Since I have a long-standing interest in Internet marketing, I have learned to dance to Google’s tune. I view most of Google’s various recent search algorithm changes favorably, since they did appear to improve the quality of the search results. Like many others out there, I get peeved when I’m seriously searching for something and see that the entire first page of results is from low-quality sites that have learned to game the search-engine-optimization process. When the now-notorious ‘Panda’ came out, I noticed that things got substantially better from my point of view as a searcher, even though some of my own sites suffered a bit (but are recovering). Most of the folks who cried “Foul!” richly deserved what Panda did to them.
But lately, there has been a disturbing new trend. More and more searches, especially for keyword phrases that have been in the news recently, put so many paid ads and Google-affiliated sites into the search results that you have to scroll down to find what you are actually looking for in the ‘organic’ results. The #1 organic site for many keywords is now “below the fold.” I’m not the only one who has noticed this.
I’ve also become a bit perturbed at Google for other reasons. The company is run by a bunch of decidedly anti-gun bigots, and “do no evil” appears to mean “unless we think we can get away with it.” I’ve used Gmail for years, but I’ve started to reduce my dependence on it as much as possible, mainly using it to consolidate, spam-filter, and store email from my more than a dozen accounts. I have started to use Thunderbird to archive my email locally so that I won’t lose years of correspondence if and when Google decides it doesn’t like me.
One of the catalysts that changed my perception of Google was that they made a number of changes to Gmail and GReader, most of which I really don’t care for. I used the ‘old’ UI for as long as I could before they forced the new one on me. The latest round of changes to Gmail seemed to me gratuitous at best, and the integration with G+ and other Google properties hints of a future where Google owns and runs absolutely everything — and sites that Google doesn’t like will simply disappear. That just might include anybody supporting the 2nd Amendment.
When Bing first came out, I pretty much dismissed it as an attempt by the “Evil Empire” (Microsoft) to do a Google imitation, and didn’t really check it out all that closely. But in response to a suggestion by another blogger who was complaining about the apparent ethical lapses of Google in promoting their own sites over ‘organic’ search, I took a fresh look at Bing.
Bing has changed, and and gotten much better — or at least that is how it seems to me. Maybe it’s only because the “Folgerization” (*) of Google has finally lowered the quality of their search to the point that lots of folks are starting to notice. Bing is now very much like Google used to be, except maybe their main search page is a little more interesting. The organic search results are, well, more organic, and not overwhelmed with ads for “Evil Empire” sites. At least, not yet. Much as I like to hate Microsoft, I think they have bested Google here, and I will be exploring the possibility of shifting more of my usage to Bing, HotMail, and LiveID.
I wonder if “Bing it” will ever replace “Google it” in the techie vernacular. Or better yet, maybe “google” will become a generic term like “kleenex,” “escalator,” or “xerox.”
I think that unless Google reverses its current course, they may find themselves wondering why they are playing catch-up with Bing fairly soon. Even if they do wake up and smell the coffee in time to avoid that fate, Bing will still have done us all the tremendous favor of subjecting Google to some meaningful competition. I just hope that if Bing does become the dominant search engine, that they don’t go the same route as Google has.
I will just do my best not to become completely dependent on any one virtual monopoly.
Update: Turns out that it’s possible to revert to the “old look” in Gmail, at least for now. It’s just a lot harder to find than the nag button for switching to the “new look.”
(*) Folgerization: A term I heard a local barista use to describe the process by which quality of a product is gradually reduced in small increments with the hope that nobody notices.
