The End Of Googlebombs?
by Chris Bowers, Sun Jan 28, 2007 at 12:55:59 PM EST
Over the weekend, I received quite a bit of mail about this:We wanted to give a quick update about "Googlebombs." By improving our analysis of the link structure of the web, Google has begun minimizing the impact of many Googlebombs. Now we will typically return commentary, discussions, and articles about the Googlebombs instead. The actual scale of this change is pretty small (there are under a hundred well-known Googlebombs), but if you'd like to get more details about this topic, read on.
First off, let's back up and give some background. Unless you read all about search engines all day, you might wonder "What is a Googlebomb?" Technically, a "Googlebomb" (sometimes called a "linkbomb" since they're not specific to Google) refers to a prank where people attempt to cause someone else's site to rank for an obscure or meaningless query. Googlebombs very rarely happen for common queries, because the lack of any relevant results for that phrase is part of why a Googlebomb can work. One of the earliest Googlebombs was for the phrase "talentless hack," for example. I do not know how much of this is a response to my past actions in 2006, and / or my current actions srrounding John McCain. It appears that the search engine optimization techniques that I employed in those actions do actually fit the definition of a Googlebomb, so perhpas there is no connection at all. Also, the currnet "Googlebomb" I am employing against John McCain still ranks #9 on searches, so the impact of Google's new formula might be minimal. Then again, considering the amount of R & D Google has, if they are trying to change their formula to stop this specific type of action, eventually they will figure out how to do so.
What is eqaully certain, however, is that there will always be ways to manipulate search engine rankings, even if the days of the googlebomb are numbered. Given that Internet searches for candidate information remain the most common form of political action taken online, it will remain crucially important for campaigns and activists alike to continuously be developing new strategies that will allow them to take advantage of online searches. Rest assured that I will do whatever I can to constantly be developing new techniques in this area myself.
So, long story short, I am going to look into this, and into developing a more comprehensive search optimization strategy before going forward with the next phase of the John McCain googlebomb campaign. This campaign does not end here. If anything, this new development will simply result in a more sophisticated and intelligent strategy. and yes, BlogPac will continue to be essential to these efforts.
Anyway, just thought I needed to make a public statement about this, considering the large maount of queries I was receiving.
First off, let's back up and give some background. Unless you read all about search engines all day, you might wonder "What is a Googlebomb?" Technically, a "Googlebomb" (sometimes called a "linkbomb" since they're not specific to Google) refers to a prank where people attempt to cause someone else's site to rank for an obscure or meaningless query. Googlebombs very rarely happen for common queries, because the lack of any relevant results for that phrase is part of why a Googlebomb can work. One of the earliest Googlebombs was for the phrase "talentless hack," for example. I do not know how much of this is a response to my past actions in 2006, and / or my current actions srrounding John McCain. It appears that the search engine optimization techniques that I employed in those actions do actually fit the definition of a Googlebomb, so perhpas there is no connection at all. Also, the currnet "Googlebomb" I am employing against John McCain still ranks #9 on searches, so the impact of Google's new formula might be minimal. Then again, considering the amount of R & D Google has, if they are trying to change their formula to stop this specific type of action, eventually they will figure out how to do so.
What is eqaully certain, however, is that there will always be ways to manipulate search engine rankings, even if the days of the googlebomb are numbered. Given that Internet searches for candidate information remain the most common form of political action taken online, it will remain crucially important for campaigns and activists alike to continuously be developing new strategies that will allow them to take advantage of online searches. Rest assured that I will do whatever I can to constantly be developing new techniques in this area myself.
So, long story short, I am going to look into this, and into developing a more comprehensive search optimization strategy before going forward with the next phase of the John McCain googlebomb campaign. This campaign does not end here. If anything, this new development will simply result in a more sophisticated and intelligent strategy. and yes, BlogPac will continue to be essential to these efforts.
Anyway, just thought I needed to make a public statement about this, considering the large maount of queries I was receiving.
Tags: BlogPac, googlebomb, Googlebomb 2008 (all tags)
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