SEO Groan: The Business of Hustling
May 8, 2020
DarkCyber has noted an uptick in the rhetoric for search engine optimization. SEO, as the dark art is referenced by its supporters, focuses on methods for making a Web site appear in Google search results.
Over the years, search engine optimization has worked as a feeder for online advertising. After SEO fails, what’s a company do to generate business in the datasphere?
The answer, “Advertise online.” Several companies are dominant in online advertising. These are the Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Google’s angle has been to hook advertisers’ messages to search terms. One part of the method was the work of engineers at Oingo (renamed to Applied Semantics before Google purchased the company). Facebook has its social graph to allow precise demographic advertising. Amazon has its user data, its customers’ purchase history, and sellers vying to get the attention of Amazon customers.
For the moment, let’s focus on the search advertising segment. When a user formulates a query, say, for example, “mountain bike gear replacement,” Google displays a long page of results. Here’s a snippet:
The page contains a link to a catalog of gear parts. That’s the Google Shopping service. Advertisers get a free listing as Google tries to win back product search which Amazon now dominates. Google was a contender with Google Froogle, but when the team lost interest, the product joined other discontinued services. Someone in Google management may have wanted Froogle to be enhanced, but that type of directed management is not often evident. Therefore, Amazon had the field of product search to itself.
The page also display pictures of parts. These range in price from $217 to almost $1,000. Then there is a video which is marked as a suggested clip. Google tells me that the replacement section is 49 seconds after the video starts.
Next is a map which shows where bicycle shops in Louisville, Kentucky, are located. Presumably Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart will have gear replacement parts. (They don’t.) Then there are more videos. Next are common questions? None of the questions addresses the replacement aspect of my query.
And after these items of information, there are links which address the “how to” aspect of my query. There’s a link to replacement gears available on Amazon”
And the first page of search results concludes with images of bicycle gears and suggested queries:
It is obvious that Google search engineers have looked at user queries and developed a template into which a range of information has been inserted. Links, videos, ads, and traditional links to “relevant” pages.
Where does SEO come into play? Presumably the pages which are squeezed between the ads, the video, and the images, and suggested searches are the knowledge beef.
An inspection of these links reveals that the results are not Kobi beef. The information provided is a fruit basket.
One assumes that each of the Web pages contains high value content related to gear replacement. No, but several of the pages are in a gray zone. The gears have become “cassettes.” The idea of replacement is related to the cost of getting the parts and installing them. And there are buying guides.
Is the search useful? The answer is, “It depends.” Since Google’s approach does not allow the user to disambiguate a query with a form which allows the user to say, “No, pictures, no videos, and no images.” Quite a bit of scanning and scrolling are necessary before locating the one link which addresses the query. This is the link to a StackExchange page:
SEO is partly responsible. Pages only tangentially related to the query are interpreted by Google as highly relevant to the query. To Google’s credit, its vaunted PageRank system located one useful link. But the other information is handwaving and an excuse to display ads.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of SEO experts working to help people get pages listed in a Google search result whether those SEO infused pages are useful to the user or not. When SEO fails, what does the vendor do? As stated above, the answer is to buy Google ads.
SEO Groan will take a look at some of the more interesting SEO experts. One example is the content presented in a series of videos labeled as The Hustle Show. You can view these via the links on this page.
SEO Groan believes the word “hustle” is an excellent one. It captures the essence of search engine optimization. Watch for our announcement of a special page on our law enforcement and intelligence centric Web site. The goal is to provide information so that individuals will be aware of what is a cyber scam.
Net net: Articles like these underscore what’s happening at this time in the world of SEO services:
- 4 Tips to Build a Strong SEO Program During COVID-19
- 7 Ways COVID-19 Is Affecting Search Traffic & How SEOs Can Respond
- Turning to SEO Due to Covid 19? Start Here
- How to Leverage Insights in Botify to Adapt During the COVID-19 Outbreak: 12 SEO Questions Answered
And there are more. That’s not just Covid disease surfing; the implication that SEO is appropriate during a pandemic is a quite disturbing signal.
Stephen E Arnold, May 8, 2020
Get Your Page to Be Number One: Tricks Worthy of Penn and Teller
May 7, 2020
The DarkCyber research team has been examining SEO or search engine optimization in the time of Covid. The work has uncovered some interesting and quite unusual information.
