Google Megasitelinks: An “Algorithmic Change” to Google Sitelinks

January 6, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

One of the bigger pieces of search industry news today is that Google has released an algorithmic change they’re calling “Megasitelinks.”

A Quick Primer on Google Megasitelinks

Aside from having a completely uninspiring codename, here’s what we know about Google Megasitelinks:

  • Megasitelinks are part of 30 search quality improvements Google worked on in December, 2011.
  • Being touted as an improvement to the existing Sitelinks display algorithm.
  • Said to use visitor’s location in search results to emphasize most important content in Sitelinks area.

Known Problems in Google Sitelinks

Since these new Megasitelinks are so new, there’s a lot that remains to be seen with how these conceptual changes will change what Google users see. At the core of it all, it makes sense – Google wants to improve user experience and geo-relevant information has been proven to do that in the past.

One of the most frustrating things about the existing Google Sitelinks platform has been the lack of webmaster input. In Google’s Webmaster Tools, there are certainly “controls” where a webmaster can offer up suggested suppression lists to prevent certain URLs from appearing in the Sitelinks area. In most cases though – those “suggestions” that come from a webmaster are disregarded.

No joke, I have more than five clients at this point in time who are experiencing frustration with the Sitelinks controls and the lack of influence their suggested changes actually have on the SERPs.

Naturally, this leads me to ask one thing…

Is Megasitelinks a Step Forward or Backward?

I’ve logged in to a few Google Webmaster Tools accounts this evening and have not seen any UI changes in the controls or suppression lists.

To be fair, I didn’t really expect to though. I guess you could say that I was hoping for something new to be in there for us as marketers and site owners to work with.

Here’s the thing for me. If Google Sitelinks is now a program that uses an intelligent algorithm to display a subset of pages relevant to a searcher’s query, then there needs to be functional controls in place for them – or no controls at all. The grey area where Google asks for suggestions but ignores them is an old act.

In other words, Google – please don’t waste our time.

Changes in Sitelinks We Could Actually Use

If Google is committed to making the most of the Sitelinks tools, it has to be a two way street where they focus on user experience and search quality and they allow us as webmasters to permit certain content from being displayed, hidden, etc.

Other items that would be great to see include:

  • Sitelinks Analytics: Where were Sitelinks displayed? When were Sitelinks used over traditional organic listings? For what queries? Which Sitelinks have appeared in which position for which terms? (Without incredibly deep analytical reporting) We’re flying blind here, Google.
  • Enhanced Geographical Support: Here’s a practical use case. A franchise has a store locator that performs well in Sitelinks now. Using the enhanced geographical inferences Google can make, opportunities should exist where said franchise can promote locations, offers, coupons, etc. within their Sitelinks display area.
  • Sitelinks Suggestions: Google’s Webmaster Tools does a good job of making suggestions on crawl issues, content issues, etc. Nowhere though are indicators as they pertain to Sitelinks improvements. If Google can’t give us the ability to block out content from appearing in the Sitelinks area – why not provide us with some additional insights on why the links that do appear are always there? (Hint: They’d have to share too much about their linking values to make this happen. Still, it’s wish list.)

Megasitelinks and Online Reputation Management Issues

I’ve witnessed a number of branded search results that provided companies with a free pass from a lot of negative reviews. In particular, the Sitelinks 12-pack growth has done a lot to push negative press in the SERPs below the fold. That’s good for brands, bad for searchers. I won’t get into the entire RoR-style-site issues — but it’s clear that geographically relevant Sitelinks will sway ORM issues one way or another depending on what’s shown.

What do you think about the news of Google’s Megasitelinks? Are you expecting them to prove as an innovation – or flop? Share your thoughts in the comments area below.

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Is Google an Innovator or Bully? [Open Discussion]

August 15, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Earlier today Jim Spencer from JBS Partners commented on Google’s decision to acquire Motorola’s mobile phone business. His comments got me thinking about why Google would pay $12.5 billion — offering the company a 61% premium on their going rate — to get a deal done now.

Jim was careful in his commentary, indicating that others have steadfastly defended Google’s innovation to him. I found that a bit funny since that perspective was shared just a month after they cloned Facebook and called it Google+.

So, I want to know what YOU think.

 

Is Google a true innovator or just another tech industry bully?

