8 replies to this topic

[Michael Martinez]

Matt Cutts just published this announcement, referring to this update as a "Page Layout Algorithmic Improvement" (which should provide some food for thought if it doesn't break your jaw).

Any sites downgraded by this "improvement" just need to change their layout, wait to be recrawled, and at most in a few weeks should be good to go again.

...we'll see....

[zephyr]

What's good for the goose I guess is not good for the gander in this instance. I like DanielRoofers response on MC Blog re: Googles own pages.

[Jill]

Yeah this is pretty awesome. I think it's a good thing, but you can't help but laugh since google has so many ads above the fold!

[Michael Martinez]

While I agree that Google's advertising-laden pages can be annoying at times, what I think many critics are overlooking is the fact that Google won't index its own search results.

They find *OTHER* ways to give themselves a competitive advantage....

[Jill]

Yes, that's what I said over at google+ -- that it's a good thing they don't index their own results or they'd be in trouble!

[qwerty]

This means that all those patent applications involving breaking a page into sections and considering where content is positioned are bearing some fruit. The next time someone suggests that you can put your most important text in the footer after your copyright notice as long as it's near the top of your source code, you can show them this

[Jill]

It's also pretty funny that Adsense guidelines recommend putting the ads above the fold...haha

[piskie]

The many references to Site, indicate that fixing a single page will not necessarily restore that page to it's former prominence.

the page layout algorithm will automatically reflect the changes as we re-crawl and process enough pages from your site to assess the changes

I hope this breaks the Myth that Google treats each page in isolation when in fact for this criteria and I believe many others, Google rates a page to varying degrees according to the company it keeps.

[chrishirst]

I hope this breaks the Myth that Google treats each page in isolation when in fact for this criteria and I believe many others, Google rates a page to varying degrees according to the company it keeps.

I don't think I've seen anybody claim this at all especially. Each URI is an independent entity for crawling and ranking certainly, but of course the association to other URIs through outbound linking can (and does) affect a URIs "value".

To paraphrase; "No page is (or should be) an island" and "guilt by association" plays a part in determining the value.

"If you lay down with dogs, expect to get up with fleas"