Examples range from “Adapting Your SEO Strategy to Soften the Impact of COVID-19 on Organic Traffic” to “10 ways SEO Will Lead Companies Through COVID-19 Business Recovery.”
Even HP is manufacturing devices to help deal with the Covid crisis. IBM is putting the capable Jeopardy-winning Watson in the hand of Covid researchers. Plus Tesla is allegedly making medical devices. These are Covid crisis virtue signals with alleged substance.
But manipulating content to “soften the impact of Covid” and “business recovery.”
These two headlines underscore the intellectual black hole of search engine optimization. SEO’s informing idea is that one can shape content and index that content so that the content becomes number one in a Google search page.
But what if the content is incorrect, misinformed, or just plain wrong? What happens if SEO does not work?
Well, one can buy Google AdWords. There’s the magic link.
A good example of what’s in these articles which are hooking their ideas to the pandemic can be found on YouTube. Navigate to How to Get My Website on the First Page of Google. What’s displayed? Here’s the screenshot:
Yep, hustling a time-honored business practice.
This essentially sums up the knowledge value of SEO in a time of Covid. Very professional, informative, and just maybe a big hustle in our opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, May 7, 2020
Looking more SEO info? Watch for our special Xenky.com page. In the meantime, you may find these stories useful:
SEO Hustles: http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2020/05/04/seo-let-us-hustle-everyone/
Covid surfing: http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2020/05/06/virtue-signaling-a-covid-short-circuit
Marketing to doctors in the midst of a pandemic: http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2020/05/06/unusual-medical-marketing/
Virtue Signaling: A Covid Short Circuit
May 6, 2020
One of the DarkCyber team sent me a link to “COVID-19 & SEO: Why SEO Is More Important Now Than Ever.” The impact of the article was, “Befuddlement.” The phrase “more important than ever” assumes that search engine optimization was important in the first place.
I have long held the belief that online advertising vendors used search engine as mechanism to drive ad sales. Based on the research for Google Version 2: The Calculating Predator, it was clear that manipulating content could cause the “clever” Google PageRank method to boost pages with minimal intellectual value. Therefore, if you can’t stop weaponized, shaped, or malformed information, what is the benefit of search engine optimization?
The shift coincided with some of my work for the world’s largest source of Web indexed content. By encouraging SEO via an “ambassador” to SEO conferences, online advertising could be positioned as an essential service.
A new Web site is posted. The content is indexed and boosted in the search results. Then over time, the ranking of that “new” site begins to slip down the results page. Nothing the SEO expert does has an impact on the lost results. The customer becomes frustrated and may try another SEO expert. But the site is now essentially not findable.
What’s the solution?
The fix is to purchase online advertising and then traffic returns. Is this magic?
No, it illustrates an aspect of misinformation that gets little purchase in today’s world.
The article “COVID-19 & SEO: Why SEO Is More Important Now Than Ever” illustrates the effort optimization experts expend trying to get a free boost on ad supported “free to use” Web indexes. The word “covid” is lashed to SEO. The argument, noted above, is that SEO is important.
I circled this passage in the write up:
While ecommerce businesses are seeing unmatched results from SEO at the moment — Adobe reports an almost 200% increase in toilet paper purchases alone — companies outside the ecommerce sector are still benefiting from their investment in SEO.
This is interesting logic. Adobe is a word which is used to locate information about Photoshop and other applications. The bound phrase “toilet paper” is a word used frequently on Amazon. (Amazon attracts more product searches now than Google.) But the statement ignores the fact that similar interest in toilet paper occurred in Russia. Perhaps something about the product is causing the searches? Is that something a factor other than SEO?
The search engine optimization sector uses whatever words are needed to generate a boost. Then when the customer finds the SEO less effective, the customer is softened up to buy online ads.
The free Web search systems are under increasing pressure to generate financial returns. This means that the claims of SEO will pay off for those who sell online ads. When the SEO ministrations fail to work, what’s a company to do?
Answer: Buy online ads. Those are going to work.
Why’s this important? Three reasons:
- The symbiosis between SEO and online advertising is not widely discussed.
- Content, even if it is wonky, is needed to give the illusion that an online indexing system is timely and comprehensive. They are neither timely nor comprehensive, but those are separate topics.
- Companies are becoming more and more desperate to make sales. That means that high value information is going to get lost in the barrages of dross.
