The boards are all abuzz with it . . . is Google doing its tapdance again?

Usually around 4-6 weeks after the Google backlink counts change is the time when Google updates their pageranks and SERPS based on whatever new algorithms they’ve cooked up to defeat the SEO fanatics and cheaters. For folks like my friend Shawn, who is a professional at search engine optimization, it’s a time of high tension. Google’s dance can increase or decrease income. It’s especially critical for small business ecommerce, whose only edge against a larger and wealthier competitor is high organic search returns for chosen keywords. If, during the shuffle, a small business like this is moved off of the first page of returns for a chosen keyword it can be the difference between eating steak and eating hamburger. The buzz this time seems to be that this is exactly what’s happening, the big corporate players are being pushed to the top, while the little guys are getting pushed down. I’ve gotta wonder at the timing– it is, after all, right before the Christmas rush. Can Google be bought?

Right now all the forums, WebProWorld, Threadwatch, WebmasterWorld, and many others, are buzzing about this, though a couple of the oldtimers say this happens every year right before Christmas, and by the middle of January things return to normal.

Though I like to get good rankings, and it makes me look good when I do, it doesn’t change my bottom line drastically. So I’ll watch from the sidelines and hand out the maalox tablets when needed by my SEO friends, and watch them sweat through this. No matter how well you know the SEO rules Google can change them overnight.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 18th, 2005 at 10:17 am and is filed under SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.