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Is Google The New Terrorist?

November 20th, 2007 Comments(41)

Ter-ror-ist - a person who terrorizes or frightens others.

I’ve been doing a bit of thinking, a bit of reading, and a bit of checking my stats. Google provides me with maybe 30-40 traffic hits a week. That’s not a lot when I look at the big picture - which is between 2,000 to 4,000 unique visits per week. It’s maybe 1% of my traffic.

What’s The Big Deal?

So Google have removed the numerical page rank of some websites. So what, I hear some of you say. Big deal. What does it matter? In the grand scheme of things, it probably doesn’t matter so much. However it seems some blogs and sites got slapped without ever having done anything against Google’s rules. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? In the Google court, you don’t even get to see the judge.

Why Does Anyone Care?

Some bloggers and websites won’t be able to ask as much for their advertising because at this stage the online advertising world uses Page Rank as a way of judging websites. This will change for certain. By their actions Google have shown they aren’t a reliable way of rating anything. Therefore, what Google does with Page Rank doesn’t matter so much. However the problem is, many site owners are concerned that this is not the end of the story. They fear more changes are on the way..

Search Engine Removal?

The biggest fear for most website owners is being removed from the Google search, or having their sites rank in the search engine a lot lower than they had been ranking previously. It has happened before - in the most well known case a blogger named John Chow was severely slapped by Google back in June. He was not even ranking for his own name for several search result pages! Many people thought that the slap was deserved. John has always been a controversial blogger and many did not like him. However what those people did not consider was - who would be next? Could it be them?

Some People Rely On Google

There are many bloggers out there who have Google sending anywhere between 30-90% of their traffic. For them, Google IS the new terrorist. They fear being removed from the search engine entirely and losing all that traffic. These people are frightened. These people are terrorized. These people are under a lot of stress because they don’t know what will happen next.

Do Not Negotiate -

Many of these people are so terrified they have made the decision to negotiate with the terrorist - they are removing paid links then admitting they did things wrong and asking for “re-inclusion”. Any law enforcement official would tell you - never negotiate with a terrorist. You need to look for other ways to solve the problem. If Google is the main source of traffic to your blog, you need to spread your wings and find other options.

How Can I Increase Traffic?

There are plenty of ways to get traffic to your blog - that is another post for another day. In the meantime Tay from Super Blogging Tips has written something to get you started on thinking about ways to increase your traffic.

75 Ways to Increase Your Site’s Traffic

Guest Blog Here!

Note that one of the ideas in Tay’s post is to guest blog on other blogs - I already have a standing invitation for all bloggers to do that. Get Out Of Your Niche - all bloggers are welcome. Just contact me via the Contact Form.

The Creation Of Fear -

I’m a plane enthusiast. I have been ever since I was a kid. My parents would take me to the airport and I would watch the planes take off. There is something special about that moment a plane leaves the ground. There is something special about how they glide in so gracefully to land.

On 9/11 -

I watched the second plane fly into the World Trade Center live on television on 9/11. My sister had called to tell me the first plane crashed. It was about 10:30 at night here and The Other Half and I sat down and watched the live footage on cable. I was horrified to see that plane fly into the tower right in front of my eyes. I was stunned. So was the rest of the world.

A New Fear Was Born -

A few days later I had volunteered to paint houses for a charity organisation that housed women trying to leave abusive situations. About an hour into the painting I heard a plane approaching and I looked up - not with happiness, not with joy, but in *fear*. The terrorists had achieved what they wanted right there - they wanted to create fear.

Change Can Be Forever

The actions of the terrorists changed things forever - from airport security to the laws of several countries, to creating wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I would suggest some of these changes were not seen in the crystal ball of the terrorists. I’d suggest that the anti-Google feeling and the amount of anger their actions would create was not seen in the crystal ball of Google, either. For some, there will be no going back to how things were.

No Going Back -

I’m one of those people who will never go back to using Google services in the way I used to, ever. I can’t trust them. I can’t believe in them anymore. I can’t support a company that bullies people. A company that takes away the (albeit small in some cases) income of stay at home parents. A company which in my opinion has conflicts of interest when they own a search engine and an advertising company.

Wait A Minute -

Before you misinterpret that to say “Snoskred is suggesting what Google is doing is as bad as 9/11″ please note I did not say that. I said that 9/11 changed things for the world forever - the terrorists used fear to do that. Google are trying to change the blogosphere forever and they are using fear to do it. That is the comparison I am making.

Fear And Uncertainty

My opinion is that Google is doing exactly the same thing as terrorists do - frightening people. The uncertainty about what is going on, nobody coming out to speak and make a statement to say what the situation is or why page ranks have dropped, and worst of all the suspicion that this is not the end of it - the suspicion that people who have sold text link ads or done pay per post before might be dropped out of the search index entirely - all of this is creating fear in the minds of bloggers and webmasters.

