Is Google Making Life Harder For Aggregators?
-
Theres been a bunch of updates recently which have hurt aggregators:
-
Reducing the number of search results to 7 for branded search queries
-
The DMCA update which penalises those with trademark related takedown requests against them.
-
At least 2 'domain diversity' updates, the most recent last week, which seeks to reduce the ability of sites to dominate SERPS e.g. a site which may have 2 search results on page 1 now may have 1.
Plus Its commonly believed that Google favours big brands over smaller brands e.g. Marriott over examplehotelaggregator.com.
Is this a deliberate ploy against aggregators in favour of brands i.e. does Google believe a brand site is a better search result than an aggregator?
A brand site returned above an aggregator for a branded term may be seen by Google as a better fit, a better search result that should be higher. But is that true? Consumers like to see unbiased reviews and lowest prices and that isnt always available at the brand site.
Thoughts please.
-
-
If Google tried to avoid aggregators & removed 2 domain results from serps, so what will be in the results then?
-
For something a long those lines Google mixes in shopping results to try and bring the best results. But for a hotel kind of search I would much rather get the hotel itself.
-
- Reducing the number of search results to 7 for branded search queries
If a searcher typs in a branded query then there is a higher probability that his is looking for the brand and not Joe Aggregator.
- The DMCA update which penalises those with trademark related takedown requests against them.
This is good. Yes!!
- At least 2 'domain diversity' updates, the most recent last week, which seeks to reduce the ability of sites to dominate SERPS e.g. a site which may have 2 search results on page 1 now may have 1.
Enjoy this. This is actually working against the big brand.
Plus Its commonly believed that Google favours big brands over smaller brands e.g. Marriott over examplehotelaggregator.com.
Sure... most people want something trusted. They know Marriott. I you want examplehotelaggregator.com to rank then work on your brand.
Is this a deliberate ploy against aggregators in favour of brands
Only the aggregators are thinking that it is. The brands are not thinking that way and the average searcher is not thinking that way.
does Google believe a brand site is a better search result than an aggregator?
Yes.
-
This. The aggregator's big win could be fulfilling their role in the form of a media publisher and community hub, serving as a nexus for honest and objective opinions. Aggregators are a form of retailer except that the customer purchase is information exchange. When they abandon this opportunity and instead supply subjective info that doesn't put the consumer first, well, this is what makes the organic results such a polluted mess.
-
"When you do a search would you rather get the official companies or a site with a news feed or aggregation ran by a 3rd party source?"
- As I say in many cases the branded site isnt going to be your first port of call. E.g. Who buys their Wilson tennis racket from Wilson.com when you can get the same product may times cheaper elsewhere (random example, im not picking on Wilson!) and with honest reviews e.g. 'the strings on this racket are poor'?
-
I would say so. Google has been taking a lot of actions to bring back better quality results. When you do a search would you rather get the official companies or a site with a news feed or aggregation ran by a 3rd party source?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Yelp (recrawl Google/Bing)
If Google and Bing show an older version of a site's Yelp rating in the search results, what options are there to help ensure Google and Bing recrawl the Yelp page? Additionally, it appears third-party sites such as MapQuest show Yelp ratings and appear in Google search results; is it possible to request MapQuest to recrawl Yelp and then ask Google to recrawl MapQuest? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Industry News | | Mack_1 -
Net Neutrality: FCC Votes To Make Internet Public Utility
It sounds like it is now official: the FCC has voted to make the Internet a Public Utility, supporting Net Neutrality. But before I jump for joy, I'm asking myself, "What exactly does this mean?" I know what it doesn't mean: ISP's won't be able to throttle data, and they won't be able to package together access to websites for additional fees, as they do with television channel packages. That's great, in my opinion. Even though I'm a Libertarian and I believe strongly in freedom, I know that that would have a seriously negative impact on the Internet, and especially for people like us who rely on it on a daily basis as our livelihoods. The problem that I am find is that what they voted on contains ~322 pages of new regulations for the Internet. I have no idea what is in those 322 pages, and I doubt anyone who voted on it does either. The democrats are loving it, while the republicans are calling it, "Obamacare for the Internet". My mind works more in the direction of, there must be pros and cons. I'm just very curious as to what those pros and cons are, and what this will actually mean for us in the online marketing industry, as well as anyone who works on the Internet. I'm not looking for any answers, and I'm especially not looking for a political or biased debate. But I think there should be a place where we can discuss this issue, because it has the potential to be extremely important to us. Please share you thoughts, findings, and research here where we can discuss them. I'm looking forward to learning from you all, and I hope I can add some useful insights to this conversation. Once more: please, do not turn this into a political debate - this is not the place for it. Please keep it to how Net Neutrality and Internet as a Public Utility will affect the Internet and Online Marketing landscape for us, our clients, and our customers.