Are there examples of this activity? Yes, there is the high profile issue between what’s displayed, what’s available, and what’s shown. Navigate to “How Google Search Results Shape, and Sometimes Distort, Public Opinion – and Why You Should Care.”
And there are other examples as well. Take a look at LinkedIn and run a query for “search engine optimization.” You will find a number of experts. At least one of these experts uses an alias. Why? Who is this? We’ll try to answer these questions. Watch for our new feature about SEO deception.
Remember this assertion:
No matter your industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented your business with a slew of challenges and difficult decisions, especially when it comes to how you’ll market your company. Compared to other marketing options, SEO offers far more stability and security. It’s a great option for businesses focusing on long-term growth during tenuous times.
One question: “Are the statements accurate?” or are they the shibboleths of the hustler.
Looking for our search engine optimization hustling coverage, click this link.
Stephen E Arnold, May 7, 2020
Looking for more SEO fancy dancing, read this DarkCyber story at https://wp.me/pf6p2-gdY
Unusual Medical Marketing
May 6, 2020
One of the DarkCyber team alerted me to a blog post titled “Top 19 Ways to Attract More Patients to Your Medical Practice.” In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the evening news, online news reports, and podcasts are buzzing about Covid19. The idea that medical professionals need to escalate their marketing efforts is an interesting one.
What are the recommendations? Here’s a selection of seven ideas. Please, consult the original essay to learn the other 12. Our comments about the item appear in italics following the information from the expert in medical marketing.
- Create contests. The idea is unusual. Based on my experience with doctors, nurses, and intermediaries like “doc in the box” operations in Kroger, the free time available to think about a contest may be limited. What will the winner receive? A co-pay waiver? An appliance for a broken ankle? A coupon good for $20 percent off a lab test.
- Get active in Social Media. Most of the health care professionals with whom I have knowledge are not eager to post content on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media sources. The likelihood of the information being used in the event of an insurance fraud, Medicare integrity issue, or malpractice exists. Perhaps some health care professionals post. There are images of nurses and physicians in coronavirus treatment facilities. These may be legal time bombs. Our suggestion is to ask an attorney first.
- Email your patients once in a while. In the city in which the DarkCyber team members live, communications from physicians are intermediated through a combine of health care providers or from a corporate entity. Emails move through specific channels in order to minimize issues with HIPPA, legal issues, and security. Again: Check with an attorney before spamming, using a proxy, or putting into the Internet’s memory a comment which may be problematic for regulatory authorities.
- Be Adaptable. The idea of adaptation is important. However, in a regulated sector, protocols must be followed. The physician or nurse who wanders off the reservation and is discovered as a protocol violator can face penalties. These range from losing a license to a fine or worse. Adaptation in quite specific frames of reference is important. Losing track of a particular frame of reference can be problematic.
- Get plenty of online reviews. What does “plenty” mean? Many physicians — particularly independent physicians providing plastic surgery type services to wealthy clients — may find patient reviews a double edged sword. A good review is, by definition, better than a damning review. A bad review may be evidence in another patient’s malpractice case. Corporate health care providers face internal and other restrictions on their posting about procedures. We are repeating, but checking with an attorney may be prudent.
The other 19 tips to get up to 30 new patients a week presents a problem on three fronts:
First, in today’s medical climate, generating business for a health problem may be perceived as unprofessional. In some cases, the virus is providing sufficient demand. There is no data in the write up to draw a direct link between search engine optimization and social media and new patients. Without data, the implication and overt statements are difficult to believe.
Second, health care professionals face numerous challenges. These range from regulation to burn out, from excessive paperwork to the challenge of keeping pace with medical information germane to their work. In today’s climate, convincing medical professionals to embrace marketing may be a difficult sale. The attention bandwidth of many medical professionals goes offline when computer centric double talk is the meat of the conversation.
Finally, the implication that the 19 recommendations will deliver new patients is a checklist easily applied to other business sectors. The ideas are not customized, not tuned to the regulatory climate, and not in touch with the new normal for medical treatment.
Net net: The ideas may create more problems, increase costs, and present a larger attack surface for patients pursuing malpractice claims against the advertising health care professional. The blog post may be a hustle, not a help.
