This Google algorithm change is BAD news for us domainers

[Pound]

Have spent today emailing potential end users - have had three replies already saying that normally they would be interested, but due to the recent algorithm update they have no interest/need...

 

[GeoFan]

Being at this moment some kind of pessimist-skeptic, I am wondering . . . What if Goog sees the domain name market as a competitor for ad revenue? If the PERCEIVED value of keywords in the domain name market goes down, there could be more money to be spent on PPC?

EMD were often pitched to end users as being a sure-fire way to reduce spending on PPC.

May not be a smart way to pitch them anymore?

For low-competition, micro niche, local business branding, EMD value will still be there. :imho: I see many GEO+profession EMDs with minimum quality sites still ranking #1 — as long as the niche has not too much competition.

 

[advaita]

Google probably trying to get people to spend money on Adwords.
And when I use Google now looking for stuff what I get is 3 pages of Amazon urls before any other site !

 

[enlytend]

So the bottomline is, this is an END-USER problem related to content quality. Then why are the Domainers getting rattled to the bone?

Because a lot of exact-match domain sales have been to those same end users?

For low-competition, micro niche, local business branding, EMD value will still be there. :imho: I see many GEO+profession EMDs with minimum quality sites still ranking #1 — as long as the niche has not too much competition.

ANY business who builds a quality brand on the name should be fine. EMD's as brands aren't being driven out of town (except for the usual collateral damage). EMD's as a tool for a quick money grab? Probably toast.

 

[kerwin]

This is the beginning of the end for small-timers/long-tailers (people who sell names consisting of 3 words or more). As awareness of this update grows, nobody is going to want your domain unless it can be their main address or at least one that they can use for non search engine related advertising. Google has now put to death even the most sophisticated form of doorway page.

 

[namemarket]

The number of both end-user and domainer sale inquiries and offers dropped dramatically and suddenly when the EMD news came out. It's a huge negative to the resale market but seems to be effecting traffic to s much lesser degree, IMO.

 

[Pound]

This is one of the replies that prompted creating this thread:

Thanks for thinking of me, but I'm having a huge problem right now due to the Google Exact Match Domain modification of their search algo.

I hope your site isn't being killed as mine is, but since you have an exact match domain, I fear you're losing traffic as I am. (100,000 page views a month before, lucky to get 40-50,000 now. Nothing has changed, just Google's algo.)

So, while I would love to add XXX.com to my stable of domains, I'm can't even think of it right now.

Cheers and good luck,

XXX

 

[enlytend]

Being at this moment some kind of pessimist-skeptic, I am wondering . . . What if Goog sees the domain name market as a competitor for ad revenue? If the PERCEIVED value of keywords in the domain name market goes down, there could be more money to be spent on PPC?

They definitely did not do this for fear of the domainer market or to make EMD owners into Adwords customers. If "poor quality" sites includes all the MFA's and thin affiliates which were riding on EMD's, you can't use Adwords to promote those kind of sites. It's against Adwords program policies.

Google was taking a lot of flak from the webmaster community about money-grab EMD's pushing out genuine businesses. A LOT of flak. Did I say a lot? A lot.

Think about what would make Google target one domain vs another. After all, brand names are also EMD's (for the brand) and it wouldn't be good to take those out. So how do they differentiate?

They already have Panda (btw a major panda update was released the evening before the EMD update) and above-the-fold (an update to THAT was released the same weekend) targeting content quality and excessive ads and Penguin (an update to THAT was realeased around the same time) targeting excessive use of keywords in anchor text.

Brand signals. If a site/domain has strong brand signals, it was probably NOT targeted by the EMD update. Especially if it had strong link equity.

 

[carob]

They definitely did not do this for fear of the domainer market or to make EMD owners into Adwords customers. If "poor quality" sites includes all the MFA's and thin affiliates which were riding on EMD's, you can't use Adwords to promote those kind of sites. It's against Adwords program policies.

Google was taking a lot of flak from the webmaster community about money-grab EMD's pushing out genuine businesses. A LOT of flak. Did I say a lot? A lot.

Think about what would make Google target one domain vs another. After all, brand names are also EMD's (for the brand) and it wouldn't be good to take those out. So how do they differentiate?

Not every site can be a front-page result, so there are always going to be groups complaining about how their sites get treated. So who has done well out of the EMD changes? Anyone out there talking about their big increase in traffic? Or are they keeping it quiet?

As for domaining, uncertainty is enough to stop people buying domains and also stop domainers from renewing them or asking high prices. But will brandables be boosted by this?

I said there could be an EMD penalty. How would you describe the following situation:

An established geo site on placename.extension is a first page result on search for "placename", and is the top result for some other searches with placename + accommodation, weather, travel and so one. It provides real, unique, usable information wanted by visitors. Until one day it totally disappears from results searching for just "placename" but stays in the same top position as before for searches for placename + keyword ?

I imagine the EMD algo will get some tweaking. Google always talk about delivering the best search results for the user, but actually they have to deliver the best results for the shareholder.

