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Google Farmer Update and My First Take

February 28, 2011 By
Google Farmer

Google Farmer

Google has a knack for getting names for their algorithm’s updates.  The last known update was called “Caffeine.”  I had a lot of success ranking in Google for the last year, so that update was something I “figured out.”  Google likes to do this to keep things interesting for webmasters (joke) and keep the content at the top of the search engine professional and relevant.  (Sort of a joke depending who you ask.)

The rumor was that Google was looking to give less value to content farms (eHow.com, ezinearticles.com).  Google does not like less-than-relevant content ranking, and many SERPS’s were showing articles on well-written keyword-rich titles showing near the top.

But did this work?

At first take, it’s had marginal success.  This update has had an impact on 12% of US-facing search results.

Check out this report from German SEO solutions provider SISTRIX, which looked at its own historical data, determined that the 15 sites hurt the most by Google’s update so far are:

  • wisegeek.com
  • ezinearticles.com
  • suite101.com
  • hubpages.com
  • buzzle.com
  • associatedcontent.com
  • freedownloadscenter.com
  • essortment.com
  • fixya.com
  • americantowns.com
  • lovetoknow.com
  • articlesbase.com
  • howtodothings.com
  • mahalo.com
  • business.com

Interesting to me is that Business.com is owned by Yahoo!.

The rest of these sites (for the most part, but not all) accept user-submitted articles that require very little editing and do NOT get looked at in most cases.  I’ve seen HubPages, EzineArticles, and ArticlesBase articles that were complete garbage rank in Google and I’ve been quite perplexed why they would enjoy that content as it’s first page results. I guess it’s agreeable that Google did not like that content.

Poor content and user opinions can clutter the Internet.  I’ve submitted articles on subjects I just researched.  It’s quite possible there are errors in some cases. I am a meticulous writer when the time presents itself, but hey, in the era of link building everyone has submitted an article or two that was rushed, unedited, or lacking attention to detail. It’s just the grind of Internet Marketing.

So what do I suggest you do to your Internet Marketing efforts in reaction to this update?  Check back next week and I’ll have new information on the subject.

Stay tuned!

Filed Under: Google

Pac 10 Athletics vs. Tupac Shakur

February 11, 2011 By

When it comes to domain names, there seems to be a legal battle every day.  Whether it’s an organization fighting for it’s trademark, or someone looking to buy a domain name for a new venture, the battle seems to be never-ending.  Just today, I was listening to AM radio in Miami, my favorite station,790 The Ticket, and I heard something that reminded me why domain names can be confusing.

The issue that was brought up by radio personality Brandon Guzio, is that the Pac 10, which is now moving to a 12 team division, (which of course may be called the Pac 12 in turn) was snooping around for a domain name.  Of course, Pac12 was the domain name of choice.  Turns out, the domain name Pac12.com features a discography of some work by the late Tupac Shakur. The radio station reported that “Tupac’s crew” owned the domain name, so I had to check it out. (Note, the hosts were very candid in saying this was all hearsay and that they had not verified this information so before everyone goes nuts on Twitter, keep that in mind.)

I looked up the WHOIS details at Network Solutions, and it’s privacy-protected.  It was bought at DomainMonger.com. (I thought mongers were men who sought “women of the night.”?  Not really a term I’d throw into a domain name business, but to each his own.)

tupac shakur

Holla if ya hear me

Anyways, I’ll stay on top of this.  My guess is that it’s just someone who is an affiliate of Amazon.com and they are directing traffic for “Tupac Shakur” related terms and trying to earn off any purchases of his albums at the popular shopping portal.  Then again, maybe someone from Tupac’s Entourage owns it.  Or, nobody of any significance could own it.

Point is, it’s always interesting to see what domain names evolve into.  Domain names are the most unique form of global real estate, and owning high-end domain names can be very profitable, although some would argue that domain names are far from liquid assets.

Just for fun, here are some of the highest gross sales of domain names in 2011.

$270,000 was fetched for Action.com.

$186,000 for TS.com

$185,000 was the price for StockBrokers.com

Rounding out the top five were Soulmate.com at a cool $100,000 and 06.com for $91,888.

As you can see, domain names can be very lucrative.

Filed Under: Domain Names Tagged With: , , ,