The Google Shaped Web

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The Google-shaped Web

A Tale of Cats & Parasites

Barry Adams

Polemic Digital

June 2014

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About Barry Adams

• Freelance SEO consultant

Polemic Digital (July 2014)

• Dutch (yes, really)

• Twitter ranter: @badams

• Lecturer on SEO & Digital Strategy

• Editor & blogger for StateofDigital.com

• Also blogs at PolemicDigital.com

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In The Beginning...

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Web Search’s Symbiotic Contract

“We scrape your content, you get free traffic.”

Source: http://xxtremorxx.deviantart.com/

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Google’s Version

“We scrape your content and if we like it enough,

we’ll keep your traffic too.”

Source: http://revafallarts.deviantart.com/

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How did we get here...?

• Google was the first truly dominant search

engine

• As a result, webmasters do whatever they can to

get in to Google’s good graces

• Google realises that this can be used to its

advantage...

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“Power corrupts. Absolute power... is kind of neat.”

- Donald Regan, US Chief of Staff, 1987

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WWGD – What Would Google Do?

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Google recommendations

Stuff Google likes:

Optimised titles & meta

Unique, plain text content

Human-readable URLs

Responsive websites

XML sitemaps

Structured data

Nofollowed links

Disavow files

SSL

...

Stuff Google dislikes:

× Bog-standard content

× Shockwave Flash

× Content embedded in images

× Active link acquisition

× Separate mobile sites

× Unrestricted linking

× Content in (iPhone) apps

× More than 3 ads on a page

× Spam (whatever Google says it is)

× ...

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UX vs GX

User Experience <> Google Experience

• Most of Google’s recommendations are good for

UX too

• But some are purely for the benefit of Google

• And these latter ones are becoming more

frequent

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Google decrees

Stuff Google likes:

Optimised titles & meta

Unique, plain text content

Human-readable URLs

Responsive websites

XML sitemaps

Structured data

Nofollowed links

Disavow files

SSL

...

Stuff Google dislikes:

× Bog-standard content

× Shockwave Flash

× Content embedded in images

× Active link acquisition

× Separate mobile sites

× Unrestricted linking

× Content in (iPhone) apps

× More than 3 ads on a page

× Spam (whatever Google says it is)

× ...

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The inevitable end result...

Rather than Google adapting to the way the web

is evolving...

... the web is evolving the way Google wants.

The free & open World Wide Web is becoming

the restricted Google-Shaped Web.

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Wait, It Gets Worse

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First, a biology lesson

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Toxoplasma Gondii

“A convincing body of evidence now exists to indicate that the

ubiquitous protozoan Toxoplasma gondii can cause permanent

behavioral changes in its host...”

“Such behavioral alterations appear to be the product of strong

selective pressures for the parasite to enhance transmission from its

intermediate host reservoir, primarily rodent, to its feline definitive

host...”

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2526137/

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In layman’s terms

1. Toxoplasma gondii infects a rodent and alters

the host’s brain patterns & behaviour;

2. The rodent becomes more active and prone to

exploring open areas;

3. As a result of this behaviour, the likelihood of

the rodent being eaten by a cat increases;

4. When a cat eats the infected rodent,

Toxoplasma gondii infects the cat – its definitive

host.

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Sound familiar?

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Google has infected the web

• Google is both parasite and cat;Google’s recommendations are memes it uses to

infect us

• We are altering our behaviour to make our information more easily accessible to Google

• This enables Google to prey on our business models and take over profitable niches

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“Good artists copy.

Great artists steal.”

- Pablo Picasso

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To end on a cheerful note...

“Toxoplasma gondii is the most common protozoan parasite in

developed nations. Up to 80% of the population may be infected,

depending on eating habits and exposure to cats.”

“When infected human adults were compared with uninfected adults

on personality questionnaires or on a panel of behavioral tests,

several differences were found.”

Source: http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/33/3/757.full

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Thank You

barry@polemicdigital.com

www.polemicdigital.com

twitter.com/badams