Why is Google such a mother ****er?

[Shawn]

Good question.

First, AdSense earnings.

This entire month has been absolutely horrible. I'm constantly getting more clicks every day, avg. about 40 a day this past week. Yet, I make less than $10. Not everyone's month has been as horrible as mine has, but within the last 2 weeks, most people I have talked to have seen a 90% decrease in earnings.

Secondly, the SERPs.

The results suck. Could this be related with AdSense and the tweaking of algos? I have absolutely no idea, but the timeframe is coincidental. With Google, nothing would suprise me now.

What I am learning from Google.

Regardless of how hard I work on my site to increase PR or to optimize it for search engines -- my effort is absolutely useless, because, Google can just go and make it all void without a notice or explanation. Making a full-time income out of website publishing (as Aspen does) seems pretty impossible at the current state of time. One month I make $3,000, the next $300 because no one can find my site.


Conclusion.

I like Google. But really, it is a mother ****er. It can make or break the lives of website publishers that rely on it. When is the last time you heard a website publisher optimizing for AltaVista? Google is in a scary and powerful position.

[incka]

If it breaks big ones like Chris is may face legal action. Chris won't go down without a fight...

[incka]

But I hardly get any of my visitors from google...

[Mike]

This month everyone has been getting worked up for nothing really.

Google has been poor this month, adsense earnings down, bad search engine results and there have been a few techie problems with adwords for me.

However, it's not like it happens every month. Google cannot be perfect, like nothing can be, and there will be times when they will have a few problems.

[incka]

You wouldn't be saying that if you depended on google like Shawn and Chris do, and if it fails them they won't have enough money to buy food...

[incka]

I can't wait for yahoo to develop there own technology so google has a large competitor...

[Mike]

Incka, nothing can be perfect. Besides, if someone, like Chris and Shawn, are successful already, then whats one month?

If you can think of a month as bad as this for google (from the last year or so), then please let me know.

[X Q mano]

I almost feel a little ashamed for seeing an increase in visitors from google the last few days... The month started off horribly, but it has gotten better...

[lo0ol]

I started splitting from AdSense 2-3 months ago. Revenue started to go down then for me, and Tribal Fusion revenue was only going up. I only run AdSense as like a 4th tier banner now. The key is to diversify.

This is somewhat a wakeup call to the webmaster community- nothing's concrete. People were chillaxin' the past few months. When Google reverted back to "normal", people just got a little excited again. Actually, I hate Google for doing this, but that's neither here nor there. Not much you can do about but work at getting revenue and traffic through other venues.

[michael_gersitz]

Adsense clicks have skyrocketed for me.... maybe because I tripled my page views...

[Shawn]

Mike, I can't believe what you're saying.

"What's another month?"

No one knows if this is a short-term deal or perm. I don't depend on website publishing like Chris does (and I'm sure Chris has plenty money saved anyways), but many, many other people do -- and to be suddenly ranked 500 on searchterms that you would always be #1-3, that hurts. Yes, for "just another month."

You go to making $10,000 a month to $200 because NO ONE CAN FIND YOUR SITE, uh, that's something that people may get a "little worked up about," as you so elegantly put it. And you say nothing can be perfect? When you are one of the top 3 visited sites on the Internet, as Google is, worth billions of dollars, have millions of people relying on you -- you sure as hell better be perfect.

[kdb003]

if google starts giving less relevant results, other search engines will become popular.

[lo0ol]

I've been saying that for ages- people will go where they can get their needs fulfilled. That's exactly the reason why Yahoo lost its dominance- Google fulfilled the average surfer's need. If something better does come about, the same might happen again.

[Mike]

Shawn I can't be bothered arguing with you, it's my opinion and that's that. Perhaps I shouldn't have made the comment about another month, but there...

Anyway I agree with what lo0ol says, it's a wakeup call for everyone. I know many do, but being successful because of one site could result in disaster. Google doesn't have to display certain results, it's not a law is it?

[michael_gersitz]

I try to spread my traffic out... If I get 1,000 hits from google a day, I try to get 1,000 from other sources...

[fatnewt]

I'm goning to have to agree with Mike...

If Google wants to change their algorithm because they believe it will bring more relevant results (and/or more profit), that's thier prerogative.

Although building a good site should naturally lead to decent search engine visibility.

That's business for you. Google's ultimate goal is not to support other businesses. In terms of their primary search (not the business solutions), they're primarily a service to Internet users.