Google Rolls out Algo change to target Exact Match domains.

[snoopy]

I 100% agree there is no future.

That said, I think running MFA sites on decent domains is still a style of domaining, if the premise is still to sell the domain for more than you bought it for.

Developing a MFA site is just another way of "parking" the domain.

I would call it a half hearted attempt at development, not domaining. As far as resale goes it is going to reduce the chance of a sale in my view.

 

[DavidL]

Running MFA sites etc, this isn't really domaining, it is just trying to take advantage of loopholes in google. There is no future in any of this stuff & never was any future. It is a short term way of making money, and one that Google is constantly trying to close. It is one big circle where Google foolishly buys back it own traffic..

Don't quite know what you mean? How is it different from parking really?

It is one big circle where Google foolishly buys back it own traffic..

Google doesn't really 'buy back it's own traffic'? From a short term financial POV, it's in Google's interest to actually promote these sites.

They already cover 50%+ (in some instances) of the SERPs with their ads so why not let the remaining organic results be sites plastered with their ads too.

 

[snoopy]

Don't quite know what you mean? How is it different from parking really?

A domain name with type in traffic has its own traffic flow, that is the commodity that is being sold, unlike an MFA site.

Google doesn't really 'buy back it's own traffic'? From a short term financial POV, it's in Google's interest to actually promote these sites.

They already cover 50%+ (in some instances) of the SERPs with their ads so why not let the remaining organic results be sites plastered with their ads too.

Of course they are buying back their own traffic. The visitor came from Google, then google buys it back to send it to advertisers.

The logical thing would be for Google to be sending that traffic directly to an advertiser without an MFA site in the middle or send it to a high quality site that adds to user experience and encourages repeat visitors to Google or to their own site. That is really the future in my view, one of the above three.

 

[DavidL]

Not quite sure what you are on about. I really think

It is one big circle where Google foolishly buys back it own traffic.

is a rather odd comment that's missed the mark.

I stand by what I said - from a short term financial point of view they would benefit from sending traffic to MFA sites rather than large established 'final destination' sites.

Sure, they would rather send direct to their paid ads but as far as organic listings are concerned MFA's are a great way to get a second bite at the cherry.

Obviously everybody understands that from a long term strategy this wouldn't work because they need to keep a level of quality and relevance to maintain dominance.

 

[acheeva]

Sure, they would rather send direct to their paid ads but as far as organic listings are concerned MFA's are a great way to get a second bite at the cherry.

Agreed; they want sites to pay for their traffic wherever possible

 

[Chris.C]

A domain name with type in traffic has its own traffic flow, that is the commodity that is being sold, unlike an MFA site.

You are arguing the only value of a domain name is the type in traffic. I'm arguing that domain names are worth far more than their type in traffic, ie they used to have (and may still have if your site isn't an MFA) an SEO EMD benefit.

When it comes to AU domains I think this benefit alone is worth many multiples more than type in traffic.

And don't get me started on the improved CTR rate on PPC ads with EMD domains...

The logical thing would be for Google to be sending that traffic directly to an advertiser without an MFA site in the middle or send it to a high quality site that adds to user experience and encourages repeat visitors to Google or to their own site. That is really the future in my view, one of the above three.

I tend to agree.

I stand by what I said - from a short term financial point of view they would benefit from sending traffic to MFA sites rather than large established 'final destination' sites.

Sure, they would rather send direct to their paid ads but as far as organic listings are concerned MFA's are a great way to get a second bite at the cherry.

Obviously everybody understands that from a long term strategy this wouldn't work because they need to keep a level of quality and relevance to maintain dominance.

I'm not so sure.

In the long run I'm sure Google would prefer to be able to better optimise their ads (they already do with with Quality score) to match commercial search terms with ads for that term rather than offer organic results at all.

Is it really that much of a stretch of the imagination to think that Google has the potential to show 10 relevant ad results for certain commercial keyword searches?

When it comes to commercial queries just showing ads may actually provide a BETTER user experience, ie if I was to search for "caravan hire rates brisbane" would it not be a better user experience to just list 10 businesses (that are paying for AdWords) and their rates on the results pages without all the "SEO optimised, content rich pages" that webmasters have built over the years to rank in Google, not mention avoiding all the "organic" MFA sites, article directories, comparison site, link directory, etc?

I'm not saying that's what I WANT to happen, but I'm not holding my breath that it won't eventually happen...

 

[johno69]

Not quite sure what you are on about. I really think

is a rather odd comment that's missed the mark.

He means they are buying the traffic back because they then have to pay you the advertiser a commission to send the traffic they had in the first place on to their advertiser via the ads on your MFA site.

Why wouldn't they just try to send them directly to the advertisers and not have to pay you "The middle man" a commission at all.

Makes sense to me.

