Google’s recent algorithm changes look to be accomplishing the desired goals.
The search engine giant expressed concern and annoyance about the amount of material on the web coming from “content farms”, websites that produce an unrelenting amount of low-quality content.
But after changing its algorithm this past week, it’s apparent Google wanted to make sure higher quality sources were more visible and that the frowned-upon “farms” sunk. A study by Sistrix proved that’s exactly what happened. Sites filled with optimized, spam-esque content took instantaneous dips.
The effects of the change continue to wreak havoc on these sites. Known offender Mahalo, which to its credit does attempt to sprinkle in some quality, well thought-out pages on its site, just announced that it would be laying off 10 percent of its staff and halting its freelance writing.
Obviously no one wants to see people lose their jobs, but this was something that users have long called for and Google had to answer. Hundreds of pointless how-to tutorials and FAQ answer sites are the most glaring examples of what it deemed low-quality. Any site which answers “How to save money in 2011″ with “Don’t drink and drive. You’ll end up paying high fines” (actual example) fits the bill.
Mahalo is a case point of what happens when a business model depends too much on another business. If a drop in Google’s page ranks is immediately responsible for a 10 percent employee cut, then frankly that model was never intended to last.
As the saying goes, “content is king”. But it should be understood that just any old content scrapped together won’t get it done anymore. Now, the ones who take pride in producing thoughtful and engaging content can begin to ascend the throne.
Tags: content farms, Google, google algorithm, google page rankings, mahalo, search engine, sistrix
