• by Kate Kaye , March 2, 2004

It may be the day after "Super Tuesday," but some people will never forget Florida. It's not so much that Democrats are still fuming over the 2000 election recount, rather it's the self-proclaimed victims of Google's November 2003 re-indexing who can't get their minds off of the search engine's "Florida" update. They're also not thrilled with January's "Austin" or last month's "Brandy."

Google, the leading Internet search provider, typically reorganizes its data on a monthly basis. Over time, marketers that use search have grown accustomed to search ranking shakeups resulting from what they call "The Google Dance." But it took an especially sweeping disruption to inspire industry insiders to start naming Google Dance updates in the same way TV weatherpeople name tropical storms.

"I thought it was a bug, since the results were so bad," recalls Leslie Rohde, creator of search engine optimization software OptiLink. Hoping to help his clients adjust their search optimization efforts to accommodate Google's ongoing updates, Rohde is currently studying what happened during the Florida update.

Many in the search marketing industry have reported sizable shifts in Google listing rankings following the Florida update and subsequent updates. FreeCellPhonesGuy.com--"one of dozens of sites that were affected," according to Rohde--went from around No. 5 in the rankings to "nowhere to be found after the switch."

"It appears pretty obvious that directories and resources are favored," maintains Brad Fallon, CEO of interactive marketing consultancy Smart Marketing INC. One of Fallon's clients, an Atlanta criminal lawyer whose site once got top ranking on Google with certain keyword searches, now has fallen below listings for legal directories and the like. Fallon also speaks of a DUI lawyer who once came out on top for many Google searches. "He made it through Florida, and got killed in Austin," Fallon says. He, too, is analyzing Google's changes through his latest project, SEO Research.

Why all the guesswork? Google has remained tight-lipped about the modifications it made in November and thereafter. A company spokesman was unable to comment specifically about Google's recent re-indexing updates, but did acknowledge that Google's goal is to improve the search experience for its users.

The general consensus among search aficionados is that Google is gradually updating its system to give more prominent ranking to non-commercial rather than commercial listings. Some, like Fallon, subscribe to the Topical Page Rank Theory. The more a site is linked from other sites, the higher its Google ranking will be. According to the Topical Page Rank Theory, Google is now attributing more value to pages featuring relevant topics, as opposed to hoisting the rankings for sites that have multiple links from just any old place.

Some search industry observers surmise that Google has purposely rigged the system to filter out commercial listings, in order to compel advertisers to buy more of its AdWords paid listings. "The fact that they did it when they did it is most disturbing," Rohde says. He calls Google's decision to make such drastic changes to its index in November during the peak shopping season "irresponsible."

"Getting lifted in Google for free is the equivalent of getting a newspaper to write an article about you," comments Danny Sullivan, editor of search engine resource site Search Engine Watch. "They need to buy advertising to drive traffic."

Dan Thies, owner of search engine research firm SEO Research Labs, recognizes the reasoning behind the ire: "Before, it was easy to get top rankings on Google if you knew what you were doing. It's not that easy anymore." Thies maintains that Google's listings are improving with each incremental update. To him, more relevant search results for users equals more qualified leads and more use of search in general--and all of this is good for search marketers.

Despite the arguable benefits of Google's changes, negative energy from search marketers won't help the search king stay on top, especially considering Yahoo's! aggressive re-entry into the space. "Word of mouth is powerful," Search Engine Watch's Sullivan suggested. "It's what built Google, and it's what could potentially bring Google down."

Search marketing, the interactive advertising industry's topic du jour, has grabbed center stage. A four-day Search Engine Strategies Conference hit New York this week, and Yahoo! debuted a resurgent search capability last week.