– Please provide your thoughts on this in the comments section below!

 

 

 

My take is this…
I’ve been critical of Google in the past and I have no intentions of letting off the gas. I said to Jim through the course of our initial discussion…

Google has done a tremendous job of innovating monopolization.

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Google+ is Where the Rich Get Richer

July 15, 2011 by · 5 Comments

As the first couple of weeks wind down to a close, Google+ seems adamant on being more than just another flash in the pan. 10 million strong have joined the ranks at Google+ and Google co-founder/CEO Larry Page was certain to highlight these and other impressive numbers on the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday.

The search giant though, known to favor large and reputable brands in the past, could be lending the same benefits in their new social network.

Identifying the Problem

In my previous post I made mention of how Google+ Streams can become overrun with updates coming from the same series of people.

The cause for this behavior in Google+ is due to user interaction on posts.

When someone with little to no following posts an update on Google+ it is often swept down the Stream because there is no one there to interact (+1, comment, share) the post.

When someone with a much larger following posts an update though – there are thousands upon thousands of people there to interact with the post. When they interact, the timestamp on the post is effectively changed, and the post then continues to stay at or near the top of your Stream view.

The Usual Suspects

Before I get into the list of offenders here, I want to say that I love these people. They are what make the Internet, our industry of search and social communities what they are. They’re not the problem themselves, they’re simply the poster children for it.

That said… Anytime I load up Google+, I’m guaranteed to see updates from Matt Cutts, Chris Pirillo, Robert Scoble, or Danny Sullivan.

I chose to see updates from these people in my Stream so if there’s anyone to fault, it’s me. The problem caused by the existing technology though is something I firmly believe should be changed or improved upon.

Class Structures & Celebrification

Intentional or not there’s a class structure created by the Google+ Stream system. On one hand, that’s okay. Online communities mimic offline communities and whether we like it or not, there’s certainly a class system in our offline society. On the other hand, I don’t believe that I should miss out on my connections’ updates and posts because more popular users are also active in the community.

Yet, that is exactly what happens.

In one of my Google+ posts tonight, Brian Chappel of Ignite Social Media presented the fact that celebrification in this social setting allows Google to push more traffic to Google properties – but at the cost of greater relevancy.

How the Rich Get Richer

The stats don’t lie.

Cutts, Scoble, Pirillo, Sullivan… These are all successful authors and their contributions to online industries are far reaching and have been for years. In other words, they’ve worked hard to get where they are today. They’re successful in life, in business… and in the Google Search Results.

The SERPs are where things come full circle.

Google+ and the +1 Button are all about personalized search results. If you’ve logged into Google Webmaster Tools recently, you’ve likely noticed that there’s some handy reports on the +1 button and how it has been used in conjunction with your site’s URLs.

Barry Schwartz describes these reports and highlights how popularity plays a role.

The Search Impact report gives you an idea of how +1′s affect your organic search traffic. You can find out if your clickthrough rate changes when personalized recommendations help your content stand out. Do this by comparing clicks and impressions on search results with and without +1 annotations. Google will only show statistics on clickthrough rate changes when you have enough impressions for a meaningful comparison.

The Activity report shows you how many times your pages have been +1′d, from buttons both on your site and on other pages (such as Google search).

Finally, the Audience report shows you aggregate geographic and demographic information about the Google users who’ve +1′d your pages. To protect privacy, Google will only show audience information when a significant number of users have +1′d pages from your site.

Note “significant number of users” and “how +1′s affect your organic search traffic.” In other words, the more +1 interaction, the more positive the influence on organic traffic. Rest assured, the most popular users in Google+ are also benefiting from having a more “significant number of users” accessing their content.

Highlighting this late Thursday night was Jason Calacanis who noted how much more traffic Google+ sent compared to other networks when it came to his shared content:

Google+1 is crushing Facebook and Twitter as a traffic referrer to the LAUNCH blog. It’s just insane the difference!

With 100k twitter followers I’m getting half the clicks as from Google+ with 10k followers. That’s 20x the effectiveness.

I’m getting 10x the traffic from google+ than Facebook and i have 5k facebook friends. That’s 15x more effective.

