Yeah...pining for the days of banner ads, IE6, Flash and dog-slow JavaScript seems like a very publisher-centric worldview. If Google feels like an oppressive m

Yeah...pining for the days of banner ads, IE6, Flash and dog-slow JavaScript seems like a very publisher-centric worldview. If Google feels like an oppressive monopoly, it would be from the publisher side of the equation. I can definitely see how it feels like Google gives publishers the privilege of displaying Google ads rather than treating them as an appreciated part of the business. I remember when Google was becoming mainstream and having friends with websites ask me how they could show up higher in Google rankings. It was usually included with an endorsement of how much they valued the search results as a user. My response was usually to demonstrate a search for their business by name and show them that their site was the first result. This was predictably followed by the protestation, "yes, but I'm talking about keyword?" Even now, there's an inability for people to see how Google values the different participants in its ecosystem. They're an advertising network that sells its users to advertisers. And it sells its publishers' content to acquire users. Publishers have always been the lowest rung of the ladder. The disconnect usually comes from the fact that most publishers also use Google as users and want the same satisfaction from the publisher experience that they get from the user experience.