Stephen E Arnold, May 6, 2020
Want more SEO fancy dancing? Read this DarkCyber story https://wp.me/pf6p2-gdY
Search Engine Optimization: Content Misinformation Is the New Norm
May 5, 2020
Jacque Ellul wrote Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes in the early 1960s. Ellul was a theologian and a close observer of social behavior. Propaganda remains an important book, and it is more important than ever in our era of fake news. I am not sure that the Global Disinformation Index will be sufficient to deal with today’s content realities.
Ellul did not live to experience the wonders of free Web search engines, funded by advertisers. However, his insights provide a number of useful touchstones for anyone trying to determine if there are ways to remediate the present situation in the era of technology monopolies.
He observed:
When there is propaganda, we are no longer able to evaluate certain questions or even to discuss them.
Today content engines generate massive amounts of information. The volume of Facebook posts, Tweets, live streams, and other digital emissions are so massive, that the numbers used to convey the scale of the content flows are meaningless. Are you able to convert the estimate for the the World Economic Forum explains the data in terms of zettabytes and 2020 will output 44 zettabytes of information. Here’s a zettabyte in plain old numbers:
1000000000000000000000
Yottabytes are next.
The options for publishing and disseminating digital content continue to expand. Unhappy with Facebook, there’s Mastodon. Don’t like Google Blogger. There’s WordPress. Don’t like Twitch. There’s Periscope.
Not surprisingly search engine optimization experts have seized upon these rich, real time digital distribution systems to create “content marketing.”
The idea is simple. Write, podcast, or video a statement, fictional tale, or “news” program and distribute the information. The single story can be diffused with Tweets, Instagram posts, updates to a Facebook page, and maybe a 30 second TikTok video.
In the world of SEO, there are some individuals who operate with a moral compass aimed at verifiable information, facts, and what might be called “old fashioned ethical behavior.” With the tools plentiful and almost no editorial control, other individuals find a way to use content to deliver “shaped” information. This “shaping” has long been a part of public relations and marketing.
DarkCyber has been exploring the world of digital propaganda, and there are numerous examples. These range from Covid19 information to less high profile manipulations; for example, a member of Nextdoor, a local information service, pitching used dining room chairs; for example, “perfect, no scratches.” Of course, perfect.
One interesting explanation of content marketing appears in the YouTube video called “How to Generate Leads Through Content Marketing – How We Get 300+ Leads Every Month.” The video appeared as part of a YouTube channel called “Hustle.” Content was discontinued one year ago. The reasons are not clear, but it appears that the content marketing expert lost interest or the methods set forth in the programs failed.
Let’s take a look at the content marketing information conveyed by a person (Christian Arriola), a self-professed SEO expert (SEO is the acronym search engine optimization experts created for the propaganda mechanism.
The video begins with the question, “How does one get leads from content marketing?” The idea is that if one generates one’s own leads, the leads are not shared with anyone else. Control is a strong idea in sales. At about the 45 second mark, the “content” of the YouTube video is information about Mr. Arriola’s consulting business. Thus, the initial message is: “This is an infomercial.” After the commercial the video states, “I am not trying to get anything out of this video…. I am not looking to do anything in particular with you. I am just trying to help you.” At the 90 second mark, Mr. Arriola defines content as “all this information you create that provides value to someone.” The content captures attention and builds a relationship when someone needs the content. Content marketing means a person does not have to buy advertising. Content marketing can give you a strategy, asserts Mr. Arriloa. At the 2.42 mark, Mr. Arriola hopes his video has helped.
This is an example of content marketing, and I think it reveals several characteristics of content marketing:
- It is propaganda. Talking about content marketing becomes difficult as Ellul pointed out decades ago.
- The “content” of content marketing does not have to have substance. Writing something is what’s important and then writing more. Quantity equals quantity seems to be the message.
- The free Web indexing systems ingest “content marketing” and match ads to key words. Clicks are what matter.
To sum up, content marketing is public relations, marketing, sales, and messages. Hustle is an excellent way to describe Mr. Arriola’s approach to faux information value.
SEO is a unregulated discipline. Fraud is highly likely. The quest for clicks is now essential to the survival of a business. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Content marketing is tailor made for today’s business climate. For more on this subject, see “SEO: Let Us Hustle Everyone.”
Stephen E Arnold, May 5, 2020
SEO: Let Us Hustle, Everyone
May 4, 2020
I was horrified in 2013 when I read “Google Semantic Search: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques That Get Your Company More Traffic, Increase Brand Impact, and Amplify Your Online Presence.” I assume Ramanathan Guha, one of the semantic sparkplugs, may have to breathe deeply and do Zen things when he ponders how his semantic inventions have been applied.
