This Is How the Internet Works

GOOGLE dominates trends on the Internet despite the fact that both MSN and YAHOO have more daily traffic than GOOGLE.  That's because SEARCH is the center, or as we like to say, the beginning of the Internet.  And since GOOGLE dominates SEARCH TRAFFIC, GOOGLE dictates trends.

 

GOOGLE had another major shift in its algorithms on October 1, 2007.  Every 6 months over the last 8 years (on average) GOOGLE has changed its algorithms as a response to the natural evolution of the Internet.  GOOGLE, like all other Search Engines has one question it must answer well, "What are the top ten recommendations you (GOOGLE) has for the information I'm looking for?"  (That information request is simply the words you type into a search window – a.k.a. a "search query.")

 

FOR EXAMPLE: If you type in "clowns," GOOGLE has a genuine interest to provide the 10 best sites for your search query.  The problem is this:  Being on the front page in the organic (not pay per click) area of a GOOGLE search can be worth a lot of money to many companies.  Therefore, getting into the top ten on the front page (where 93.7% of all searches end) can be very lucrative.

 

Up until October 1st, getting into the top ten was the result of Connectivity + Content.  It still is based mostly on that simple formula.  However, sites that could not consistently generate good content could easily generate links to their sites (connectivity half of the equation).  So, over the last 8 years, the Internet has evolved more along the lines of connectivity than content. Links were easy.  Great content that many wanted to read and see wasn't.

 

Up until recently, the only way GOOGLE (or any search engine) could determine which sites were the best 10 sites for "clowns" was to look at a number of variables.  The top variables were: 1.Age of site  2.SEO settings  3.Type of Content  4.Frequency of Content Change  5.Connectivity.

 

Connectivity (links) is the machine equivalent of referrals and testimonials in the human world.  Since machines (computers) control the top ten results based on human-created mathematical equations known as algorithms, part of that math has to include the popularity of a site within the GOOGLE database.  Remember, when you type "clowns" into GOOGLE, GOOGLE can only survey the information in its own database in order to return the results to you in .13 seconds.  When you type "clowns" and hit enter, GOOGLE returns to you the top ten most popular sites... according to the information in the GOOGLE database.

 

No matter what GOOGLE  bases those results on, it cannot be completely unbiased.  In its algorithms are assumptions, i.e., well-intended prejudices.  It has to assume that other sites linking into the number one site have a qualitative and quantitative value to them that cause that site to have popularity with the masses... as seen within the GOOGLE database, thereby meriting a number one ranking.

 

That's important to understand.  It's the same as a movie recommendation.  If your best friend says you really need to see XYZ Movie, then you might be more willing to invest the 9 bucks to go see it than if someone you do not know gives you the exact same referral.  That's the same principle behind links... they are simply the machine equivalent of a testimonial or referral.  Additionally, if you overheard dozens of people you don't even know talking about XYZ movie, you again would be interested in seeing the movie - even though you didn't know any of the people talking about the movie.  This is the quantity link analogy.  A lot of links pointed to a site are like a lot of referrals for a movie.

 

So, GOOGLE, YAHOO and MSN, which together own over 90% of all searches had to determine a fair way for determining top tens for any combination of words typed into a search engine query window.  To determine the value of a "referral" aka, a link, the Search Engine algorithms were engineered to evaluate links on both a qualitative and quantitative basis... just like movie referrals.

 

Without going into much detail about what comprises a quality link or quantities of links, suffice it to say that the value of all those testimonials (links) have changed dramatically over the last few weeks.

 

That's because GOOGLE, like all other search engines makes money by consistently returning for free the ten best results for every search query.  For it to consistently return the best 10 results, the assessment of a top ten search result has to be based more on content and less on connectivity... again... just like a good movie.

 

I remember when Titanic came out several years ago.  Everyone said, "You have to see this movie..."  "The boat sinks..." I told them all.  "Why go?!"  I was playing the role of search engine in this analogy.  Well, finally enough people that I knew and didn't know told me to go see it, so I went to see it.  Their recommendations work like links to a site that is gaining in popularity.  However, their referrals were based on the powerful content (story, execution)contained in James Cameron's compelling masterpiece.

 

And that's the biggest change of all in the variables that determine top ten, front page rankings on Search Engines.  It's in everyone's best interest to have rankings that are based more on the quality of content than on the quantity or quality of referrals (links).  But, the question is how does a machine value the quality of content without judging the information's relative value to other sites on the Internet?  In other words, if other sites don't link to a piece of content, how does a machine determine whether its a good piece or not?

 

Simple.  The key is to originate content with as much frequency as possible and have the content itself begin to land on other sites.  Now the connectivity is content-based and the many SEO companies that have hung their hats on linking alone will find themselves looking down at disappearing search engine rankings for them and their clients.

 

To win from now on, your site must be judged to have more valuable content that the next site. To do so, you must consistently originate valuable content and the relative value of that content will be based solely on the quantity and quality of sites that pick up your content and place links back to your site for their readers.  THIS IS HOW THE INTERNET WORKS.  It's still connectivity + content, but it used to be CONNECTIVITY + content and now it's connectivity + CONTENT!!!!!   As it should be.

 

And content had better be video + articles + P.R. + blogs + links.

 

Now, the Internet as a whole decides democratically what content is good and what content isn't good, based on the value of the content itself, not just a link to a site.  Returning to the movie analogy, its the same difference as hearing about a movie or actually seeing a killer trailer.  When you sample the content to many people (i.e., content is replicated and/or fed to many sites) then that content has just been voted democratically to have intrinsic value to the net as a whole.  Links are still important but GOOGLE, as expected, has finally and successfully shifted the visibility war from an unbalanced emphasis on connectivity to quality of content.

 

The information medium which is the Internet is finally less about connectivity and more about content.  And if other sites don't pick up your content, your content isn't any good. If you don't add content often, your content isn't any good.  If other sites pick up your content but don't link back to your site, your connectivity isn't any good.  You have to have both.

 

This is how the Internet works.