There is so much noise out there today about what’s happening with the Google Search Results that very few make any note to what started the ball rolling with Brand Dominance in the Google Search Results (SERPs).
In my opinion the SEO world has been asleep at the wheel and distracted with all the zoo updates of Google, such as Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird etc…
While most everyone was distracted with content and links related to the new zoo updates, Google really was very busy establishing the new Authority model silently.
The hot topic of Authority floats around in every Internet Marketing forum, blog, website, social media etc… Authority has rarely ever been defined properly. Most people refer to Authority as a large website, sometimes the word Brand is associated with the concept.
But the real reason has rarely ever been addressed till recently about how BRANDs are taking over the Google SERPs.
Two blogs recently have made some noise about how Brand Dominance is taking over the Google Search Results by two brilliant and talented bloggers who have done their homework. Each having valid points about how and why this is occurring.
How 16 Companies are Dominating the World’s Google Search Results by Glen Allsopp of Viperchill.com
and
We Analyzed 1 Million Google Search Results. Here’s What We Learned About SEO by Brian Dean of backlinko.com
It all started in 2008 when Google’s CEO Eric Shmidt leaked out Google’s intention of how the future of the Google SERPs were going to look like in the future. Here’s what he said.
Quoted from SearchEngineLand
“In 2008 Google’s then CEO Eric Schmidt said, “Brands are the solution, not the problem,” Mr. Schmidt said. “Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.”
In 2009, Google made an algorithm update named
Vince’s Change which favors brands“
The original quote was from AdAge with more details
We don’t actually want you to be successful,” he said. The company’s algorithms are trying to find the most relevant search results, after all, not the sites that best game the system. “The fundamental way to increase your rank is to increase your relevance,” he added.
If you look back when Vince’s Change was implemented, an interesting thing immediately happened, Google sent out their damage control squad out – Matt Cutts and company to assure it was only a change and not a major update.
Matt Cutts, said it is not really about pushing brands to the front of the Google results but more about factoring trust into the algorithm for more generic queries and it would not impact the long tail queries.
If you believe it did not affect the long tail think again, the SERPs prove otherwise how Brands Dominate Today.
I’m not the only one that disagrees that Google only made a change and not a major update.
As this quote from SearchEngineLand put’s it “Google’s Vince Update Produces Big Brand Rankings; Google Calls It A Trust “Change”
Back in 2013 I wrote a post about “Googles Hidden Agenda WHAT!!!” that was coming into it’s own for a major change to the SERPs.
Prior to Vince’s change SEO was pretty much a cookie cutter process when done right just about anyone could rank for the worlds hardest keywords. This was the time when I considered the internet the Wild West of a Medium for business and communication.
As with any medium and time, maturity sets in, especially when the Google search engine is looking to return relevant results.
You have to blame Google for setting the stage of expectations. The early years in my opinion were very informative. In my opinion people poured their hearts out when exchanging information.
If you have been following Google at all you know they have been making changes to serve relevant results as they say. Some of the changes, us SEOers are responsible for. I’m no different I had over 10 million pages out there with adsense all over them, but again Google set the stage for this in my opinion fully knowing this would happen.
Trying to stay on topic about this Brand Dominance in their search results. I spotted this trend happening in 2009 along with some of the brilliant people at SearchEngineLand, AdAge etc… Brands starting to show more frequent in Google as top placements.
I took a small sample of data I’ve collected over time and put it together in a graph. I wanted to show more data but I was limited by what the spread sheet would handle.
If this small sample of Brand Dominance results is any indication of how hard it is to rank for page one in Google, just think what it will be like in a few years.
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Stay tuned for how Google see’s all, new technology cranks up Brand dominance to user interactions.
Till next time.