One idea for “semantic” was to deal with ambiguity and provide improved recall for Web content. I am not to thrash around in the Semantic Web kiddy pool with over inflated natural language processing methods, the sprites of SPARQL, and Watson-esque methods that can figure out “meaning” in human utterances. No, no.
I want to point out that crazy suggestions for fooling Google’s bastardized relevance methods into presenting a user with increasingly less and less relevant information. Here’s an example: A query for “Peruvian Machu Picchu stone masonry.” Pretty specific. Here’s what the GOOG delivers:
The top hit is from a travel agency. Number two is a Wikipedia article. Number three is a collection of pictures.
I don’t know about you, but I am not confident in a travel agency’s take on Mesolithic quarrying. The Wikipedia entry raises the question, “Says who?” And the pictures. I don’t need pictures, I need data about quarrying: Where, chemical composition of stone, tools, etc.
But that’s the search engine optimization world at work. Travel agencies are experts because they put a word in their sales material. Notice that the wondrous Google ad matching algorithm did NOT generate explicit travel advertisements. This begs the question, “What’s the problem, Google smart software ad matching thing?”
The goal of search engine optimization is to outfox an increasingly mixed up Google and the clueless user who wants information on a specific topic; for example, Peruvian Machu Picchu stone masonry,” NOT a pitch for a tours. The sacred valley gateway to Machu Picchu becomes under ham fisted SEO manipulations, the Valley of Tricked Customers, populated with users wondering, “I meant masonry information, not a tour.”
Let’s put David Amerland and his ilk aside. At least, the almost respectable SEO bilkadoodles (a cross between a street savvy fox and pink miniature poodle) write books and contribute to Search Engine Journal, one of the advocates of helping Google display unrelated content.
No, let’s take a quick look at an outfit which is a breed of interest to SEO veterinarians: Woobound.com.
Woobound.com came across my lidar when I received this email on Friday, May 1, 2020. Note that the text is unedited:
Hi ,
My name is Christian from Woobound, Helping you get through remote work challenges!I’ve been looking up content related to Seo, Digital Marketing & Lead Generation for Finance topic and noticed that you published one on your site http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2016/04/06/nasdaq-joins-the-party-for-investing-in-intelligence/
I liked what I have read so far, and I think we can agree on all your points. In fact, we have written and published similar content on the same topic which also touches on some of the Seo, Digital Marketing & Lead Generation for Finance tips/topics featured in your article.
We thought your readers might find it as a useful resource, and you can find it here: https://woobound.com/seo-financial-advisor/
Think it would make a nice addition to your page? I’m also keen to know your feedback or thoughts on our writing as well.We also have a blog manukakitchen.com and we’re happy to give you a link in return.
Keep up the great work at arnoldit.com and stay safe
Best
Christian
I noted several issues which this spam email poked in my face:
- The email is signed Christian, but the email address is for jeffrey@woobound.com. A fake name is a flashing yellow light.
The warning light is now pulsing. - The Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity is following what is a trend in getting useless content in order to pump up a loser blog. (I receive these “please, take my content and link to me” requests frequently. As I was assembling this post, an entity called andreea.sauciuc@cognitiveseo.com begged me to respond to her earlier requests for me to talk to her. No, doesn’t work with these thoughtless, clueless individuals.) The Christian Jeffrey entity called my attention to a story from 2016 about finance, and it seems to Christian Jeffrey that a story related to “seo-financial-advisor” and Manuka Kitchen. The entities are either stupid humans or stupid software bots. The common denominator is “stupid.”
- The Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity is confident that the entity and I agree. Wrong. The fake praise is even more obtuse than the links to subjects of zero interest to me and the DarkCyber team. What’s most inept? Assuming that I am going to agree with this Christian Arriola / Jeffrey or that I will craft a five star review of the Amerland SEO book?
What’s up with this Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity, please?
Curious I did some checking of open source content. What do you know? The Christian Arriola / Jeffrey reinvented himself in 2018. Here’s a before behavioral modification in the food aisle and the fashion forward Christian Arriola / Jeffrey of the here and now. The image comes from Facebook. Of course, this Christian possibly named Arriola is a Facebooker and an Instagramer to boot:
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The “less pizza” diet seems to have had zero impact on the fashion sense of the entity Christian Jeffrey. You can check out the girl friends (numerous), the dog, the favorite cities, and the entity’s most loved pizza restaurants at this link.
