4 ms·

The article reads like it was written several years ago, despite the "October 14th 2019" date. It turns out it previously had a "Apr 24, 2017" date: https://we

by jefftk 7y ago

The article reads like it was written several years ago, despite the "October 14th 2019" date. It turns out it previously had a "Apr 24, 2017" date: https://web.archive.org/web/20190418231249/https://medium.com/forwardtick/how-google-collapsed-b6ffa82198ee https://web.archive.org/web/20190418231249/https://medium.co... (Disclosure: I work for Google, speaking only for myself)

davedx 7y ago
Ugh, blog spam. I've flagged it for that, deceptive.
- jefftk 7y ago
  I don't think it's blogspam: both posts have the same author
mherdeg 7y ago
Ha ha, is the author saying "preferentially ranking search results higher if they appear to have a recent date stamp" is how search engine businesses will collapse? That seems awfully circumlocutious. It's interesting how the narrative has shifted from "SEO will kill knowledge" to "filter bubbles spread by hostile governments will kill knowledge" to something a little post-capitalist here like... "advertising will kill knowledge"?
ddevault 7y ago
It seems to have been updated, it has explicit references to events in 2019.
- jefftk 7y ago
  You're right, it's from a mix of time periods. What stuck out to me and got me looking for timing information, though, was that it doesn't feel well integrated. There are ways to update old articles so that they are fully current, but this one is mostly taking an old article and adding more examples without thinking about how this affects the overall argument.
johnnycab 7y ago
It is probably related to the 'Freshness' algorithm in order to increase link juice, as Google has an inherent bias towards fresher content. Excerpt from the linked article: In these two case studies, all that was changed was the time stamp on the blog post. In both studies, the sample posts received a more than 50% growth in traffic in the weeks following the update. https://robpowellbizblog.com/google-freshness-algorithm/ https://robpowellbizblog.com/google-freshness-algorithm/
- basch 7y ago
  I much dislike not being able to turn freshness off. Things I used to be able to search for get buried under recent nonsense. Google has lost its way organizing the words information. Constantly having to set date filters still doesnt do the same as "return the best results regardless of age."

by jefftk 7y ago

davedx 7y ago

Ugh, blog spam. I've flagged it for that, deceptive.

jefftk 7y ago
I don't think it's blogspam: both posts have the same author

mherdeg 7y ago

Ha ha, is the author saying "preferentially ranking search results higher if they appear to have a recent date stamp" is how search engine businesses will collapse? That seems awfully circumlocutious. It's interesting how the narrative has shifted from "SEO will kill knowledge" to "filter bubbles spread by hostile governments will kill knowledge" to something a little post-capitalist here like... "advertising will kill knowledge"?

ddevault 7y ago

It seems to have been updated, it has explicit references to events in 2019.

jefftk 7y ago
You're right, it's from a mix of time periods. What stuck out to me and got me looking for timing information, though, was that it doesn't feel well integrated. There are ways to update old articles so that they are fully current, but this one is mostly taking an old article and adding more examples without thinking about how this affects the overall argument.

johnnycab 7y ago

It is probably related to the 'Freshness' algorithm in order to increase link juice, as Google has an inherent bias towards fresher content. Excerpt from the linked article: In these two case studies, all that was changed was the time stamp on the blog post. In both studies, the sample posts received a more than 50% growth in traffic in the weeks following the update. https://robpowellbizblog.com/google-freshness-algorithm/ https://robpowellbizblog.com/google-freshness-algorithm/

basch 7y ago
I much dislike not being able to turn freshness off. Things I used to be able to search for get buried under recent nonsense. Google has lost its way organizing the words information. Constantly having to set date filters still doesnt do the same as "return the best results regardless of age."