 

[enlytend]

An established geo site on placename.extension is a first page result on search for "placename", and is the top result for some other searches with placename + accommodation, weather, travel and so one. It provides real, unique, usable information wanted by visitors. Until one day it totally disappears from results searching for just "placename" but stays in the same top position as before for searches for placename + keyword ?

That's pretty typical of what people are reporting from this particular update. Whether it's technically a "penalty" or not is semantics, but it's apparently specific to the domain keyword and not site-wide.

They always tweak. (and tweak, and tweak) First release is always full of false negatives and collateral damage.

 

[snowbird]

I think quality control is something Google has always strived for when providing people with great search results. That is the number one reason Google is so popular. It is well known for providing you search results with the sites you want. Kudos to Google. Keep up the great work!

What does this mean for domainers? Perhaps it will simply force us to develop more domains into actual sites rather than just sitting on them and parking them or creating landing pages with minimal content. Perhaps implementing more content distribution feeds, etc. will help your rankings. No offense to domainers and the domaining industry, I just feel that relying only on search engine traffic is not going to be the main factor in what sells the domain unless there is an established unique site on there.

As for using adwords to increase placement, this is going to be a nightmare for you if your already complaining about how Google already ranks your site with minimal content. Adwords utilizes quality control methods as well and those who do not meet those quality control standards will pay thru the nose like always for good placement. That is a no brainer for anyone who has ever used adwords before.

I personally feel that these changes are not going to only effect you individually as a domainer but everyone as a domainer. And when change happens to everyone, adaptation occurs along with different expectations. Different avenues as well as new marketing methods for domains will spark for sure. It is just a matter of time before it happens.

 

[enlytend]

As for using adwords to increase placement, this is going to be a nightmare for you if your already complaining about how Google already ranks your site with minimal content. Adwords utilizes quality control methods as well and those who do not meet those quality control standards will pay thru the nose like always for good placement. That is a no brainer for anyone who has ever used adwords before

Not even a matter of how much you'd pay (that's based more upon relevance and CTR)

... if your site/landing page doesn't meet their guidelines you will have your domain or account suspended from the program and could be thrown out completely.

If you do any of the things mentioned here:

http://support.google.com/adwordspo...310864&ctx=topic&path=1308145-2585946-2585946

or here:

http://support.google.com/adwordspo...310864&ctx=topic&path=1308145-2585946-2585946

Adwords isn't an option for you.

BTW Google has stated (Matt Cutts, in a keynote at SES) that they're moving away from being a "search engine" and towards being a "knowledge engine." We live in interesting times ...

 

[biggie]

:talk:

if you're scared of Big G, and what they will do

then shift all your websites, over to Yaaaa-hoo


though in the meantime here's some advice for you


gather all your .com emd's.... and sell em all to you know who

 

[ezcoms]

The bottom line is: Google isn't everything. I'm glad I learned that early in the game. Keep domaining and continue on. They'll need more of our money soon and they'll change their "make up our own rules on a whim when need-be" attitude.

 

[stuart_domains]

use bing

 

[tpruby]

Google doesn't want crappy sites to rank at the top, this makes sense to me, maybe this will push domainers to develop better sites... Most domainer sites really suck, I wouldn't rank them highly either..

Can't argue with that.

Why would anyone, anywhere want a useless parked page with filler content to appear as a search result?

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------

Happened to me a few times. Say for example, i own "phantom dot com" (just an example). Buyer didn't like my asking price. So he got "thephantom dot com" for just reg fee. Now he ranks on top of search, because he is more focused developing content for this single domain, while i'm too busy with my 400+ domains.

This example here...I saw it coming years ago.

No I'm not a visionary, just had my eyes opened to declining value of exact names for search results to appear at the top for small business.

---------- Post added at 12:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:38 PM ----------

use bing

Nice try Microsoft.

---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:39 PM ----------

The bottom line is: Google isn't everything. I'm glad I learned that early in the game. Keep domaining and continue on. They'll need more of our money soon and they'll change their "make up our own rules on a whim when need-be" attitude.

Google needs money from parked pages that offer zero value to end consumers?

If Google wants to erode their brand, then perhaps your right.

I however believe Google's aim to perfect search for end consumers.

This does not involve allowing parked pages with generic content to filter to the top.

 

[pmaper]

Its all about PPC and ad revenue on their end, for business.
Pdf files, wikipedia, edu, gov sites etc. for natural search now.

one thing that works ok is :
diversify your LSI keywords in the doamin, Dont repeat them in the H tags, and unique content
onpage seo still covers it imo

 

[LetsYo]

Content matters, Quality content and Quality backlinking gives top result in google whatever may be the algorithm.

 

[procanic]

I also have read where google is going hit websites and blogs that are linking directly to others content with too much copy, Duplicate content .

Will need to be vigilant ,If hiring a freelance content writer.

 

[CodingTheDomain]

EMDS with quality backlinks, solid content and social media activity still rank well.