, albeit controversial.

An additional feature of the new Google, is the delay of links showing up in their index. They may be applying a 3 month delay on the effect of a new link they spider. This is smart move to prevent spammers from manipulating results through paid link sponsorships. This is likely just the first phase of a plan to combat the threat posed by those who attempt to sell their site's PageRank.

Any change that allows Google to create better results for users is excellent. The value of search engines in consumer's lives is directly connected to the quality and relevance of the search results. If the algorithm fails, it presents a problem for all Internet users. Search engines are a very important information tool and we're all only as good as our information in the digital age.

Check back frequently for updates on the new Google Algorithm.

It appears Google may be sequestering some Web sites and pages in a waiting area in their database. Many site owners are reporting that their new Web sites are not appearing in the Google rankings for several months after they were spidered by Google. Some sites were allowed into the regular results for a short time and then their rankings disappeared.

This disappearance may just a transition period Google is now using to detect and filter out paid advertising and text ad link building schemes which are a hot commodity right now in the SEO world.

If this supposition is true, it means many links will show up in the months ahead. That's due to the fact Google may have implemented this system early in 2004.

Both PageRank and link reputation will be affected by this latest Google filter.

This is best method Google has at its disposal in combatting paid link building. If new experts have been hired by Google, we can expect some changes in its algorithm. For most Web site owners, you may see your inbound links increasing along with the effect they have on your rankings also reappear soon.

Recently, Google has updated its index and new PR ratings have shown. However, some Yahoo and ODP directory listings have not appeared in those backlink counts. The PR of some sites will undoubtedly rise even further when and if the major directory listings are returned.

The new PageRank and backlink count could be the result of a purposeful phased timing on their part in order to foil SEOs, or it could Google doesn't have the computing power to keep the index constantly up to date. Other possibilities are the discounting of pages that have a Pagerank of lower than 4. The latter has been occuring for some time, but wasn't evident on all sites.

Rapid Drop Off

Many newly indexed pages still appear without a PageRank. This could indicate a computing backlog at Google or could reveal an extended holding period for pages. It has been evident in the last 4 months that new Web sites and strongly revised sites have had their appearance delayed. Those pages with PageRank below 5 seem to be affected.

Several posts on Jimworld for instance, refer to an initial acceptance of new pages and then a rapid disappearance or lowering of their rankings for an extended period. Some have called it a "cooling off period" as though Google suspects everyone of optimizing their pages. Other posts speak of over-optimization penalties, yet many of these pages are not over-optimized in the general sense. It's clear that Google is trying to put pressure on optimization practitioners by delaying or even preventing their sites from ranking well. As you can imagine, those SEOs who promise high rankings are under a tremendous amount of pressure and may have to return the fees paid to them. With Google being so clever and inconsistent, it is not a good practice to guarantee rankings.

One signficant fact that's easy to spot is the sparsity of sites with low PageRank in top searches. Some viewers are suggesting that this is because of a special algorithm called the "hilltop algorithm" being applied to the index. The hilltop algorithm generates a special set of sites which become authority sites on a particular keyword topic. If your site is not linked to from those sites, then Google may not regard your site is particularly important on that topic.

The whole is issue of authority sites is a complex one, however it may be worth your while to discover key authority sites in your keyword segments.

Visit Bay Street SEO for a look at cutting edge issues and solutions for search engine optimization.

Yahoo launches its New Search Engine

Yahoo search now has its own search engine with a unique indexing algorithm. The algorithm doesn't use Inktomi results solely. Instead a new robot called Yahoo Slurp is crawling the net and Yahoo's engineers are providing the indexing criteria. This change on affects the US search results. Google continues to provide other search services for Yahoo.

Learn more at Bay Street SEO Specialists.

Florida Update Has Ended
The latest results on Google's test servers show that the Florida update has been discontinued. The new results reflect a new algorithm related to the range of criteria Google looks for in quality Web sites. Linking to "bad neighborhoods" is still prohibited and results in penalties being applied. Be careful where you link to.