Webmaster Demands More Accountability from Directories and from the Search Engines
20 February 2006
Denny Soinski, owner of two websites, one that focuses on mesothelioma cancer and the other that features garden decor, claims that some of the major search engines and web directories have been functioning in an unaccountable manner regarding the ways in which they address web page ranking and positioning.
What triggered this assertion is the fact that two directories, both of which list Soinski's garden decor website, have dropped from extremely high web page positions to the lowest position possible in one of the major search engines.
For purposes of business ethics and possible legalities, these two web directories shall be called Directory A and Directory B and the main search engine in question will be referred to as Search Engine C.
Web page positioning, a measure of web page popularity and relevance, affects how highly ranked a web page is for a specific keyword phrase in the search engines. «There's a lot Webmasters can do to increase the rank or status of their web pages in the search engines» asserts Soinski. «One way to accomplish this is to secure a number of non-reciprocal listings in directories that have high web page rankings.»
Herein, however, lies the problem. As stated by Soinski «When the web page ranking for some of the directories drops to the lowest possible level, listing your web pages in these directories becomes virtually meaningless.»
Regarding Directories A and B, Soinski wonders what they have done to alienate themselves from Search Engine C: «You must realize that these directories currently have web page ranking positions that are equal to the absolutely worst constructed, the least credible, and the worst publicized web pages done by the most mediocre designer in the world.» «How was it possible,» asks Soinski, «for these directories to fall out of grace with Search Engine C in such a short time?»
Such questions lead to Soinski's main issue: «I am concerned with the apparent unaccountability concerning the radical and sometimes overnight web page ranking fluctuations that have been occurring the past number of months on the Internet.»
Regarding Directories A and B, Soinski asks «how viable and how sound have they been regarding their linking strategies, their growth policies, and their plan of attack for establishing themselves as first-tier directories during the past 15 months?»
Soinski adds, «It appears that Directories A and B may have built their foundations on quicksand. Consequently, when Search Engine C issued their latest algorithm modifications, these changes ruined the web page status of both directories, similar to the ways in which Katrina devastated New Orleans.»
Soinski continues, «I question whether web directories realize how a drastic reduction in their web page rankings affects those who help pay for their existence as Internet entities.»
The unaccountability finger, according to Soinski, however, also points to the major search engines. «The fact that Directories A and B recently had extremely high web page rankings means that both of them met Search Engine C's standards that had been established at the time of the rankings.»
«Since the web page ranking scores for Directories A and B are now at the lowest possible level, it appears that Search Engine C's algorithms that were used to establish the earlier web page ranking positions may have been seriously flawed» claims Soinski.
Stated differently, «unless Directories A and B were caught using illegal or unauthorized search engine optimization techniques, the radical changes in their web page ranking positions appear to be rooted in the ranking processes established by Search Engine C. How else can anyone explain the fact that the extremely high web page ranking scores of both directories dropped to nothing?»
«I wonder if the major search engines realize and, perhaps more importantly, care about the impact their web page ranking systems have on the economic viability of Internet entities such as web directories. When a directory's web page gets moved from page one to page ten in the major search engines, the revenue-generating capability of this directory can be affected in an adverse, if not a crippling, manner. I'm not sure the major search engines understand this.»
Does Soinski think that the unaccountability picture he paints is too simplistic and lacks the perspective of someone who works in the area of website ranking?
«While in college, I had a professor who presented a 30-page proof showing that one equals zero. I didn't need to review all 30 pages to know that somewhere, somehow, someone had made an error.»
«Clearly, I am not well versed in the mechanics of web page positioning» asserts Soinski. «Here's what I know, however, without referring to a 30-page proof: If a high web page ranking is something worth bragging about, then a non-existing web page position is not worth mentioning. If a directory meets the standards established by a search engine one day and then falls totally from the ranking system the next, something is clearly erroneous—either with the directory, with the ranking system, or with both. If a squirrel walks back and forth several times on a computer keyboard and constructs a home page that has the same web page ranking and position as a home page that has been designed by a major web directory, something is unmistakably wrong with the directory, with the ranking system, or with both.»
When asked what he plans to do with his listings in Directory A and Directory B, Soinski replied «If their web page positions do not increase significantly, I'm going to cancel both listings as soon as they expire. I paid $49.95 for each listing. Why continue paying for something that accomplishes absolutely nothing?»
Water Fountains and Garden Decor (http://www.water-fountains-and-garden-decor.com) is an online retailer featuring home and garden accessories, ornaments and decor accents.
Mesothelioma Information, Diagnosis, Types, Symptoms, and Treatment (http://www.mesothelioma-information-diagnosis-types-symptoms-and-treatment.com) offers hope and ways to cope with mesothelioma by featuring success stories of those who have survived mesothelioma and other forms of cancer.
Source: prweb
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