At least that's true if you're unlucky with Google. As a follow up to Search Diving on "Live" for Fun, Amusement and Mild Pleasure, we present to you Google Last, the most unlucky search on the Earth.
It's certainly unlucky to be at the bottom of the top 100 results, but it's even more unlucky to be at the bottom 1,000. However, we think there's an entire Internet being ignored from all of those lazy searchers who don't go past the first page of Google. Just a few searches on Google Last resulted in some very interesting websites.
Searching for "seriously" resulted in some serious pr0n, while searching for "unlucky" produced a plethora of hilarious yuk yuks. Isn't it time the bottom 1,000 got some love? Page 100 is where the cool kids are at, so get going.
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Search Engine Journal recently demystified the Google algorithm. It's really a matter of perspective.
Google Engineer's Perspective
Search Marketer's Perspective
Of course this isn't totally true, and money doesn't need to be involved, but it's still damn funny.
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I've always found Google's Blog Search to be less then stellar. It's excellent at indexing, sorting and presenting current blog entries. What it's not excellent at is returning quality results. However, today it hit an all time low. I was doing some research for a client — searching for "chicago annuity" — and the first page results were basically all spam.
One of the first things I noticed was the keyword stuffing in the blog entry description. As this screenshot shows, having the word annuity in every sentence three times is most definitely keyword stuffing!
If you look closely, you'll see that all of the websites are Blogspot (Blogger) websites. Although I didn't click on all of the links, the ones I did click on had already been designated as spam by the Blogger team.
It seems like the Google Spam Team isn't working with the group that runs the Blog Search. These are the type of search results that are long gone from Google's main search engine, which is why it's shocking to see it so "spammed" up. With results like this, Google's blog search is basically useless. Instead of finding the expected mixed bag of results, I now just find spam. I hope they'll give this some attention soon.
Sramana Mitra recently wrote about Google's Achilles Heel. In her article, she suggested that vertical search engines are Google's worst vulnerability.
Google has so far stayed focused on horizontal, generic search with a simple, one-bar user interface. And it has brought them a remarkably long way.
However, as users get more sophisticated, they are discovering brands that offer richer user experiences customized to the dynamics of the vertical.
Here's an example. Let's say that I've been considering a new exercise routine. I'm trying to decide whether I should start running, jogging or walking, so I decide to go to Google and search, "reasons why I should run." Instead of getting what I'm looking for, I get an article I recently wrote, "Five Reasons Why You Should Run a "Do Follow" Blog." This of course is fantastic for our website, but it's not what I was searching for. It's not until the the third result that I see a related result, "10 reasons why women should run." That result is certainly closer to what I'm looking for, but I would still be hesitant to click on it, because I'm not a woman.
The remaining results are related to politics — none of which are related to the intention of my search query. That "unrelatedness," along with close matches that are exclusive (I'm not a woman), is why vertical search engines are the way of the future. Basically, to get better results, I would want to use a vertical search engine. A good example would be a search engine that only focuses on exercise or just running.
However, the problem with vertical search engines is that there are too many of them (or there soon will be), which will create the need for a search engine to find vertical search engines — ridiculous, I know. That problem takes us full circle and back to "do everything" search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Live. So, what's the solution?
I think the solution is relatively easy, at least from a user interface (UI) perspective. Adding the addition of a category/tag input field could go a long way in returning much more valid results. This of course would wreak havoc on the SEO industry, because it would become even harder (or possibly easier in some cases) to target and track search engine result pages (SERPs). I would envision something as simple as this Google mockup I put together. The first image shows the "hint" language that would go in each input field before the user enters any text, while the second image is an example of the actual search term and subject(s) I would use.
If Google could correctly apply "subjects" (aka categories, tags, etc...) to individual Web pages and entire websites — which I believe they can and already do in some respect — then updating their interface to work similar to my mockup may save them from the vertical search proliferation.
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Like most code based SEO enhancements, optimizing an image with text involves utilizing existing accessibility options already built into HTML. For example, adding the text in an image to the ALT attribute into the IMG element will help users with certain disabilities (or users with a text browser, like Lynx) and also provide more copy for search engines to analyze. So as an extra step, prudent webmasters, regardless of their overall purpose, provide alternate text for their images. However, Google may change that practice forever.
Google's new patent application for reading text in images and videos may make the practice of including alternate text a thing of the past. In addition, it's something that may open a huge door for SEO opportunities and innovative services. Bill Slawski (of SEO by the SEA) listed several potential uses of this technology if it were used to analyze and associate text in images:
- Images are Associated with a Mapping Program
- Images Near Specific Locations are Associated with Each Other
- Images of Similar Businesses Presented as Alternatives
- Advertisements Shown with Images
- Google Interior Images
- Searching Museums for Images
I think the opportunities for search engine optimization are endless. In the same way that SEO specialists focus on keyword inclusion and repetition in semantically structured HTML documents, new focus will be put on the inclusion of text in both images and videos. In fact, if this technology is widely implemented — in the way I'm assuming it will be — it has the potential to change the way images and videos are used on the Internet. In the same way article titles have changed the way we communicate to both people and bots, we will see a rise in the use of images and videos that have the expressed intention of providing more content for bots to analyze (not just extra content for the user).
Like all new technologies that directly affect search engine results, we will see the rise of a new kind of spam — image and blog spam. For example, expect to see videos that have very little content, but have lots of text that change every few frames. It's not all bad though. I think this technology will also be used to create original and interesting content. In the same way linkbait is used today, creative search marketers will find ways to create image and video content that takes direct advantage of this technology. A few ideas that come to mind include:
- Creating linkbait articles, like searching and finding the ten most interesting or funny road signs.
- A search engine that helps you find posters and flyers for concerts and events.
- Online treasure hunt games where you follow the trail of certain videos and try to spot a secret code or the next clue to search with.
If this technology is used in the way I think and hope it will be, it has the potential to disrupt the type of content that's currently being created for the Internet. It will also influence and modify how search marketers approach their SEO campaigns.
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