The Question Is -

If Google want to solve the problem there is an easy and simple solution. Google could just stop telling people what their page rank is. It is dead simple. So why haven’t they done that - why have they chosen to take this path? Why would any company who had a good reputation and was as respected as Google was take the risk of becoming the next most hated by alienating webmasters and bloggers in this manner?

The Unofficial Spokesman?

Matt Cutts, self proclaimed unofficial spokesman for Google, we’d like an answer to that question. Why don’t you take a moment to give us one? Perhaps you can explain why a company with a motto of “Do No Evil” is taking lessons in how to create fear and influence people from terrorists?

I’m Sorry Google -

Your campaign of fear is not going to work on me. You give me 1% of my traffic and you want to try and scare me into behaving the way you want? Ever since I moved to Wordpress I have had a note on my advertise page that links to advertisers would be no follow, and if advertisers were ok with that then they could feel free to contact me and advertise here. On the old blog they were do follow.

Bullying Doesn’t Work -

By the time this post is posted, I will have removed that note from the advertise page. If I want to link to any site on the internet at any time regardless of whether they have paid me for a review or not I will do so, even if it loses me my paltry 1% of traffic from Google.

What Will Change Here?

The disclosure policy on this blog has now changed - I rewrote it. I used to always let ya’all know when I’d been paid to do a review. Unfortunately that could now cause an advertiser to lose their page rank. I don’t want to see advertisers and sponsors punished for supporting my blog and supporting my right to stay at home and earn money. If you wonder if a post has been paid for you can always contact me and ask.

But remember -

I won’t review a product at all - with or without being paid - unless I have used it myself, I like it, and I think it will benefit my readers to know about it. I will review blogs and websites for payment whether I like them or not because the blogger or site owner is paying for my honest opinion - not for a link. And they will get my honest opinion. I’m not shy to say what I think, as regular readers already know.

Celebrate My Page Rank Drop -

Now don’t forget, I have A Little Competition To Celebrate My Page Rank Drop going on, so leave a comment and be in it to win it!

What Did Snoskred Do To Deserve That Drop?

It seems that if you mentioned certain words on your website you lost your page rank. Again I am only guessing because there is dead silence from Google on this topic - however this blog post from Ted Murphy who owns PayPerPost - Google Goes after the Everyday Blogger claims that someone on the inside of Google has told him that Google are looking for certain words. I mentioned Pay Per Post and Text Link Ads in this post ONLY. I believe that is what has caused my penalty. But who can say for sure? Nobody from Google will tell anyone what they did wrong. Nobody from Google is saying what is going on. We’re all in the dark and forced to make assumptions and guess.

What About Text Link Ads?

I did run Text Link Ads on the old blogger blog until early September when I noticed that they were paying me for one link but displaying three links. I tried to speak to their service department but they couldn’t even find my blog in the system. I was so dismayed by the lack of customer service I decided to resign effective the end of September. But it seemed I couldn’t even do that, because they could not find my blog in their system! I personally contacted the advertiser to let them know I had resigned and they should not pay for the link from then on, and left it at that.

But That Was Not All.

A few weeks later I got an email from some customer service drone to say that they could not find the links on my blog and that I would not be paid. I replied saying that was fine, I didn’t want to be paid because I had in fact resigned but they kept telling me they could not find my blog in the system. I said that seeing as he found my blog in the system could he please remove it immediately. But it seemed this was not a real person - I got the same computer generated email telling me I would not be paid three more times. Each time I responded saying I had resigned and to please remove me. I still don’t know if they did, but I do know I removed their links from my old blog on the last day of September. They did not get moved over here to the new blog.

Final Thought -

Robyn Tippins at Practical Blogging posted this modified version of Niemoller’s poem in her post Google Makes More Enemies. I asked for permission to put it here. Thanks for saying yes, Robyn!

They came first for the text link sellers, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a seller of text links;

And then they came for the blog networks, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t in a blog network;

And then they came for the Posties, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Postie;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up.

Report Adsense Paid Links?

November 18th, 2007 Comments(4)

Google is encouraging people to be snitches and report paid links, so a good friend of mine who shall remain nameless on one of their last visits to an old gmail account took a moment to report some links. They took a screenshot, which they shared with me.

If Google wants to be the link police, shouldn’t they begin with their own backyard?

