Google Megasitelinks: An “Algorithmic Change” to Google Sitelinks
One of the bigger pieces of search industry news today is that Google has released an algorithmic change they’re calling “Megasitelinks.”
A Quick Primer on Google Megasitelinks
Aside from having a completely uninspiring codename, here’s what we know about Google Megasitelinks:
- Megasitelinks are part of 30 search quality improvements Google worked on in December, 2011.
- Being touted as an improvement to the existing Sitelinks display algorithm.
- Said to use visitor’s location in search results to emphasize most important content in Sitelinks area.
Known Problems in Google Sitelinks
Since these new Megasitelinks are so new, there’s a lot that remains to be seen with how these conceptual changes will change what Google users see. At the core of it all, it makes sense – Google wants to improve user experience and geo-relevant information has been proven to do that in the past.
One of the most frustrating things about the existing Google Sitelinks platform has been the lack of webmaster input. In Google’s Webmaster Tools, there are certainly “controls” where a webmaster can offer up suggested suppression lists to prevent certain URLs from appearing in the Sitelinks area. In most cases though – those “suggestions” that come from a webmaster are disregarded.
No joke, I have more than five clients at this point in time who are experiencing frustration with the Sitelinks controls and the lack of influence their suggested changes actually have on the SERPs.
Naturally, this leads me to ask one thing…
Is Megasitelinks a Step Forward or Backward?
I’ve logged in to a few Google Webmaster Tools accounts this evening and have not seen any UI changes in the controls or suppression lists.
To be fair, I didn’t really expect to though. I guess you could say that I was hoping for something new to be in there for us as marketers and site owners to work with.
Here’s the thing for me. If Google Sitelinks is now a program that uses an intelligent algorithm to display a subset of pages relevant to a searcher’s query, then there needs to be functional controls in place for them – or no controls at all. The grey area where Google asks for suggestions but ignores them is an old act.
In other words, Google – please don’t waste our time.
Changes in Sitelinks We Could Actually Use
If Google is committed to making the most of the Sitelinks tools, it has to be a two way street where they focus on user experience and search quality and they allow us as webmasters to permit certain content from being displayed, hidden, etc.
Other items that would be great to see include:
- Sitelinks Analytics: Where were Sitelinks displayed? When were Sitelinks used over traditional organic listings? For what queries? Which Sitelinks have appeared in which position for which terms? (Without incredibly deep analytical reporting) We’re flying blind here, Google.
- Enhanced Geographical Support: Here’s a practical use case. A franchise has a store locator that performs well in Sitelinks now. Using the enhanced geographical inferences Google can make, opportunities should exist where said franchise can promote locations, offers, coupons, etc. within their Sitelinks display area.
- Sitelinks Suggestions: Google’s Webmaster Tools does a good job of making suggestions on crawl issues, content issues, etc. Nowhere though are indicators as they pertain to Sitelinks improvements. If Google can’t give us the ability to block out content from appearing in the Sitelinks area – why not provide us with some additional insights on why the links that do appear are always there? (Hint: They’d have to share too much about their linking values to make this happen. Still, it’s wish list.)
Megasitelinks and Online Reputation Management Issues
I’ve witnessed a number of branded search results that provided companies with a free pass from a lot of negative reviews. In particular, the Sitelinks 12-pack growth has done a lot to push negative press in the SERPs below the fold. That’s good for brands, bad for searchers. I won’t get into the entire RoR-style-site issues — but it’s clear that geographically relevant Sitelinks will sway ORM issues one way or another depending on what’s shown.
What do you think about the news of Google’s Megasitelinks? Are you expecting them to prove as an innovation – or flop? Share your thoughts in the comments area below.
Is Google an Innovator or Bully? [Open Discussion]
Earlier today Jim Spencer from JBS Partners commented on Google’s decision to acquire Motorola’s mobile phone business. His comments got me thinking about why Google would pay $12.5 billion — offering the company a 61% premium on their going rate — to get a deal done now.