Industry News | | Millermore3 -
Google Site Warnings via Phone?
I received a voicemail earlier stating that "there are two issues with your company's current Google listing that we need to discuss with the business owner. it is very important that we talk as soon as possible. press 1 to speak with an agent immediately. press 8 if you have already verified your account information or if you are no longer in business and want to be removed from this list. thank you" that's it. no contact number, no reference to what listing or what type of listing (organic, places, etc.) Checked GWT, GA, and the Gmail - there are no warnings or messages in any of those accounts. Has anyone else experienced this?
Industry News | | EmpireToday0 -
Google still showing sitelinks from old website
Hi guys, we relaunched our website www.segafredo.com.au a few weeks ago, however google is still showing site links from our old page that no longer exist... Is there anything we can do about this? Sit back and wait or try demoting the old urls in webmaster tools? Looking forward to see your tips! Ciao, Manny.
Industry News | | Immanuel0 -
Does Google still have a standard search result? How can I get it?
I have heard a lot from the experts that there are no "Standard" Google search results anymore. They said that most of the SERP's of Google that show up are customized/tailored for each individuals even if they are not logged-in using their Google Custom Search. My questions are, Is there still a way to retrieve the standard Google search result? How? Are these scripts will be helpful when searching on Google? *webhp?
Industry News | | RafaelRanada
*complete=0
*pws=0 watch?v=B8ofWFx525s B8ofWFx525s watch?v=B8ofWFx525s0 -
So, Google is the best site on the internet.. Right? Or is that just what most people tend to think off-face?
LOL woah, put the guns away. I'm not about to rant, I just have a question and wanted to present it well. Then again, I might have actually found some easy fixes to some of Google's tools that they could make. So here's the thing. I noticed how annoyed I always getting when I have to sign in every time I go to the adwords keyword tool, or analytics. Why do you have to sign in a million times? I think it is a problem that can be fixed because if you go to check your webmaster tools, you go straight into your account, where you can then select which site you want to explore. It knows that I am already signed in to Google Accounts when I go to webmaster tools, but it doesn't recognize that fact when I go to my Analytics account, or to use the Adwords Keyword Tool. Now, every site has things that they need to work on, but not necessarily that need to be 'fixed'. Google being so commonly accepted as the best site on the net, I thought it was funny/interesting at the least to point out the problem. Even funnier is the fact that I could submit it as a problem to see if they could fix it or not, but they do such a good job of making it hard for people to contact them, that A) I don't feel like wasting my time trying B) I don't even really know if it is possible to do that. Also, why is there no official Google Analytics App / Mobile site?? Google has been pushing how important mobile is to us webmasters, but then it doesn't seem to be very high on their priority list for the tools that we use. I mean you can't view graphs on phones / tablets (mine at least), in webmaster tools, OR google analytics. Also, its a pain in the but to click the sign in button on Google Analytics when using my phone / tablet, it disapears really fast for me (needs more research from others to see if everyone has the same problem) Thanks for the interest / answers everybody. Look forward to hearing from you guys. Also, tips and help would be nice if anybody knows a solution to my sign in issue
Industry News | | TylerAbernethy0 -
Two Industry giant has occupied the Google SE First Page.
I have seen just two websites on Google SE first page one with 4 and second one is with 6 internal pages on Coupon related question/niche . What it means Is this a Google Dance or temporary fluctuation. ? Why Google don't consider other sites to show on first page? Many pages from askvila.amazon, yahoo answers and facebook pages are shown on second and third pages.? Is this meant that there are a lack of quality websites/pages for this industry or query? What do you say? Here is the SERPs from Google US.(as on July 09) http://bitly.com/Md8JFW http://bitly.com/LaT9yD Thanks Alex
Industry News | | alexgray0 -
Google places rejected
google has rejected a few listing i have for certain businesses, i have read the guidlines and I am well inside them. It does say that if business name is changed you need to re-verify, but does not allow you to do so. I think google have lost their way, they should stop building operating systems and electric cars and get their web site sorted out.
Industry News | | AlanMosley0