As it appears penalties are being handed out in the SERPs like a bad episode wrestling, except in this case the only script is the one removing directories from the Google index.
A few days ago I had a post about the fluctuations in the SERPs hitting an all time twilight zone like frequency, sites were leap frogging each other and changing positions faster than the kama sutra every time you refreshed a page. With no end in sight, the fallout still continues as we speak as pages are attempting to reestablish themselves amidst the chaos.
What are the consequences of this recent ousting of some of the oldest directories on the web, and what impact will it have on those whose listing were hinged on the very fabric of those links. It is still too early to tell, but I can say that at the moment, there is a definable tension in the minds of webmasters and SEO’s stemming from this recent shakedown on paid links.
There is a dichotomy that Google sells links with PPC and I have to agree with Aaron Wall when he states that “the definition of relevancy changes depending on Google’s business interests”. Spam today could be clients tomorrow to them, it is just unfortunate since many of those directories did in my summation provide a valuable service for webmasters trying to get their foot in the door for higher rankings, income and exposure.
It really is too bad if they have the door shut on this chapter of SEO. In any case, as resourceful human beings, it is just a matter of time before the next big thing comes along to replace the outdated method. Directories have seen better days, reciprocal links are dying, what’s next? the elimination of navigation and bots that read your thoughts and serve content to you? Oops, I guess I forgot, personalized search is unveiling soon, but before long, will we really have any choices left in regard to living in fear of having your main vein suppressed?
Google dominates the market share and God knows that trying to be in business with out them in this day and age can be done, but why would you want to go down that path. It seems like it’s time for compliance or Poof, your relegated to just being a fond digital memory to the millions of surfers who use their search engine. Personally it’s my favorite, so it is a shame to see politics like this muddying up the waters.
In the meantime, to all of the webmasters hit by the ping of death for their wallets, I feel for you and hope that it is just a temporary penalty and petition Google to reconsider manual removals like this as it really is bad for publicity and business as it creates a feeling of monarchy as opposed to good will. Just an opinion, so take it as a grain of salt.
There are several prospectives to consider.
1. The livelihood of webmasters who shifting from quality based repositories for an elite group of websites which were worthy of inclusion into a paid link (less than perfect) abuse of keyword stuffing to augment organic rankings. You were assuredly allowed more flexibility in crafting your titles and descriptions from paid inclusion vs. the free bandwidth consuming, hard drive taking, pick me pick me sites that jumped on the old directories like fleas on a dog.
vs.
2. Search results unabridged to maintain to quality of Google’s index. I understand the need for both, but perhaps a happy medium could have been met.
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