A little more exploration revealed a cornucopia of search engine optimization rubbish presented in a series of YouTube videos. You can experience these discharges (effluent, not prison) by clicking on this image:
The Christian Jeffrey program does not present the name of the top hustler who operates the program.
Compared to the Poland China output in the Amerland book, the content in these videos might challenge a trippe of hungry pygmy goats.
Let’s look at an example:
The image is similar to those my team has reviewed as part of our work for a tribunal focused on human trafficking and child sex crime.
The program is part of the “show” — now mercifully discontinued — called The Hustle. This particular video features images of hot flames, a visage with what seems to be a Hustle smirk, a VW sedan, footage in a bar, and includes the statement “My life is proving my mom and dad wrong.”
With some trepidation, I asked some of my team to “watch” videos prepared by the Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity.
Here’s the scorecard I received for three of the eight videos my team viewed. Please, note that each person watched two videos because as one of the DarkCyber team said, “I can’t stand this vlogger and the content. Two’s the limit for me.” I listen, so I said, “Okay, team two shows.”
Programs were rated on a scale of one to 10. One is an F or failure; 10 is a great program with solid content. Here we go:
Show 1: How to Be a Podcaster. Score: 2. Comment: Mostly correct but geared to a person who cannot read. On the Hustle Web site, the link to this program and the free series of which it is allegedly a part does not resolve. Dead links are not what SEO experts report as helpful.
Show 2: Best Keywords for Massage Therapist. Score 1. Comment: Distasteful subject. Seems like a way to build traffic for in call and outcall prostitution services.
Show 3: Make Money with SEMrush. Score 1. Comment: Superficial. Seems to suggest that anyone — even a person with zero education and a questionable reputation — can become a search engine optimization expert.
DarkCyber provided the Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity with some questions, a routine part of our data collection process. Here are the questions Christian Jeffrey declined to answer:
Would you be kind enough to explain the use of dual names?
One of the team took a gander at the LinkedIn profile associated with one of the names the “Hustle” expert used in his communications to me. Here’s what one of the DarkCyber team learned:
- One job at the present time: “Associate Director of SEO” for Nexstar Digital. This is a full time position. Engaged for one year.
- Another job at the present time: “Search Engine Optimization SEO Consultant”. Engaged for nine years.
- A third job at the present time: Podcast Host and content marketing strategy. Engaged for three years. Note that the video podcast went into what seems to be permanent hiatus “one year ago.”
- Education: Five years to get a BA degree in “business administration, marketing, and computer information systems.”
- An entity named Carlos Rosado said, “One of the most complete SEO managers I have ever worked with.”
- Christian Jeffrey is interested in AT&T and the Hotel Group, among others.
The DarkCyber team member’s opinion based on viewing the Hustle programs and the LinkedIn profile:
The fact that the person Christian Arriola / Jeffrey uses one name for LinkedIn and omits his name from the “Hustle” podcast raises red flags. Also, the information presented in the LinkedIn biography makes clear that this individual presents three “jobs” of which two are his own endeavors. This is another warning light. Multiple gigs are understandable today, but to list one’s own projects as full time jobs leads me to believe that this individual is one with a bit of professional fluidity or “stretch.”
Net Net: SEO is a discipline which plays a cat-and-mouse game with Google. Making a Web page appear when the content of that Web page is not germane to the user’s query is in some ways beyond marketing. The practice edges into intellectual dishonesty. Maybe the behavior is not in the same class as illegal weapons dealing, contraband, human trafficking, and child sex crime? But the facts presented in open source support these conclusions:
- SEO practitioners do shade or shape what Google displays.
- Individual practitioners may embrace methods associated with criminal behavior; that is, the use of aliases in a professional setting like LinkedIn and email to entities like ArnoldIT.
- The expertise required to deliver for fee SEO services may depend on the use of questionable software tools developed by other SEO “experts” and may not work. (Alexa Ranking reports that the Woobound.com site ranks at 7,313,183. DarkCyber finds it peculiar that an SEO expert cannot generate traffic or YouTube views for that matter.)
If you have to decide between the Amerland book’s advice and the “expertise” peddled by Christian Arriola / Jeffrey, look further. You’ll probably save time and money and avoid the “hustle.”
