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How to Soar in Your Search Engine Marketing in the 
Post Google Era (Part 1), By Kamau Austin (c) 2004

The Three Part Series on the Tao of Search Engine Promotion
 
"I Wonder if Google will Essentially Ever become Again what it 
Once Was?"
 
It is causing a shake up in web marketing circles, and the SEO
industry is in chaos. Its Google's Florida and subsequent 
updates, that have many of us in the web marketing industry
taken by storm. Google's latest series of updates has totally
dismantled certain niche markets, delivering sparse results in
relevancy, not to mention a display of deference to research
sites.
 
At one point during the Florida Update using Google had become
like a throw back to a researcher's tool, akin to the old days
of the scientist and professors exclusively using the Internet.
While Google is once again featuring ecommerce sites in
prominent positions, in its search results, it is obvious that
the search company wants an online world where commercial
interests bid for top search placement.
 

The Limits of Search Engine Advertising
 
Google and other search engines have a real problem with the
reliance on search advertising, because they have obvious
limits for their desired advertising inventory. This is
precisely their predicament, because after the first 2 or 3
pages of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), search users
usually stop scanning the results to launch a new and more
specific search, or at worst to abandon their searches
altogether.
 
While allegations swirl about Google's unconventional IPO and 
the need to force traditional SEO sites into the Pay-Per-Click
(PPC) advertising mainstream, Internet gurus continue to
speculate, postulate, and become apologist for Google's erratic
updates. I wonder if Google will essentially ever become again
what it once was? Google simply was once a great search engine,
doing what great search engines do - find the information you
are looking for fast and easy.
 

"Has Google Become the Web App of Filters and Updates Eroding
its Relevancy?"
 
Search is one of the Web's Killer Apps. Google is certainly the
dominant player in this market. However, with so many strong
arm tactics employed to curtail SEOs and search engine
spammers, has Google become the web app of filters and updates
eroding its relevancy? Recent reports from widely reported
online sources and in the Emarketer statistics email show that
Google is losing market share to Yahoo! Furthermore studies
have shown that by 2005 Yahoo! search will overtake Google in
market share.
 
It is ironic that Yahoo!'s algorithm seems to respond well to
traditional on the page optimization.
 
More ironic is I find it easier to retrieve relevant sites on
upstart Search Engine Teoma, with its HITTS ranking algorithm,
than Google and its purported off the page PageRankT
algorithms. I realize this has a lot to do with the win at all
costs "Black Hat SEO" tactics of many SEOs. Moreover, its loss
in relevancy has to do with Google's stop SEO spam at all costs
counter measures. I would opine that Google has never seen a
SEO who isn't a spammer in their book. This is why I think they
toy with the SEO community with esoteric concepts like
PageRankT. Google gives these concepts high visibility to SEOs
(like a PageRankT feature on its toolbar) so we SEO's devote a
lot of time building our PageRankT. While it is obvious
PageRankT is only a portion of its ranking system.
 

"Is Google's Promotion of the PageRankT Algorithm
Really Just Bait and Switch Tactics to Marginalize SEO ?"
 
Google's claim to fame was the use of PageRankT to garner its
trademark relevant search results. However, given the fact that
some of Google's management considers SEO a technical form of
alchemy or black magic, is Google's promotion of PageRankT
really just bate and switch tactics to marginalize SEO? We hear
rumblings that the next leap in search engine relevancy will be
the semantic web. Do we know if the looming semantic web will
be an enhancement to Google's algorithm?
 
I know search engine spam must stop, but has Google's solutions
become even worse than the problem? I know many "White Hat
SEO's like Jill Whalen of High Rankings.com and myself 
advocate creating the best possible content on a web site.
Therefore, if Google uses every chance it gets to filter, ban,
or de-rank optimized web sites, it will adversely affect its
ranking relevancy as well.
 
For example stopping email spam at all costs has made it almost
impossible to run an email business? Email another major killer
app on the Internet has been rendered almost totally unreliable
for any business communications by the aggressive filtering of
egregious and deleterious spam by major ISPs. Most legitimate
e-marketers deplore the use of email spam, but the only
solutions major ISPs have given to stop the spam problem are
filters and self serving toll charges to send email. Will
search become another casualty in the war against unethical
spammers?
 
Is Google, in a similar fashion, throwing out the baby with the
bath water, or killing the golden goose with its bias against
ecommerce sites using some measure of SEO Strategies?
 
In the following parts of this series I will share with you the
SEO strategies I have employed to keep my rankings high with
the aggressively in flux Google Algorithm, top rankings with
Yahoo!, and even top rankings with the new Microsoft search
algorithm. Until next time stay tuned for Part 2.

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Kamau Austin, helps small and minority business make more money, 
by creating, search friendly web sites. He is the owner of 
http://www.Ebizbydesign.com , http://www.Einfonews.com , 
http://www.carolsartshows.com and the creator of the Free Search 
Engine Promotion Tele-course at: http://www.SearchEngineplan.com
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