Jim was careful in his commentary, indicating that others have steadfastly defended Google’s innovation to him. I found that a bit funny since that perspective was shared just a month after they cloned Facebook and called it Google+.
So, I want to know what YOU think.
Is Google a true innovator or just another tech industry bully?
– Please provide your thoughts on this in the comments section below!
My take is this…
I’ve been critical of Google in the past and I have no intentions of letting off the gas. I said to Jim through the course of our initial discussion…
Google has done a tremendous job of innovating monopolization.
Google’s Plus Sized Failure
A month ago I was excited about Google+. It represented something new. Something shiny. Attractive. Google had finally created something that people outside of the tech industry could get on board with.
Today, just one month later, the once promising community has become useless to me. It’s just another proverbial flash in the pan on Google’s stove-top.
The only difference is that more than 25 million users have tried their hand at Google+. While impressive in their acceleration towards this scale – there’s little else to celebrate.
One month ago today I decided to bring my blog back from more than a two year hiatus. The reason I brought it back was quite clear — Google+ had created enough momentum that I couldn’t ignore it. My opinions began to form and I felt compelled enough to publish them for the purpose of initiating some discussions.
My posts then have been pretty direct. I started by sharing Tom Anderson’s words on Facebook’s inherent advantages in the social space. I then followed up by wondering aloud — How would Google+ be monetized? Then, as I forced myself to use Google+ more and more I realized that there were some serious issues.
I then made a (strong) case for Google+ Stream Modifiers and later proved how “power plussers” are killing the vibe.
After all that writing, thought, analysis and discussion, you’d think I’d check in on Google+ regularly, right?
Wrong.
I have to set a calendar item to remind me to check Google+ Notifications.
Ridiculous, right?
This is the monster that Google has created with Google+. It’s almost a perfect clone of Facebook. That alone is laughable considering Google has cried “foul” accusing Microsoft of stealing their search results. The only thing that Google+ hasn’t figured out that Facebook has nailed? Users. Community engagement. Branding. Games. Discussions. Hell, even noisy chatter.
What they have done is alienated early adopters time and time again.
The icing on the cake for me is that Google has gone out of their way not to integrate Google+ with their paying Apps for Domain customers. Rather, they have required those customers to go out and create separate accounts to continue using the Google+ service. So now, rather than getting instant notifications on updates, users have to juggle multiple logins or rely on the annoying amount of email notifications just to stay connected with Google+.
I know I’m not the only one annoyed by all this. I’ve seen many ranting and raving on the issue and Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz has shared his displeasure directly on Google+.
On top of all that the core community and experience in Google+ hasn’t changed at all. The Brogans, Pirillos and Scobles of the world still dominate Streams for all of their followers. Everything “social” about it has become old, stale and cumbersome.
With that in mind, the ball is squarely in Google’s court. What they do from here on out is up to them.
Google+ is Where the Rich Get Richer
As the first couple of weeks wind down to a close, Google+ seems adamant on being more than just another flash in the pan. 10 million strong have joined the ranks at Google+ and Google co-founder/CEO Larry Page was certain to highlight these and other impressive numbers on the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday.
The search giant though, known to favor large and reputable brands in the past, could be lending the same benefits in their new social network.
Identifying the Problem
In my previous post I made mention of how Google+ Streams can become overrun with updates coming from the same series of people.
The cause for this behavior in Google+ is due to user interaction on posts.
When someone with little to no following posts an update on Google+ it is often swept down the Stream because there is no one there to interact (+1, comment, share) the post.
When someone with a much larger following posts an update though – there are thousands upon thousands of people there to interact with the post. When they interact, the timestamp on the post is effectively changed, and the post then continues to stay at or near the top of your Stream view.
