Lets get back to basics here.
Google is a corporation first and foremost. It is not simply a search engine. It is a service provider (think Google Apps, Analytics, Yola and the others) and it’s also a massive cash producing advertising platform (think Ad words).
As a mega corporation it exists to make money for its stockholders, and to make money it does, well, profitable things.
I’m a local marketing agency owner and I both depend on, and battle indirectly with, Google.
I rely on it because I do SEO and well, without Google (and search engines generally) I would not have any requirement for my services.
But I also battle with Google because I do SEO and instead of local businesses laying out cash on PPC, I persuade them to give me their money and let me optimise their websites so they rank well organically.
It appears that Google and me, well we need each other and at some level at least we both know it.
First Panda and then Penguin. Did you hear all the SEO folks out their bitching? Really I’d be surprised if you didn’t, it was like they felt Google owed them something (which they don’t)
Google sees the SEO folks ‘gaming ‘ results and mixes it up. Some sites rise in the rankings, others fall. Some likened it to a nuclear bomb being dropped on the playground. Come on now, its all business.
Changing things up makes complete sense if you are Google.
It shakes things up, makes folks rethink PAY PER CLICK (did you see all the vouchers being given to get folk started on the PAY PER CLICK route recently?)
It gets some blatently rubbish websites delisted. It makes tired SEOs want to change job.
But for me it’s a good thing too.
None of my websites were affected by either the ‘Panda ‘ or ‘Penguin ‘ updates. But still, now, there are new chats to be had with clients and for me anyway, that is good news because those kind of chats lead to more business.
By Stephane Kolinsky, Website Developer Plymouth and mobile marketing blog writer.