Same Old Battles Wage On
Five years ago webmasters and site owners put their energy into building quality backlinks. Today, those same people are putting more energy into the social marketing of their content. It’s all for the same reason, too – to climb the organic rankings and gain more exposure.

Unfortunately, larger sites are led by more popular people. In both cases – backlinks for sites and social interaction on Google+ posts – quantities will be higher for those already having that celebrity stature.

The end result remains the same.

Google employs an algorithmic imbalance that rewards bigger brands with broader reach and discards smaller organizations and individuals.

–
I’d like to thank Matt Crouch of SEO Video Corp for his observations and comments that helped lead to this post being written in the first place.

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Google: The Internet’s Organized Crime Family

May 20, 2009 by · 41 Comments

Google: The Internet’s Organized Crime Family

Late last week I found myself watching a documentary on organized crime in New York City. Focused on the Gambino crime family, this documentary illustrated how the mafia (which included the Gambino and other families that made up the Cosa Nostra) had their hands in on nearly every facet of city life. From restaurants and delivery trucks to corrupting the law enforcement and legal systems – the organization was in control. [Read more...]

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Entrepreneur Author Gives Poor Local Search Advice

March 28, 2009 by · 7 Comments

The Spring 2009 issue of Entrepreneur Startups features an article written by Kim T. Gordon called Big Results on a Small Budget. The focus of the short article is in providing small business owners with four marketing suggestions that are tailored to those on a tight budget.

While I was certainly happy to see search marketing involved, I don’t much agree with Kim’s suggestion:

Use local paid search. When your prospects search online, who will they find first, you or your competitors? The best way to guarantee your company appearing at or near the top of search results is through pay-per-click advertising. Being at the top of the page is critical to getting noticed, as most searchers rarely go past the first page of results. And the good news is that local paid search is often quite affordable and is readily available through Google, Yahoo and other search engines.

Paid search is an affordable option for those looking to drum up business. If you’re on a tight budget though, why not look at spending no money to capture that same audience?

I often fear that too many all in one marketing types simply suggest paid search because it’s effective before giving other forms of search a solid look. As enhanced listings mature and search engines’ users adapt their patterns to use these universal results – more free opportunities for listings appear.

If you were to perform a search on a major engine for any keyword phrase that combines geographical modifiers alongside a product or service name – you’re likely to see something like the Google OneBox results. It’s that familiar map with nice red icons that plot the nearest vendors that provide exactly what you’re after.

Best of all – Few businesses are out there taking the time to claim and enhance these free listings. That leaves you with some great opportunities to to clean up without spending a dime on search referrals.

My other issue with the author’s suggestion of local paid search is that she emphasizes reaching your targeted audience. Going into any paid search marketing campaign blindly will cost you far more than necessary. Paid search campaigns are optimized over time by evaluating clickthroughs, conversion rates and so on. You can’t afford the luxury of buying that information when you’re truly on a tigh budget.

Now, to the author’s credit, advertising in Google’s Local search results is certainly affordable. In my experience the analytical data for these campaigns suggest that having a unique icon on the map along with a more enhanced business profile will instigate more productive clickthroughs.

My last gripe is that no one reading the referenced article would ever know that such a search advertising product even exists. Furthermore, even basic local listings can be pushed offline and result in your customers generating favorable reviews, relying on Google for coupons, and ultimately generating more free business opportunities for you.

I’ve already gone through how to make the most of your local search profiles on Google in an old article on Search Engine Journal. If you’re interested, please check that out along with David Mihm’s local search ranking factors research.

I’m not against renting space. I just don’t understand why you’d want to rent space you could own for free.

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Winner of Google SEMMY; Sitelinks Research Recognized

February 4, 2009 by · 3 Comments

I wasn’t expecting too much in the form of good news today.

Readers and peers in the search engine marketing space found my panel on Google SiteLinks to be useful and worth some degree of recognition. I found out today that my post, Google Sitelinks Research, Examples, Theories and Best Practices, won the SEMMY Award in the Google Category, being voted as the best content in that vertical for the 2008 calendar year.

My article pulled in 46.43% for the victory. What is a #1 Google Ranking Worth? from Aaron Wall pulled in 39.29% while Bill Slawski earned 14.29% with his piece, How Google Universal Search and Blended Results May Work .

Please check on the SEMMY site for all news and lists of award winners in other categories.

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