This week Google has surprised us with drastic changes to its algorithm.
Introducing some changes to its algorithm on a regular basis is something that Google has accustomed us to. Month after month, Google tries to improve the search results and neutralizes “shortcuts” that some SEOs take, and refines the results. But this time, the change has been drastic and according to Google itself, it affects 12% of the results of the search pages.
The goal of the change is to lower the ranking of pages that are dedicated to copying or massively adding content from others, without contributing anything new, and then include a large number of Google ads or other affiliate programs on their site.
The truth is that the network was beginning to be flooded with pages whose sole purpose was to show ads (which, by the way, were mostly from Google itself). On many occasions, these pages, without original content, and full of advertising, appeared in the first positions of searches because their creators, knowledgeable in all SEO techniques, had managed to make it so. In English, this type of page is called an “Adsense farm.” Hence, this algorithm update has been popularly called the “Adsense farm.”Adsense Farm Update”.
According to Google, its engineers have been working for over a year to find a way to neutralize the power of these websites, and it seems that with the new algorithm they have succeeded… The question now is how exactly the algorithm has been modified and what Google is taking into account when determining whether a site has original content or not.
Comparing indexes created by scanning pages is already what Google was doing at this point in order to discern what was considered duplicate (and penalizable) content and what was not. But when someone copies only part of a page, includes it in their own, and fills the rest with ads, this is not detectable from simple index comparison, simply because the list of words included on the page is different and original from the one they copied. So Google had to find another way to do it.
Reading through forums SEO It seems that other professionals are also wondering what exactly has changed, and although they speculate on various possibilities, none seems conclusive. In some cases, panic has even spread among people who practiced Adsense Farming and some indicate that they have lost 40% of their traffic.
From my point of view, the most logical thing would be that the change would consist of Google now being able to recognize whole paragraphs (not single words) that have been published on other sites, and it can know which content was indexed first. It also seems logical to me to think that Google knows perfectly well how to recognize the source code of web pages that are Adwords farms (precisely because the code is its own) and therefore it can emphasize the control of the content of this type of pages.
In any case, those of us who are not doing this type of practice can rest easy because this change should not affect us negatively, but rather the opposite. Our websites should gain positions in the results pages.
Let's wait a few days to see if someone can figure out the change and find out exactly what it is.
The official announcement of the change in Google's algorithm can be read on its notifications blog: Adsense Farm Update.
9 responses
I find it funny that the Adsense paid advertising system itself serves to make Google focus more attention on a website, and be more critical of its content (since nobody likes to pay bills…) It seems that Adsense means bread for today and hunger for tomorrow for all those websites that have Google itself as their main source of income…
If I were Google… and I had a bunch of small collaborators that I had to pay periodically, the first thing I would do, as a client with better alternatives or MAAN, would be to check if such invoices are justified and provide me with some added value…
It is worth noting that Google's paid advertising system, AdWords, allows you to choose which pages of the distribution network you want to have ads published and which ones you don't. It is highly recommended, if you use this network, to see which addresses have many impressions but few clicks and eliminate them from the list, as well as pay more for those that have a direct relationship with your content and provide you with more clicks proportionally.
I understand that these ratios are one of the ways Google can find out what advertisers think of the websites of its mini-providers, and in this way separate those that are really appreciated by advertisers from those that simply parasitize its paid advertising system and the advertisers themselves…
Seeing this trend continue, I would try to diversify my sources of income, so as not to depend on a client as strong and changing as Google, which is continually sending a very clear message:
» DON’T BE PARASITES!!! »
All the best
Thanks Montse for the clarification.
This will avoid false pageranks, thanks.
However, I don't really see the novelty, because it has always been said that duplicate content harms a website's positioning.
greetings
You are right, but the concept of “duplicate content” implies that the entire page is duplicated: 2 different URLs, with identical content. When you only copy a part, as the link farms do, Google did not see it as duplicate content until now, hence why they rank so well. This is what has changed now with the new algorithm.
Thank you. I hope it did help improve Google results. The truth is that it is beginning to be worrying that the first results are always missing large announcements.
We still speak.
A hug.
Thank you Montse. First news. We hope that this will harm those who are dedicated exclusively to copying articles.
Many thanks Montse!
Always learn and share your posts and ideas.
Molt bon analysisi Montse. M'ha pleased molt. He will share.