5 ms·

Not only is this bad for RapGenius, it's bad for Google, and most importantly bad for Google's users. Yes, RapGenius screwed up, and they've paid the price. But

Not only is this bad for RapGenius, it's bad for Google, and most importantly bad for Google's users. Yes, RapGenius screwed up, and they've paid the price. But they've publicly recognized what they did and apologized. Google really should reinstate their ranking, because people searching for lyrics right now are being given the huge disservice of using the ultra-spammy lyrics sites from days of yore.

JohnTHaller 13y ago
They haven't paid the price yet. RapGenius knowingly engaged in blackhat SEO and broke the public rules. The punishment is several months in SERP Siberia. RapGenius hasn't paid that yet, but they will.
ceejayoz 13y ago
> Google really should reinstate their ranking, because people searching for lyrics right now are being given the huge disservice of using the ultra-spammy lyrics sites from days of yore. A short penalty of a few days or weeks isn't much of a deterrent. It may suck for people searching lyrics now, but making the page rank penalty effectively toothless would suck for everyone.
bonemachine 13y ago
The hell-banning will probably only be temporary (30 to 60 days). And RG didn't just "screw up" by trying to game the system; they were blatantly cocky about it, so that's probably why Google felt they needed to step in and teach them a thing or two. Let's hope the lesson sticks, at least.
owenmarshall 13y ago
>it's bad for Google, and most importantly bad for Google's users BS. What's good for Google is showing people that if you engage in bad practices your shit will get nuked from orbit, even if your site is better than the competitors. You'd better believe that companies are going to avoid blackhat SEO in the future after this, and that's absolutely in Google's interests.
- hobs 13y ago
  Yeah, it would only be actually "bad" for google if people were switching search engines en masse because they couldn't find the lyrics they wanted. I think that anyone who characterizes google as needing one site over needing people to not blackhat will find that google really doesn't need said site. (Maybe Wikipedia is an exception to this rule?)
- zorpner 13y ago
  More specifically, companies are going to avoid entering markets (e.g. online lyrics databases) where Google has demonstrated an unwillingness to appropriately punish established players who use the same black hat practices, since it's impossible to compete in the organic rankings against them.
  - owenmarshall 13y ago
    >an unwillingness to appropriately punish established players Can you find another example of the other lyrics sites pushing a quid pro quo scheme on Twitter? The other lyrics sites might be scummy and Google doesn't care -- or they might just cover their tracks enough to avoid giving Google enough proof to hang them.
  - cycrutchfield 13y ago
    "it's impossible to compete in the organic rankings against them." Isn't that precisely what rapgenius had done (affiliate linkscam notwithstanding)? They were already the top result for many lyrics queries, they just got greedy
- Harj 13y ago
  What's good for Google is doing what made them successful, providing the best search results. We now know one type of search they're no longer doing that for.
codygman 13y ago
They aren't above any other good site "just trying to get traffic" and not be "trampled by blackhat seos" and should face the same penalty. I applaud Google for this, and that's the first time I've applauded Google in a while!
rok3 13y ago
Google should wait for RapGenius to a) clean up their backlink profile b) Submit a request for review just like everyone else. I work at an online marketing firm and I've seen dozens of companies come to us for help with the process. RapGenius shouldn't get preferential treatment.
jonknee 13y ago
> people searching for lyrics right now are being given the huge disservice of using the ultra-spammy lyrics sites from days of yore AZLyrics is a lot more appealing to me. Much lighter weight.

JohnTHaller 13y ago

They haven't paid the price yet. RapGenius knowingly engaged in blackhat SEO and broke the public rules. The punishment is several months in SERP Siberia. RapGenius hasn't paid that yet, but they will.

ceejayoz 13y ago

> Google really should reinstate their ranking, because people searching for lyrics right now are being given the huge disservice of using the ultra-spammy lyrics sites from days of yore. A short penalty of a few days or weeks isn't much of a deterrent. It may suck for people searching lyrics now, but making the page rank penalty effectively toothless would suck for everyone.

bonemachine 13y ago

The hell-banning will probably only be temporary (30 to 60 days). And RG didn't just "screw up" by trying to game the system; they were blatantly cocky about it, so that's probably why Google felt they needed to step in and teach them a thing or two. Let's hope the lesson sticks, at least.

owenmarshall 13y ago

>it's bad for Google, and most importantly bad for Google's users BS. What's good for Google is showing people that if you engage in bad practices your shit will get nuked from orbit, even if your site is better than the competitors. You'd better believe that companies are going to avoid blackhat SEO in the future after this, and that's absolutely in Google's interests.

hobs 13y ago
Yeah, it would only be actually "bad" for google if people were switching search engines en masse because they couldn't find the lyrics they wanted. I think that anyone who characterizes google as needing one site over needing people to not blackhat will find that google really doesn't need said site. (Maybe Wikipedia is an exception to this rule?)
zorpner 13y ago
More specifically, companies are going to avoid entering markets (e.g. online lyrics databases) where Google has demonstrated an unwillingness to appropriately punish established players who use the same black hat practices, since it's impossible to compete in the organic rankings against them.
- owenmarshall 13y ago
  >an unwillingness to appropriately punish established players Can you find another example of the other lyrics sites pushing a quid pro quo scheme on Twitter? The other lyrics sites might be scummy and Google doesn't care -- or they might just cover their tracks enough to avoid giving Google enough proof to hang them.
- cycrutchfield 13y ago
  "it's impossible to compete in the organic rankings against them." Isn't that precisely what rapgenius had done (affiliate linkscam notwithstanding)? They were already the top result for many lyrics queries, they just got greedy
Harj 13y ago
What's good for Google is doing what made them successful, providing the best search results. We now know one type of search they're no longer doing that for.

codygman 13y ago

They aren't above any other good site "just trying to get traffic" and not be "trampled by blackhat seos" and should face the same penalty. I applaud Google for this, and that's the first time I've applauded Google in a while!

rok3 13y ago

Google should wait for RapGenius to a) clean up their backlink profile b) Submit a request for review just like everyone else. I work at an online marketing firm and I've seen dozens of companies come to us for help with the process. RapGenius shouldn't get preferential treatment.

jonknee 13y ago

> people searching for lyrics right now are being given the huge disservice of using the ultra-spammy lyrics sites from days of yore AZLyrics is a lot more appealing to me. Much lighter weight.