 

[snoopy]

I stand by what I said - from a short term financial point of view they would benefit from sending traffic to MFA sites rather than large established 'final destination' sites.

Sure, they would rather send direct to their paid ads but as far as organic listings are concerned MFA's are a great way to get a second bite at the cherry.

Obviously everybody understands that from a long term strategy this wouldn't work because they need to keep a level of quality and relevance to maintain dominance.

David,

What is the point of trying to guess what google "short term point of view" could be when they are obviously trying to get these sites out of the index?

Short term, long term, who cares. What matters is how Google is treating these sites......google wants them out.

 

[snoopy]

You are arguing the only value of a domain name is the type in traffic.

Stop!....David brought up parking and asked me asked me how MFA is any more circular than parking I told him. Never said anything like the above.

When it comes to AU domains I think this benefit alone is worth many multiples more than type in traffic.

And don't get me started on the improved CTR rate on PPC ads with EMD domains...

You are preaching to the converted.

With regards to .com.au domains there is almost no type in traffic so clearly people buy them almost entirely for other reasons.

Agree with the stuff about CTR from what I have seen of it.

 

[DavidL]

I'm not so sure.

In the long run I'm sure Google would prefer to be able to better optimise their ads (they already do with with Quality score) to match commercial search terms with ads for that term rather than offer organic results at all.

Is it really that much of a stretch of the imagination to think that Google has the potential to show 10 relevant ad results for certain commercial keyword searches?

.

Yes I agree- that is what they would ideally want. But I think they hesitate at offering a completely 'paid' solution as there really could be a backlash. So the second best solution (again I'm talking short-term financial gain) is actually to offer an ever increasing proportion of paid ads and keep some token MFA sites as the token organic representation.

When it comes to commercial queries just showing ads may actually provide a BETTER user experience, ie if I was to search for "caravan hire rates brisbane" would it not be a better user experience to just list 10 businesses (that are paying for AdWords) and their rates on the results pages without all the "SEO optimised, content rich pages" that webmasters have built over the years to rank in Google, not mention avoiding all the "organic" MFA sites, article directories, comparison site, link directory, etc? .

Often I find Adwords ads tend to provide better relevancy than organic. It's a shame as the original exciting thing about Google was that the little guy got a chance to compete with the big guys on an equal footing.

He means they are buying the traffic back because they then have to pay you the advertiser a commission to send the traffic they had in the first place on to their advertiser via the ads on your MFA site.

Why wouldn't they just try to send them directly to the advertisers and not have to pay you "The middle man" a commission at all.

Makes sense to me.

No that's not the point snoopy was making, nor the point I was arguing.

Everybody agrees that it's in Google's best interest to send traffic to paid advertisers via Adwords. 100% profit, no middleman.

It's the organic traffic we are discussing. Snoopy was saying that sending traffic to MFA doesn't make sense from Google's POV. I'm saying that financially and short term it does.

 

[snoopy]

No that's not the point snoopy was making, nor the point I was arguing.

It is exactly the point I was making.

 

[DavidL]

David,

What is the point of trying to guess what google "short term point of view" could be when they are obviously trying to get these sites out of the index?

Short term, long term, who cares. What matters is how Google is treating these sites......google wants them out.

Oh dear....nobody (least of all me) suggested that Google didn't want them out. They want them out. Hence the algo change.. Clear?

You suggested that the reason was:

It is one big circle where Google foolishly buys back it own traffic..

I disagree and think the motivation is rather to improve quality of results and, as a distinct point, made the observation that sending organic traffic to MFA's actually is good for Google's bottom line (although not as good as sending direct to advertisers as per the point Chris & Johno made)

Anyway...

 

[snoopy]

Often I find Adwords ads tend to provide better relevancy than organic. It's a shame as the original exciting thing about Google was that the little guy got a chance to compete with the big guys on an equal footing.

I think little guys can compete with Adwords, it is about as open as advertising ever was, $10 minimum spend, $100 free credit and no monthly minimum. A smart operator can potentially get their cost of traffic well under what the larger less observant competition is paying.

The organic section has significant competition with time & money being spent to get ranked. I don't think it is any easier than adwords for small operators, it is just a different system.

The sites that definitely can't compete with adwords though is sites whose businesses models are weak or make no sense, that is really a flaw of the organic section that people have taken advantage of. ie I register blackshoes.com.au and write pages of content about "black shoes" and fill it with adsense ads, a site that like is unlikely to have any value to the world.

 

[Chris.C]

Yes I agree- that is what they would ideally want. But I think they hesitate at offering a completely 'paid' solution as there really could be a backlash.

If user experience isn't undermined the backlash will only be as big as every other time Google had slowly cannibalised the index with it's own subsidiaries or ads...

80% of people don't really care if they see ads in their SERPs, 50% of those don't even know their are ads already in their SERPs.

