Coming on the heels of slapping JCPenney for using a spammy link scheme Google announces an extension to its Chrome browser that allows searchers the opportunity to block unwanted sites from appearing in their search results again.
While this will only block those sites from the users search results, Google plans to study feedback from this extension and “explore using it as a potential ranking signal” in their search results.
Clearly Google has recently been stung by criticisms that spammy low-quality sites have been appearing on page one of the SERPs. While they have always tweaked their algorithms to keep junk content out of their search results, new schemes using content farms have had recent success. Now Google is asking for our help in identifying what its audience believes are those spammy sites.
This does have a potential for abuse; for example a competitor enlisting (or even hiring) a small army of searchers to use this extension to block their competitors site. I must believe that Google has already thought of this and had built into its algorithm a way to detect this behavior.
As with most actions on the web today this can be undone and Google’s blog post has clear instructions on doing that as well as editing the blocked sites list. If you are a Chrome user this will be a useful addition to your search tools and I recommend that you download and use the Personal Blocklist extension.
If you are a SMB with a website you use, or plan to use, for marketing your business you may be asking yourself, “how does this affect me?” Well, if you are playing by the rules and writing original content that provides value to your readers, it should not have any impact on you.
Which brings me back to the point I drive home constantly with those I advise, local SEO is not about keeping up with the latest tricks to fool Google, or any other search engine. These search engines succeed (earn a profit for their shareholders) by providing the searcher with the freshest, most relevant web content that matches the search phrase. To the extent that a SE fulfills that promise more searchers will choose their search engine, which means more eyes on advertising (or whatever revenue model they choose).
To have success with local SEO simply give the search engines what they want; fresh, original, relevant, and value-driven content. Over the long haul you will find success with this approach while the spammy, deceptive content and link farms will be blocked from the SERPs.
Email This Post
