Google Search Wiki threatens SEO industry

Goggle has recently added increased 'search result personalisation' in the form of "Search Wiki" to its Engine. A registered Google Account holder can now vote up and down their search results the quality of pages. In theory of course this provides a significant threat to the traditional Search Engine Optimisation industry. Where clients now pay for efforts taken to get increased traffic through the exposure of 'higher listings' in Google, a registered user can downgrade those efforts or even delete your website from the results served to them. This mirrors advertising removal or behaviourial targetting direct online advertising models.
This raises a number of questions:

1/ Is this level of 'personalised customisation' just an initiative by Google to increase the loyalty of its current, market dominating, user base?
2/ Is it the start of a push to bring a behavioural targetting element to Google Adwords advertisers?
3/ Is this a piece of functionality aimed to increase the uptake of Google Account usage as this increases Google's ability to promote trialling of their other software?
4/ AND MOST interestingly I feel, is this a test bed of user data gathering that helps Google further eliminate Search Spam from its listings? If so, then this release of the functionality could be a forerunner to when Google incorporates this user 'voting' data alongside its measure of inbound links (PageRank) to help contribute to the algorithm's own decision making. Could Google's greatest coup be to have their Users doing manual site evaluation work on their behalf. If so, then with 85-95% market share they would truly merit Pied Piper of Hamlyn status.

I will leave readers to ponder this, as yet unknown longterm motivation. Please feel free to comment...

Recession boosts digital

No question about it. Having been recruiting 2 posts for the last few months and been in contact with numerous web design and web development agencies over the last 6 months it is clear that this recession is growing digital again. While the run up to the recession proper had many clients stuck 'in the headlights' movement once again is shifting toward the digital player who know how to 'Do it Right'. Clients need transparency, the ability to question the technical and user experience assumptions made and have support is demonstrating the value of customer activity happening online. An agency confident in meeting these expectations and happy to be questioned on their scoping assertions has no reason not to grow in strength over the next year. Those that will suffer will be the "we've always done it this way" brigade who wait for clients to simply define there expectation levels for agency response.

Has Twitter grown up too fast?

The Daily Mail has always had a difficult relationship with technology and the internet. It is never long before an article that describes 'evil-doers' online threatening the safety of our children surfaces with accompanied 'ban the internet' undertone. NMA recently debated the digital industry's lack of experience in understanding its responsibilities when launching mass communication media in a web 2.0 era. The discovery that prostitutes and pornographic actresses are asking fans to 'follow them on twitter' is a little shocking but hardly surprising. The debate about protecting children from possible exposure to these corners of a social interaction website is both a valid and an urgent discussion. The debate about whether Twitter's owners should have pre-empted this is also valid. However the gutter press is mentally invalid in suggesting that the digital sphere is somehow the creator of all things lucid. The internet has changed the way we live through a revolution in information access and in interest-group interaction. Just because some less attractive aspects of our society also exist online, does not give authority to legislating and controlling the distribution of online information. The internet is an eco system of data. In that eco system there will be swans as well as vultures. Consider the effect of regulating the internet in the way dictatorships now do, as sending our society backwards not to halcyon days, but to dark ages.

This site may harm your computer on every search result

There was a bit of a mishap at the weekend with Google results.

Due to a human error Google flagged all search results with the message "This site may harm your computer"

Google labelling suspicious websites with this message is normally really helpful and can stop you accidentally visiting a site that can install malware on your computer.

There was some confusion about where the problem originated and Google have since updated their statement. The StopBadware.org site who Google work with to establish if a website poses a risk have issued a statement along with Google to clarify.

The StopBadWare site fell over under the strain of all the additional traffic from confused Google users.

Google's Statement
StopBadWare Statement

Please manage my expectations...

Of course content and regular content refreshment remains king. However this web 2.0 aspiration is not always readily available to all corporate brands. This may be due to the nature of their brand, the level of consumer passion in the product area or a restrictive / compliant nature of marketing work such as in financial services marketing.

However there is no reason why any organisation can not be considering their customer issues and use web technology to communicate more effectively for better customer experience both on and offline. The screengrab below is, I believe an excellent example of this:

New year thoughts

The industry has taken down their decorations and is now back in full flight. Now the hard work begins again. All clients need to be seen to be spending their budget more wisely this year. In digital marketing and web development this highlights an existing problem for a number of clients - that (dare I say it) many clients do not know what exactly they are buying. Great web experience is like a beautifully considered and crafted piece of architecture or engineering. Therefore if clients pay little attention to handling, reliability, depreciation and road grip when buying a car they are more likely to end up with a Kia Pride than one of the brilliantly sensible Turbo Diesel Golf range. Apologies to any reader who loathes petrolhead metaphors, but cars do affect all our lives in some way or another, and owners generally live with their choices a good while - both good and the bad choices. In my view 2009's economic challenges should give way to much more considered approach to how web work is bought. Most businesses now realise that web is far more than another 'marketing channel' or BTL collateral extension. Your web presence is the real front door to your business for prospective employee, customer or investor. Now is the time to get all aspects of web design, content production and online marketing RIGHT. Getting 'pretty' is no longer enough. Whether full redesign or quick win improvements to generate business or increase conversion - the time is now.