The 95% of the remaining 20% wouldn't care if the SERPs were all ads if the user experience is still good if AND they still can get access to organic results, ie by clicking on page 2.



The remaining 1% will scream outrage like Google has committed the most evil of crimes, but most of them will be us site owners who rely on SEO but now only feature on page 2.



...and so the screams of outrage will fall on deaf ears because the 99% don't care.

Often I find Adwords ads tend to provide better relevancy than organic. It's a shame as the original exciting thing about Google was that the little guy got a chance to compete with the big guys on an equal footing.

I don't think this affects the little guys ability to compete, it's affects the businesses that operate on the thinnest margins, ie AdWords for all intents and purposes is an auction system.

If you margin are thinner than the competition and you conversion rates suck, you ability to bid as high as the competition is reduced... and your days will be numbered.

It will vary for industry to industry but I imagine their will be industries were the bureaucracy kills margins and may actually be their undoing. In other industries where scale is king, this sort of development would just hasten the consolidation of the industry to the low cost providers.



And as always is the case in capitalism, in the long run the middle man always gets proverbialed.



Don't you love captialism...

You are preaching to the converted.

I know...

 

[Chris.C]

The sites that definitely can't compete with adwords though is sites whose businesses models are weak or make no sense, that is really a flaw of the organic section that people have taken advantage of. ie I register blackshoes.com.au and write pages of content about "black shoes" and fill it with adsense ads, a site that like is unlikely to have any value to the world.

I agree, MFA sites don't really add any value to the world, but then again neither does buying a domain name, parking it, and selling it to someone for more...

 

[DavidL]

I think little guys can compete with Adwords, it is about as open as advertising ever was, $10 minimum spend, $100 free credit and no monthly minimum. A smart operator can potentially get their cost of traffic well under what the larger less observant competition is paying.

The organic section has significant competition with time & money being spent to get ranked. I don't think it is any easier than adwords for small operators, it is just a different system.

I agree entirely - it's not easier than Adwords at all for small operators.

My comment was about the 'original' google - remember 10 years ago when Google made a big deal that a tiny home business could compete toe to toe with a bluechip for a target keyphrase. Really those days have gone haven't they?

If user experience isn't undermined the backlash will only be as big as every other time Google had slowly cannibalised the index with it's own subsidiaries or ads...

80% of people don't really care if they see ads in their SERPs, 50% of those don't even know their are ads already in their SERPs.

The 95% of the remaining 20% wouldn't care if the SERPs were all ads if the user experience is still good if AND they still can get access to organic results, ie by clicking on page 2.



The remaining 1% will scream outrage like Google has committed the most evil of crimes, but most of them will be us site owners who rely on SEO but now only feature on page 2.



...and so the screams of outrage will fall on deaf ears because the 99% don't care.

Sums it up...

 

[James]

Good post to show some SEO positive points

 

[snoopy]

I agree, MFA sites don't really add any value to the world, but then again neither does buying a domain name, parking it, and selling it to someone for more...

Lots of things don't add value, the problem arises when something doesn't add valued and someone else calls all the shots. The people with MFA sites have no control over that "business", none, and Google who does control their business wants them out.

Regarding parking though I'd say the value add is connecting a visitor with an advertiser. The alternative to a park page is a blank page or a for sale sign. If the MFA site wasn't around something else would rank in its place.

With buy and selling domains it doesn't really matter if there is no value add, its speculation, but the owner has full control of it, they can buy/sell without someone over their shoulder deciding their fate.

 

[snoopy]

My comment was about the 'original' google - remember 10 years ago when Google made a big deal that a tiny home business could compete toe to toe with a bluechip for a target keyphrase. Really those days have gone haven't they?

I don't think so, Is see the little guys competing all the time,

here is one I just tried,

"filing cabinets"

There is alot of ads, officeworks.com.au is no.2,

no.1 is MBA office furniture, I've never heard of them, but they are in the top spot,

Brothers, Justin and Tim Urwin, each have over 20 years experience in servicing Melbourne’s office furniture needs. Our knowledge and understanding of the industry and products has enabled MBA Office Furniture to provide effective personal service to meet all your business needs.

http://www.officefurnituredeals.com.au/buy-filing-cabinets/?gclid=CKOdg6Tx4bICFcchpQodAHMAyQ

So there is a multi billion? dollar company competing with a couple of guys running a business from a shop in Heidelberg. I haven't looked for someone operating out of their garage and I doubt anyone would advertise that fact however I think adwords is full of small businesses. You use adwords yourself don't you? I guess the is ultimate irony for someone trying to make an argument that small operators can't compete.

 

[Snooks]

Im a little guy running a dart shop, #1 for the term dart shop and top 3-5 for almost every other term i want. I even out rank the official Australian dart site on most terms.

But thats a small niche, realistically the chances of this happening in finance, real estate, any of the big money spinners is one in a million Ranking costs dollars