It should be a rare occurrence…right?
But unfortunately in this FUD atmosphere of Google’s guest-blogging blitzkrieg, it is not.
If you hadn’t yet read up on how Doc Sheldon’s site got singled out for a site-wide penalty over one (valid) link, then check out Danny Sullivan’s post via Search Engine Land.
I asked Doc for his insights regarding his experience with his site being penalized, why he believes it happened, and what we can all learn going forward…
Greetings! And welcome to my first installment of Top Shelf’s weekly online marketing news. I’ve developed it with the savvy online marketer in mind, cutting through the banal to bring you only the best. Hope you find a few web gems here, and I’d love to hear your feedback!
As you might imagine, Google’s dual uppercut and body punch to the SEO and search industry dominates the week’s online marketing news. Its complete eclipse of search data coupled with its new Hummingbird algorithm has left (some in) the industry reeling and experts buzzing up the web with their insights, analyses, and opinions.
Other notable news includes Twitter opening up its IPO and a new device that can completely block online ads.
They’ve caused search to evolve a lot – far beyond what anyone expected – but the real answer is a lot lengthier.
When Larry Page returned to the helm of Google in April, 2011, one of the first things he did was appoint Alan Eustace Senior VP of Knowledge. That occurred simultaneously with the renaming of the Search Group to the Knowledge Group. Formerly the Senior VP of Engineering and Research, Eustace was a prime candidate to ramrod the new focus… to become a Knowledge Engine.
Google’s Base and Knols project apparently didn’t go the direction they hoped. Participation may have been less than sufficient to make it worth pursuing or perhaps a wiki-style project that was neither moderated nor edited just generated too much garbage material. I’d guess both.