Google Soon to Drop Yahoo and ODP Directories?

Article Posted 2004 April 01, ThursdayBay Street SEO
by Gord Collins
Bay Street Search Engine Optimization
Toronto, Ontario | Canada

Increasingly it seems, Google is not counting many Yahoo directory listings in the backlinks of web sites. There are even rumors that Google might disregard the ODP directory because of how badly maintained it is. If this happens, it will affect the quality of Google's search results and inevitably its business viability. Google may already be using a replacement element, which I'll talk about shortly.

Why are these directories so important? Directories are maintained and managed by human reviewers who are apt to be accurate and disciplined in listing a web site. Search engines which rely entirely on digital techniques such as PageRank calculations and link analysis, can be tricked by web site owners. That means the directories offer the only true validation of a web site's authenticity. The link title and description validate to some degree, that your site really is about what you say it is.

One search engine, Google, has made some major modifications to its search engine algorithm during the last 6 months. It has had a parting with its former partner, Yahoo and the two businesses appear to be at war with each other. This was not a smart move for Google. However, it appears that a new component of Google's algorithm may be compensating for the loss of Yahoo's web site reviewers. It is known as the Hilltop algorithm.

The Hilltop Algorithm

The Hilltop Algorithm is a mathematical formulation that was supposedly added to the Google algorithm to produce better search results. It did this by identifying popular web sites or web pages on a particular keyword topic. These sites or pages are called authorities since so many other pages on a topic lead to them and because these sites had lots of links leading out to other web sites on a particular topic.

Interestingly, the common links page on nearly every web site acts as a form of an authority, yet Google seems to be disregarding links pages as well (this is something to be concerned about if you rely on link exchanges). Instead, a smaller number of these authority sites are now very important to have links from. Not having links from them can reduce your rank because your site isn't part of the "in crowd." Some of the outbound links on authority sites may not have even been reviewed by a human. They could have gotten there via a forum, or blog, or a machine generated news report. Therefore, their validity is questionable.

Yahoo and the ODP directory have been good, human reviewed, authority sites for a long time. They have lots of links pointing to them, and lots of groups of hyperlinks (subcategories of listings) pointing out to web sites on particular keyword topics. Aggressive marketers and webmasters have always resented Yahoo's and ODP's importance on rankings. You can trick a search engine by using mirrored domains, hidden links and text, redirects, bait and switch and, paid links. You couldn't trick the human reviewer at Yahoo however. Even getting listed on ODP is a tough task.

What Makes a Site an Authority?

The Hilltop algorithm theory suggests that popular sites on whatever keyword themes could be reliable indicators of another web site's value by virtue of how they link to them. This involves the transfer of PageRank and link reputation to that site.

Authority sites are more open to be influenced by money, or by being purchased outright by someone with ulterior motives. With so much money on the line, who would believe otherwise? In Google's brave new world, a newspaper tabloid would be a greater authority than a trusted major daily newspaper.

By identifying and buying an authority site, the new owner could manipulate it for his/her own profit goals. The site would not represent what Hilltop said it was representing - a true authority on a particular topic.

The current trend to disregarding the directories is not a good situation for reputable SEO providers. Misrepresentation, collusion and multi-domain spam will run out of control and spammers will gain the upper hand.

Yahoo and ODP are important anchors for search engine databases. Without them, search engines like Google will attempt to apply penalties to sites that have a "digital footprint" of trickery and breaking the rules. They will have to spend an increasing amount of computing resources to identify and penalize web sites that attempt to "optimize" their presence in search engine results. Since most good web sites are SEO optimized, the quality of search engine indexes is going to take a turn for the worse.

The anti-optimization penalties Google (and Yahoo search) applies will make the SEO environment a perilous one. Many web site owners will never know why their site fell out of the top 10 and never reappeared. They simply got caught in some complicated filter they couldn't even comprehend.

One thing about this environment though, is that the best SEOs will be in demand by companies needing someone with knowledge of the new database filters. Even the pros though will be in for a rough ride. There'll be big winners and big losers.

Bay Street SEO
Gord Collins - Visit the Bay Street Search Engine Optimization Consultants Profile
©2004 Bay Street Search Engine Optimization Toronto Ontario - All rights reserved.

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