Added To Yesterday’s Post

In case you missed these.
PageRank Becomes Worthless
Google Shooting Itself in The Foot
Another Round of ‘Google Spankings’?!?
A Wordless Wednesday that really says it all
Chuck Norris Wants His Green Bar Back
The Great Google Bitch Slap
PR Going, going, gone: What now?
Worried about Google PR drop? Don’t be!
Google Gone Ga Ga

Edited To Add -

(these will get a post of their own sometime in the next few days but I thought I would add them as a lot of people are still viewing this post now)
Google Makes More Enemies - This post contains a modified version of Niemoller’s poem - the whole post is worth reading but the poem is something else.
Google and Their Power Soon to be Left Behind?
NoFollow is for Blog Spam…no Paid Text Links, wait…Paid Ads…Aww Heck, Just Stop Linking and Let Calacanis Decide the Rankings - Part One
NoFollow is for Blog Spam…no Paid Text Links, wait…Paid Ads…Aww Heck, Just Stop Linking and Let Calacanis Decide the Rankings - Part Two
NoFollow is for Blog Spam…no Paid Text Links, wait…Paid Ads…Aww Heck, Just Stop Linking and Let Calacanis Decide the Rankings - Part Three
NoFollow is for Blog Spam…no Paid Text Links, wait…Paid Ads…Aww Heck, Just Stop Linking and Let Calacanis Decide the Rankings - Part Four
NoFollow is for Blog Spam…no Paid Text Links, wait…Paid Ads…Aww Heck, Just Stop Linking and Let Calacanis Decide the Rankings - Part Five
Google Page Rank Rage May Lead to Goo Gone
Show Your Page’s Popularity
Rise up, bloggers
Hi everyone! I’m a big fat ZERO!
My Google Goose Egg
Project “Goo Gone”
Advertorials Gut, Paid Reviews Nicht So Gut
Just Kill The PayPerPost Brand & Focus On SocialSpark
Google Selling Links For $1995?
EatonWeb to Phase Out PageRank in its Metrics Computation
Is Google Making An Example Out Of PayPerPost (… er, Izea)?
Does Google hate PayPerPost?

If I Missed Your Link

Let me know, post a link to it in the comments. I’m going to put my stumbleupon toolbar back on my computer today - removed due to a recent windows reinstall - and stumble everyones posts.
I’ll be back later today with a Non-Google related post, but I did want to keep posting the linkage as much as possible.

Apologies for all the Google Stuff -

I hope ya’all will bear with me during this time. The bottom line is I am angry with how Google are treating people. I don’t want to shut up and disappear into the night. My blog is my place to speak out and I intend to keep doing it as long as Google intend to keep acting like bullies. But I will try to keep some “normal” content coming your way, and only post more links when I have enough to make a post worthwhile.

More Bad Press For Google.

November 17th, 2007 Comments(21)

Google may have once thought they were immune to bad press, that nobody would ever say anything bad about them. I think yesterdays post - Say Goodbye To Google Today -with 21 links to bad press on various blogs around the blogOsphere was a sign of things to come - and today I have spent a little time digging up some more bad Google press. Below you’ll find over 30 articles to more bad Google press on blogs.

There Will Be More Bad Press -

The reason there will be more? When a company of 13,000 or so employees takes on individual bloggers and shamelessly bullies them into behaving the way they demand they behave or else, that is big news. I was bullied when I was a kid at school. I’m damned if I will let them bully me now that I’m an adult. I’m not the only one who feels that way. It isn’t really about page rank to me - it is about bullying. They could give my page rank back and I would still feel this way. I would still be taking my power back.

I Feel Good, I Knew That I Would-

I have not visited a Google page in almost 24 hours now. Wow, it feels good! How can my decision not to visit Google sites any more hurt them, you wonder? Let’s look at an example.

Visits Count - So Stop Visiting -

I used to visit Google Search 10+ times a day. That’s over 70 visits in a week Google will no longer be getting. If 10 bloggers who visited Google 10+ times a day stop visiting - that’s 100 visits a day right there. That’s 700 visits in a week. You see how the numbers start to add up? What if 100 bloggers who used to visit Google 10+ times a day stop visiting? 1000 bloggers? Every visit counts. Every visit increases their alexa rank, every visit is logged and adds to their traffic. So if you stop visiting, that counts too.

Refuse To Be Bullied -

If you had a kid in school who was being bullied, would you do something about it? Would you speak to the school? And if the school did nothing and let your kid be bullied regularly, would you remove your kid from the school? If you hate bullies, stop visiting Google today.

Edited to add -

PageRank Becomes Worthless
Google Shooting Itself in The Foot
Another Round of ‘Google Spankings’?!?
A Wordless Wednesday that really says it all
Chuck Norris Wants His Green Bar Back
The Great Google Bitch Slap
PR Going, going, gone: What now?
Worried about Google PR drop? Don’t be!
Google Gone Ga Ga
Apologies if I missed a link to something you’ve written on this topic - please let me know in the comments and I will edit the post to add a link to it.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think about the Big Google Bully? Do you think it is ok for a search engine to bully people and tell them who they can link to and who they can’t? How would you feel if they did it to you?

Say Goodbye To Google Today.

