Google You Suck, but You’re kind of Awesome, Too

Google you suck, but I love you. Everybody in the search marketing industry has this HATE HATE HATE, love relationship with Google. We love Google because we are essentially “reverse employed” (that’s right, coined a new term there).  Reverse employed meaning, as long as we continue to use our brilliance and creative skills to understand how Google works (thus making our own sites or our clients’ site reap the benefits of this) we stay in business.  As soon as Google figures out how to outwit, out smart, or “out creative” us as search marketers on a regular basis………we are pretty much S.O.L .  That is why we need to give a big thanks to industry leaders like Rand  at SEOmoz and Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land.  These guys keep grinding to find ways to improve the Search Marketing Industry.  The best part, they educate everyone else on their findings. That’s the love we have for Google.  Now on to the HATE.  This could go on and on and on and on and well, you get the picture.  There has just been so much negative news surrounding Google lately that it is really hard for search marketers to remember we all need it for our livelihoods.  So let’s get into the details a little bit. Google+ Google+, some say, could be a bit late to the game.  Others love it. People like me want to exploit it.  Why, you ask, would I blatantly say I want to exploit it?  It’s because Google is favoring its own services.  Favoring results of  people in your “circles” have visited.  Creating “Search Plus Your World” to pull in results those results your peers are 1+ing.  All of these results are biased towards a Google owned product. YouTube Ever noticed how YouTube videos tend to show up near the top of the SERPs?  Hmmmm, if I recall correctly Google bought YouTube a while back.  You don’t think they would purposely show their own subsidiary’s results near the top of their pages to gain more revenue via their own advertising system, would you? OK so we’re getting somewhere now. Google Breaks its Own Rules?  Say it isn’t so! An article released a couple weeks back (Jan 2. 2012) by Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan points out Google’s Chrome campaign that was using “paid links” to show Google Chrome’s results higher in the SERPs. The campaign violates  Google’s guidelines against paid links. So Google is buying links…….Shouldn’t we all buy links?  Apparently Google hired an outside Ad agency and had “No knowledge of the situation.”  Hey, call them as you see them.  I’m raising the BS flag.   Adwords Selling Narcotics and Larry Page knew about it? Yup!  Google certainly was assisting Canadian Pharmaceutical companies in selling their illegal narcotics using AdWords according to PC Magazine.   The US government used the help of a convicted felon and con artist to help them set up a sting of websites using Google’s AdWords to advertise its illegal products.  To make matters worse, some of Google’s top execs new about it! After a $500 million fine (pocket change for Google), Google agreed to tighten restrictions on their AdWords policies.  It still goes to show that Google doesn’t want to play by its own rules.  So why should we? I am not saying start buying links.  It won’t work long term.  I’m not saying start selling drugs online, either.  But what I am saying is that Google, whether we like it or not, is going to play by its own rules regardless of the standards.   Your Takeaway So one thing to take away from this post is….. Google might not play by its own rules, but that is something we as search marketers are going to have to deal with.  It’s Google’s ball and its Google’s court.  We have to play by their rules. Oh and one more thing.. Get Google+.