Backlinks Gone With The Wind? Frankly Google – I Don’t Give A Damn
Date: March 25, 2014Category: Author: Michael Brinson
It’s always the same old story.
A beautiful woman. Countless admirers flocking around, vying for her attention. She smiles at them all and makes each of them feel like they have a chance at gaining her affections. But in the end, she changes her mind and drops them like a rock.
The story of Google is no different. In fact, the story of Google was the basis for a major motion picture; Gone With The Wind.
Wait.. wasn’t that released back in 1939? Uncanny, isn’t it? It’s as though the power and influence of Google is so great that it even transcends the limits of time and space.
Our story begins with Scarlett O’Hara, AKA “Google.” She is the center of attention and the idol of all her suitors. They do all they can to woo and please her, and then…
They died! Good story.
Well, they don’t die, but eventually most of them fall from grace and end up being pushed to the side as they crash and burn down the serp’s. (Search Engine Results Page)
This happens because, Google gets upset when her suitors don’t behave exactly the way she wants them to. She also becomes very fickle; jumping back and forth between them all and causing them to fight among themselves.
If any of them get out of line, using tactics such as on-page over-optimization, purchasing backlinks, or other forbidden practices, then she sends them to the dog house – ie: The bottom of the SERPS, or de-indexes them altogether. She, and she alone, decides which backlinks are worthy of her good graces. And, of course, this is always subject to change. The kinds of backlinks she liked to see yesterday may well be the ones she will penalize them for today.
At least she does recognize that Backlinks are a necessary part of the Algorithm:
For those suitors that have been penalized, if they promise to be good and do exactly as she says, and file a reconsideration request, then she may condescend and accept their pledges of devotion.
In the end, Rhett Butler, AKA – local businesses, and countless other suitors, choose to leave Google in search of another, more attractive method of driving traffic to their sites.
Here is where the analogy breaks down, as most good analogies eventually do.
Or does it?
Maybe, in the end, Google will have pushed away so many of her suitors that they will all flock to someone else and leave her alone. If that happens, at least Google will have Tara… er.. Stanford