The Usual Suspects
Before I get into the list of offenders here, I want to say that I love these people. They are what make the Internet, our industry of search and social communities what they are. They’re not the problem themselves, they’re simply the poster children for it.
That said… Anytime I load up Google+, I’m guaranteed to see updates from Matt Cutts, Chris Pirillo, Robert Scoble, or Danny Sullivan.
I chose to see updates from these people in my Stream so if there’s anyone to fault, it’s me. The problem caused by the existing technology though is something I firmly believe should be changed or improved upon.
Class Structures & Celebrification
Intentional or not there’s a class structure created by the Google+ Stream system. On one hand, that’s okay. Online communities mimic offline communities and whether we like it or not, there’s certainly a class system in our offline society. On the other hand, I don’t believe that I should miss out on my connections’ updates and posts because more popular users are also active in the community.
Yet, that is exactly what happens.
In one of my Google+ posts tonight, Brian Chappel of Ignite Social Media presented the fact that celebrification in this social setting allows Google to push more traffic to Google properties – but at the cost of greater relevancy.
How the Rich Get Richer
The stats don’t lie.
Cutts, Scoble, Pirillo, Sullivan… These are all successful authors and their contributions to online industries are far reaching and have been for years. In other words, they’ve worked hard to get where they are today. They’re successful in life, in business… and in the Google Search Results.
The SERPs are where things come full circle.
Google+ and the +1 Button are all about personalized search results. If you’ve logged into Google Webmaster Tools recently, you’ve likely noticed that there’s some handy reports on the +1 button and how it has been used in conjunction with your site’s URLs.
Barry Schwartz describes these reports and highlights how popularity plays a role.
The Search Impact report gives you an idea of how +1′s affect your organic search traffic. You can find out if your clickthrough rate changes when personalized recommendations help your content stand out. Do this by comparing clicks and impressions on search results with and without +1 annotations. Google will only show statistics on clickthrough rate changes when you have enough impressions for a meaningful comparison.
The Activity report shows you how many times your pages have been +1′d, from buttons both on your site and on other pages (such as Google search).
Finally, the Audience report shows you aggregate geographic and demographic information about the Google users who’ve +1′d your pages. To protect privacy, Google will only show audience information when a significant number of users have +1′d pages from your site.
Note “significant number of users” and “how +1′s affect your organic search traffic.” In other words, the more +1 interaction, the more positive the influence on organic traffic. Rest assured, the most popular users in Google+ are also benefiting from having a more “significant number of users” accessing their content.
Highlighting this late Thursday night was Jason Calacanis who noted how much more traffic Google+ sent compared to other networks when it came to his shared content:
Google+1 is crushing Facebook and Twitter as a traffic referrer to the LAUNCH blog. It’s just insane the difference!
With 100k twitter followers I’m getting half the clicks as from Google+ with 10k followers. That’s 20x the effectiveness.
I’m getting 10x the traffic from google+ than Facebook and i have 5k facebook friends. That’s 15x more effective.
Same Old Battles Wage On
Five years ago webmasters and site owners put their energy into building quality backlinks. Today, those same people are putting more energy into the social marketing of their content. It’s all for the same reason, too – to climb the organic rankings and gain more exposure.
Unfortunately, larger sites are led by more popular people. In both cases – backlinks for sites and social interaction on Google+ posts – quantities will be higher for those already having that celebrity stature.
The end result remains the same.
Google employs an algorithmic imbalance that rewards bigger brands with broader reach and discards smaller organizations and individuals.
–
I’d like to thank Matt Crouch of SEO Video Corp for his observations and comments that helped lead to this post being written in the first place.
A Strong Case for Google+ Stream Modifiers
Having already eclipsed the 10,000,000 user mark (including more than 2 million in the past 32-34 hours) – it’s clear that Google+ has more consumer support and interest than projects like Wave, Orkut and Knol.
With an incredible start out of the gate my mind has continued to race with thoughts as to how Google could innovate social experiences online through Google+.