November 16th, 2007 Comments(68)

There’s a lot of people very unhappy with Google right now, and rightly so. We gave them too much power, and it is time to take it back. This post gives you everything you need to STOP using Google today, completely.

Why Say Goodbye?

So this morning I wake up to the refreshing news (thanks to email from a fellow blogger who went to a 0) that I now have a page rank of 0. ZERO. I can’t see what I’ve done wrong, or why I deserve such treatment. But what I can tell you is, I’m finished using Google. Here’s a list of the things I am using instead. If you feel angry at them for how they have treated me and other bloggers, you can feel free to do the same. In my opinion many of the following are actually BETTER than Google’s services anyway.

Goodbye Google Search, Hello Dogpile -

Don’t worry, you don’t have to completely stop using Google. What I suggest is that you use a search engine called Dogpile. It is a neat little search engine that combines results from Google, Ask.com, Yahoo and others. This way Google does not get a “hit” to their site when you search - Dogpile gets the hit and the traffic.

Goodbye Google Search - Hello Scroogle -

Another option to replace Google Search is Scroogle - it is Google Search but using a proxy. Again this means Google does not get your traffic. I have already replaced the Google Search Box on my site with Scroogle and if you own a blog you can do the same - instructions here.

Goodbye Google Reader, Hello Bloglines -

In the past I have been a vocal supporter and user of Google Reader. I have suggested it to many fellow bloggers. I know plenty of people who have used it based on my recommendation. I thought “Oh no, I don’t want to switch, I love my Google Reader, it will be difficult to import all my blogs etc”. It turns out that isn’t true. Sephy wrote a post - How To Move From Google Reader To Bloglines. He did it for me and it took him about 2 minutes. I have to say I like the look of Bloglines a lot better than Google Reader. Time will tell if it works as well but I know a lot of people do use it.

Goodbye Google Calendar, Hello Sunbird -

I was a recent lover of Google Calendar but there were a few things about it which drove me nuts - the inability to print off more than 10 days in advance on your agenda was one of them. Sunbird can do this, so I’m all set. You can use Sunbird which is a stand alone program, or if you use Mozilla Thunderbird, you can use Lightning which integrates with Thunderbird.

Goodbye Gmail - Hello Many Options -

I personally am using my own mail server these days but if you don’t have the ability to do that there are plenty of options for free email which don’t have the annoying spam server that Gmail uses. That spam filter often sends legitimate email to the spam bin! Here’s a few of my favourites -

Fastmail.fm

The only thing missing at Fastmail is storage space. You get 10mb with a free email account. If you can keep on top of your mail and ruthlessly delete, this is the best free email on the web. I’ve had many dealings with customer service over there (fastmail supports scambaiters and has been excellent to us over the years) and they are fast, responsive, helpful and brilliant. Unlike Gmail who closed *10* of my email accounts and have not bothered to get back to me re retrieving my lost emails.

Bigstring.com

The Bigstring email service offers unlimited storage, if you need that. It also contains some features you won’t find elsewhere, such as self-destructing email. I’ve used it myself to send email to scammers.

Don’t Forget Yahoo -

Yahoo now offers unlimited storage. You can sometimes find it difficult to get the email ID you want, but I was starting to find that with Gmail these days too. If you want POP3 email for free, Yahoo is the best way to get it - just remember that you do not get free POP3 on yahoo.com, it has to be one of the country endings like yahoo.com.au or yahoo.co.uk.

Goodbye Blogger, Hello Wordpress -

I personally made the change to a self-hosted Wordpress blog a little while ago. I’ve mentioned before that we have a dedicated server which isn’t doing much, and I am willing to offer very cheap Wordpress hosting to fellow bloggers wanting to move away from Blogger. Unlike a lot of the other hosts out there, you can pay by the month and we would set it up for you. Just contact me via the contact form if you’re interested. How cheap? How does $5 a month sound?

However there are other free blogs out there OTHER than blogger. This article from Mashable - 40+ Free Blog Hosts contains many of the options.

Other Things You Could Do -

If you have Adsense, remove it from your site.
Make a decision never to click on an Adsense ad.
Contact bloggers you know who use Adsense and tell them you object to the use of Adsense.
Contact advertisers you see using Adsense and ask them to use different methods of advertising
If you are in Australia and your blog has been affected, contact the ACCC - they are already taking Google to court re sponsored links
Support your fellow bloggers by saying Goodbye To Google as mentioned above - because who knows who Google will target next? It could be you.
Spread the word - link to this post, blog about saying Goodbye to Google.

Watch Google Stock Nose Dive

Some of the people being penalised may have owned Google Stock - or perhaps their calls to sell Google stock is working, because Google Stock is dropping - and I for one am applauding that. You can watch it drop yourself at Yahoo! Finance. I hope that is sending a message!

Snoskred - Life in the Country