Search Engine Results Deteriorating

May 29, 2006; 08:11 AM
Recently, the boiling point of frustration was reached when researching on the internet for information about the Great Depression. My searches in the search engines were resulting in poorly constructed websites with useless content and extraneous advertisements. Having experience and knowledge of how search engines operate, the problem lies in the recent progression of ways to monetize a website on the internet. Internet advertising companies have introduced new technologies that have allowed website owners to show targeted advertisements by simply placing a snippet of code on their website. This new technology has allowed anyone with a website to enter the lucrative internet advertising industry, and has spawned a whole new breed of useless websites on the internet.

To understand why search engine results are affected by this revolution in the internet advertising industry, it is important to understand how search engines operate. A search engine is nothing more than a database of all the websites on the internet. The search engines then rank websites based on a number of criteria which include keyword density, page length, how many websites link to the website, and a number of other characteristics. A top listing on a search engine for a popular term, like insurance or mortgages, can generate thousands or even millions of dollars for a company, so naturally there is a constant battle to get a top listing on the search engines. Because search engines are just a compilation of websites, anyone with a website can get listed in the search engines.

Believe it or not, the search engines are actually contributing to this problem and are making millions of dollars in the process. Google is now worth over $125 billion and Yahoo is valued at close to $47 billion. These search engines are profiting at the expense of its users. Google, Yahoo, and MSN all have publisher programs where anyone with a website can sign up and place advertisements on their websites. When those advertisements are clicked by visitors both the website owner and the search engines make money. A single click on an advertisement can earn a website owner anywhere from a couple of cents all the way up to a couple of dollars. Revenue per click varies because it depends on the advertiser’s return on investment. This is why if you do a search in the search engines for real estate in Bangor, Maine you get results for real estate in Beverly Hills, California. A real estate agency in Beverly Hills can afford a higher advertising budget than an agency in Bangor, so it is extremely profitable for website owners to display ads for Beverly Hills instead of Bangor.

Contributing to the problem of untargeted searches and poor content is the fact that websites that have poor content actually entice more clicks on advertisements because visitors are looking to exit the page. Therefore, there is actually an incentive for website owners to provide uninteresting and irrelevant content to their visitors because it will make them more money. Also contributing to the problem is a conflict of interest with the search engines. Because the search engines are profiting from these useless websites, they are not attempting to remove them from their results pages. Search engines have transformed their business models from websites that provide a useful service to internet users, to websites that have become focused on the bottom-line. The major catalysts for these problems are that the average internet user is unaware of how search engines operate, and internet users are even unaware that they clicking on paid advertisements.

The problem of untargeted searches that lead to websites with poor content is not an easy problem to solve. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, which owns MSN, are all large, publicly traded companies that have the obligation of growing earnings for their shareholders, so cleaning up the search engines would not be in their best interest because it would reduce earnings. The only way to solve this problem is to inform internet users who use search engines about how the industry operates. If internet users knew how to spot advertisements on websites then they would be able to choose not to click on them and avoid rewarding websites with poor content. If enough internet users avoided these advertisements then it would force website owners to display informative, useful content.

Another way to solve the problem would be for internet users to boycott the search engines that implement tactics such as profiting off of poorly targeted search results. This would force the search engines to change their business models, and they would have to change their ranking algorithms in order to provide more targeted search results. The best case scenario for internet users would be a non-profit search engine that’s sole purpose would be to serve internet users. A non-profit search engine would be able to focus solely on providing a quality service and not on the business aspect of it. A non-profit search engine could be user driven and the search results could be based on user recommendations and reviews, and not on the amount of revenue the search results will generate. A non-profit would also give internet users another quality search engine option, and they wouldn’t have to be so reliable on Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

The internet is still in its infancy and will continue to evolve over time. If search engines are to change it will require that internet users take action instead of settling for mediocre services. Eventually the top search engines will be forced to change as technology advances and new competitors enter the market. Google, Yahoo, and MSN will ultimately have to change their business models to favor user-friendly search engine results instead of revenue-friendly results. Unfortunately, until internet users become savvier and demand that changes be made, internet users will continue to be at the mercy of the search engine powerhouses.

Andrew Nadeau is an experienced internet marketer. With over 7 years of experience in search engine optimization and online marketing, Nadeau has extensive knowledge in the field.

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