The late Dr. Carl Sagan once said, “You have to know the past to understand the present.”
In the spirit of this quote I would like to present a case for how Google+ could use something successful from their past to improve upon the Google+ experience… Search modifiers.
The Background on Modifiers
Years ago when search modifiers were introduced on Google, they were primarily used by marketers and webmasters trying to perform research and analysis. Over time, savvy searchers also began using modifiers to shape the SERPs and find what they were looking for more quickly.
In no time at all, search modifiers were being used to do a number of things, including:
- Locate Top Pieces of Content on Domains
- Research Changes in Domain and URL Records
- Check Indexing Status on Content
- Locate Backlinks & New Link Opportunities
- Find Duplicate Content and Plagiarism
- Search for Specific Phrases & Strings
- Exclude Keywords/Phrases from Results
- Hone in on Domain Types (.gov, .edu, etc.)
- Search for Specific File Types (PDF, DOC, Images, etc.)
Over time, Google’s Advanced Search page adapted to fit these needs and now anyone has access to those modifiers with the help of Google’s interface.
Google+ Streams
As new users jump onboard with Google+ they may find that their streams are different than they’d expect. It’s not a direct clone of the Facebook “News Feed” contents and in many cases old content you’ve already seen can bubble back up to the top. This happens most frequently if you’ve chosen to follow people with larger numbers of followers like Zuckerberg, Page, Brin, Scoble, etc.
As an example, my connections on Google+ are predominantly from the search or social industry, so I see Danny Sullivan and Chris Brogan appearing most often in my Stream.
For the sake of this discussion the Stream in Google+ is our search result page. It’s great, it works, and it provides with access to the top pieces of content. It just doesn’t provide us with refinement opportunities – and I can see many cases where users will want that.
Examples of Stream Modifiers
Here are some examples of Stream modifiers that I can see being introduced:
Search
I’m always amazed when Google products are lacking search functionality, so let’s start there. Streams are populated with all of your circles by default, so it’s easy to see what your connections are up to when you’re checking out the default Stream.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see what your users were saying about particular topics though? Using current headlines as an example, it would be great to search for these items across all of my circles to find and participate in discussions on certain topics:
- World Cup
- Hugh Hefner
- Obama
- All Star Game
- Murdoch
Having a simple search query box would be an excellent way to provide this to Google+ users.
Time & Date Filtering
Twitter is all the rage when news is breaking. Real time hash tags and trending topics allow users to see that something abnormal is happening and actively being discussed. Think about how many news items Twitter has made you aware of. From celebrity deaths to impending natural disasters, Twitter makes it easy for people to see what’s happening now.
Google+ doesn’t quite do that, but it’s not because Google doesn’t know how. Even logged out Google SERPs allow you to customize the date range of the results you view when you search on Google – so why not provide something similar in Google+ Streams?
Display Toggles for Update Type
When it comes to Streams, there are five types of things you can share:
- Text Updates
- Photos
- Videos
- Links
- Places
It would be great for Google+ to allow users to see all links shared in their Stream, all photos, videos, check-ins, etc.
Likewise, it’d be nice to filter out some of those updates to reduce the amount of noise when you’re trying to see what your friends and connections are up to.
The Users Interface
Here’s an example of what the Google+ interface could look like with integration of search and Stream modifiers:
Modified Google+ User Interface (Click to Enlarge)
What Stream Modifiers Would You Like to See?
Share your thoughts on what you’d like to see below in the comments.
The Elephant in the Google+ Huddle: Community Monetization
Google+ invites have circulated for a couple of weeks now and as the exclusivity begins to wane, curiosity of Google+’s evolution is on the rise. One thing that seems incredibly common is that Streams are too frequently populated with updates on Google+ itself – something that many users have begun to find quite annoying.
Suspiciously absent in all the Google+ talk is an active discussion of how Google plans to make money with their social network. [Read more...]