17 replies to this topic

[1dmf]

thanks for the replies peeps, I guess there is always the possibility of a 'false positive' and if it happens I guess we'll just have to deal with it on an adhoc basis.

the general opinion here seems to be don't worry, is it's simply design orientated 'hidden content' , then you should be ok, howerver it does seem that 'SHOULD' is the operative word here!

[Randy]

Did you happen to read the recent article (requires free registration) in the New York Times regarding the inside workings of Google by chance 1dmf? The majority of the article revolves around Amit Singhal, who shares an office with Matt C and is primarily responsible for algo updates/tweaks.

If you do you'll get a pretty decent feel for how they approach things and how they try very hard to keep from throwing lots of babies out with the bathwater when they're trying to "fix" something some folks may be doing to fool them that can be also be used for completely legitimate purposes. There is actually a bit of an outline in the article regarding how they attempt to approach the Freshness issue --delivering breaking news items high in the serps vs delivering older, more authoritative documents-- that give you a glimpse behind the curtain.

There are of course few or no concrete details, but the general overview matches discussions I and others have had with certain Google'ites over the years. And is why we tell you not to worry about it if you're doing something for Design and improved user experience. Even if it may at first appear to fly in the face of their Guidelines, which are sometimes written with the bad guys in mind.

If you can't get to the actual article and don't want to register at the NYT site I know that Jennifer Laycock had a write up about it a week or so ago on SearchEngineWatch. Though her article doesn't go into full detail she does provide some quotes you might find intriguing.

[1dmf]

thanks Randy, i'll check it out.