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Through Blacklisting, Google Shows it Can Protect Integrity of Search Returns (and Advertising Revenue)

By Abe Dawson
Foster Web Marketing

If you follow the latest news about the Internet, you may have heard or read about the sad fate of www.traffic-power.com, as well as the dozens of companies that counted on the Las Vegas, NV company to safely guide their websites through the often mysterious and always competitive world of search engine placement.

In response to complaints from customers and repeated signs of practices of which Google strongly disapproves, Traffic-Power and all of its web customers were recently blacklisted by Google. For the companies impacted, this means that their search engine presence is now officially zip. Rebuilding a competitive web presence may take years, years that companies which have come to rely on the Internet for a large chunk of sales don’t have.

Traffic-Power isn’t the first company to get the commercial death sentence from Google, and it won’t be the last. For years now, Google and the major search engines have been mastering ways to combat “short cut” strategies – spamming, keyword stuffing, doorway pages, cloaking and other questionable methods - used to quickly gain Page 1 rankings on return queries for high value keywords. Search engines (the profitable ones, anyway) employ whole armies of eggheads to sit in beanbag chairs night and day sniffing out the perpetrators. Why? The answer you’ll get from Google, MSN and Yahoo invariably reads something like this –

“Internet users who use our engines are seeking the most accurate returns for the search words they enter. We have an obligation to the Internet public to maintain the highest possible levels of integrity and accuracy on our search returns. Companies and entities that attempt to manipulate our engines for their own financial gain are misleading, and a growing nuisance to our audience. Therefore, if and when we identify such companies, we will remove them from our index.”

It’s true that search companies have an interest in maintaining integrity and accuracy on their returns. This is how Google went from a late night student project to the undisputed ruler of the search engine world in less than five years – good and reliable returns through an appealing and easy-to-use interface. But as noble as this premise of quality assurance for the good of the public may sound, there is a more self-serving reason that better explains why search engines target “cheaters” for elimination. MONEY.

99 per cent of Google’s income is derived from sponsored listings and Pay-Per-Click advertising. Google Adwords and Google Adsense, the two main vehicles Google uses in its pay-per-click services, have proliferated not only on Google pages, but on commercial web sites throughout the Internet.

PPC ads don’t have anywhere close to the click-thru rate of “pure” returns. For instance, in Google Adwords, a 2 per cent click-thru rate is considered a successful campaign. Pure returns on page 1 are on average four times more likely to be clicked than sponsored ads. And listings at the # 1 spot of pure returns can often enjoy a click-thru rate of between 30 and 40 per cent.

Obviously, if you can figure out a way to shoot to the top of search engines, you don’t have to pay Google for advertising, and you can get a higher click-thru rate on pure return listings. This can mean huge savings and massive earning potential for companies engaged in highly competitive trades, products and services.

Among personal injury plaintiff lawyers, keywords related to high dollar injuries and afflictions – i.e., brain injury, truck accidents, and pharmaceuticals - that can translate to big money verdicts go for $10, $20 and $50 a click. Lured by companies that can promise a way around these hefty fees – and the higher click-thru rates of “pure” returns – many lawyers have turned to web marketers well versed in these “backdoor” methods. As the case of Traffic-Power has so amply demonstrated, that’s a big, big mistake.

So is there a “right” way to get listed well on search engines, without attracting any negative attention and incurring the blacklisting wrath of the eggheads? Yes. Building links and adding your own content to your sites.

At Foster Web Marketing, our goal is to get your sites to the first page of returns, and to get them there honestly. We don't engage in cheap shortcuts and hacking. We get you the returns you need through hard work and effective content that keeps surfers on your page once they get there.

Next Month:

BOOKS.GOOGLE.COM – Is Google declaring itself immune from copyright law?

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