Stephen E Arnold, May 4, 2020
Search Engine Optimization: The Next Frontier Is Smart SEO
April 29, 2020
Content strategy plans are the most overlooked part of any Web site design and advertising campaign. Good content is integral to selling a product or a service, but not everyone is good at creating it. News Patrolling runs down the: “Best AI Tools For Content Marketing Strategy” and how AI is becoming an industry game changer.
Content is usually the first impression consumers have of companies. It is meant to engage the consumer, then:
“It serves as a tool to communicate with your audience. If you identify their pain points to provide them with a solution, they will trust you and be more interested in buying your offerings. The growth of your business depends on content strategy. It must be as effective as possible if you do not go downhill. Artificial intelligence can help you make an effective content marketing strategy. There are various tools to help you from targeting keywords to choosing the right topic. You will be surprised to know that AI tools can create a smarter content strategy by identifying the behaviour of users. Such software can help you increase revenues and reduce cost.”
The article recommends four content marketing software: Hubpost, Quill, Clearscope, and BrightEdge. Hubpost is advertised as using machine learning to help one get an edge on competition. The software analyzes keywords to discover what consumers want, then it clusters topics based on competition level.
Quill specializes in keyword optimization and generating quality content. Clearscope also optimizes content using keywords. It helps you generate keywords based on Google data and select the best keywords to use. Once you choose a keyword and write your post, Clearscope analyzes a post with other top-ranking posts.
BrightEdge is one integrated software solution that provides performance measurement, optimization, and keywords. It is described as a one-size-fits-all for content marketing strategies.
AI can provide insights into how to create the best content, but the most important part of a content strategy plan remains creative humans.
Yep, SEO is modernizing and automating methods to ensure that ad-supported Web search engines decide what matches a query. Precision, recall, and objectivity? Forget those irrelevant concepts.
Whitney Grace, April 29, 2020
Was It Google or SEO That Undermined the Internet?
April 22, 2020
If you are searching for a Web designer position, the job description will most likely contain the term “familiar with SEO.” SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and it uses keywords in original content to drive traffic to a Web site and make it appear at the top of search results. SEO makes the World Wide Web go round, but Super Highway 98 tells, “How SEO Ruined The Internet.”
Super Highway 98 is a nostalgic Web site that glorifies the early days off the Internet—back in the 1990s when dialup was still needed to surf. The article explains that from 1998-2003, Google was a magical experience. Nowadays, SEO technicians modify hyperlinks and headings to optimize them for search engines. In essence, they are rewriting history, instead of archiving the past:
“ ‘Content pruning’ is an effective SEO tactic on large, established websites. Rather that archiving old content with historical significance, many websites will delete it from their servers and return a 410 status code. Gone. The goal is to optimize “crawl budget,” keeping Google focused on the content that matters now. The result is a web without institutional memory or accountability.”
Today’s Internet hosts “the illusion of choice,” because many Web sites (especially review sites) are owned by the same company and content is specifically scripted for best SEO practices. Content needs to be breaking news and drive up Web traffic. Links are Internet currency. The biggest players usually do not link to other sites to keep users on their own pages.
Not for the foreseeable future. Money is more important than delivering objectionable, comprehensive, user tracking free services.
Whitney Grace, April 22, 2020
Did 2012 Mark the Beginning of the End for the Google?
February 24, 2020
A colleague sent me a link to “Google’s Best Days Are Behind Them.” I don’t have much hope for a write up with a grammatical error in the headline. The viewpoint is that of a search engine optimization professional. For a member of this elite and relevance destroying group, Google is good if it returns a specific Web page in response to a user’s query. In my experience, the query matters less than putting a particular page at the top of a first page of result. To achieve this, gamesmanship, deceptive practices, and social engineering are the norm.
The write up pegs 2012 as the beginning of the end of Google. I prefer to think of Google beginning a stroll toward sundowning, not death, and not for a long time. The write up asserts:
Google first started making major changes in its long-existing algorithm in 2012, when it came up with the Penguin update. With each subsequent algorithm update, the company focused on key areas like building links, improving content, or technical SEO aspects.
What’s happening is that SEO experts find themselves with less room to fiddle and fool Mother Google. In reality, Google has taken the fooling around into its own hands. The write up touches upon one example:
But recently, Google has started paying more attention to the way it displays its search results, i.e., the UI/UX. And this sole factor has cost multiple websites the entirety of their business, if not more.
Instead of a list, Google has experimented with making the pages into showcases, digital fruit salads, and odd mixes of content from its silos of indexes. But that disguised a core problem for the Google: The rise of the mobile phone and the shift from desktop search to small form factor search. The article identifies one consequence of this shift:
While Google had a 20% volume of advertisements on its SERPS before, Google-owned features now tend to occupy almost 80% of the page. In most search results, the first fold is completely taken over by features like Google ads, a Google Maps pack, or Google Shopping ads.
For the author, this means that getting a site to appear at the top of a results list is a difficult task. For certain types of content, the SEO efforts – usually a hit and miss effort – became outright failure.
The write up does point out that Google made more than 3,000 changes to its search algorithm in 2019. That’s sort of right. The plumbing is still in place at the Google. The fixes take place in the layers upon layers of wrappers which enhance search with the advertising revenue objective. What Google’s algorithm is now resembles a giant tar ball with leaves, sticks, plastic water bottles, and other detritus embedded in its surface. Changes require changes. Revenue objectives require changes. Users doing something Google did not predict requires changes. To make matters more interesting, the changes follow the sun; that is, search engineers make changes around the world, across time zones. DarkCyber is not sure there is a single person working at Google who knows what is generating a particular search result. That’s not going to change.
When did this situation begin? Was 2012 the Golden Year?
No. That’s like pinpointing the specific date of the Stone Age.
Google’s transformation began the day the Yahoo litigation was resolved. For those unaware that Google was accused of improper use of Yahoo owned systems and methods, you can get up to speed at this paywalled (of course) story in the New York Times by the ever sharp Saul Hansell: “Google and Yahoo Settle Dispute Over Search Patent.”
Search is expensive. Google’s approach to business is expensive. Google’s assumptions about Android advertising are expensive. In short, no matter how much money Google sucks in and carves out for profit there will never be enough. As a result, Google has to reduce costs and increase revenue.
The changes Google has been implementing since 2004 are not visible to even the least aware SEO professional. To those who have used Web search systems since before the inception of Google, the changes in the quality, timeliness, relevance, precision, and recall in Google search results have been deteriorating for — let’s do the math 2020 – 2004 = 16 years — yes, more than 15 years.
There’s nothing like an SEO expert who is on top of search, what’s been going on for 180 months.
DarkCyber’s key insight into search: Run those queries across available systems. Relying on one is going to produce results that may deceive, mislead, and disappoint.
That’s work. Yep, so is understanding that information retrieval is a serious business. Advertising is a money business. SEO is a deception business.
And Google is consistent and sundowning. No matter how flawed the service, it is a monopoly. Monopolies take a long time to go away.
Stephen E Arnold, February 24, 2020
A DarkCyber Tip: Stay On Google’s Good Side
September 20, 2019
If your Web site does not appear in Google, it might as well not exist. Being in the top Google search results is key to your Web site’s success or failure, but how do you get in the top search results? The answer is: being on Google’s good side. Bit Rebels explains how to be on good terms with Google in the article, “How Important Is Getting On Google’s Good Side.”
You want to focus on getting in Google’s top search results, because 73% of all online searches are conducted via it. Google is the big guns when it comes to online search and if you get to the top of Google, then you will get to the top of the remaining search engines.
Being on the second, third, and fourth pages might appear to be an accomplishment, but humans have short attention spans and do not want to browse. Humans want instantaneous results, so that action involves a once over of the first page and clicking on a link.
Do not forget that SEO is an important part of high rankings:
“At this point, you probably have an idea what search engine optimization, SEO, is. In case you don’t, though, it’s the process of making your website more attractive to a search engine. When the popular search engine that is Google arranges results, it does so using specific criteria; relevance of the domain name to the search keywords, website speed and reliability, relevance of web content, popularity and several other factors.
We also noted:
What’s more, Google also takes into consideration how many clicks does your website often get. So, if it is a frequently visited website, it would automatically get bumped up the results page. Having said that, get ready to scoop the leftovers of your mind off the floor because we’re about to blow it to bit.”
To get on Google’s good side the formula is simple: create good content, concentrate on SEO, gets hits, and maybe invest in some online advertising?
Whitney Grace, September 20, 2019
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