google as predator: the evolution of search by david sewell - brightonseo 2014
DESCRIPTION
In his talk for BrightonSEO April 2014, Fresh Egg's SEO consultant David Sewell likens Google - and the evolution of search in general - to the evolution of the relationship between predators and prey in the animal kingdom. Briefly, his talk covers: • What search looked like when the internet began • How Google changed the search landscape and continues to evolve • How to spot a predator in the context of search • How Google’s predatory behaviour impacts businesses and the business environment • Seven strategies for survivalTRANSCRIPT
Google as predator.The evolution of search.
BrightonSEO
Dr David SewellSEO consultant, Fresh Egg
In the beginning…
A collage of the wildlife found in one cubic foot on the reef near Moorea, French Polynesia © David Liittschwager/National Geographic.
Yellow Pages
SEO… Submitting sites to search engines.
1998
2000
1994
Lycos and WebCrawler first to trawl the ocean of websites
Yahoo! only returned results from its directory, so browsing directories was often more efficient than searching by keywords to find all appropriate sites
Google sold search terms for GoTo.com
2004 21st Feb 1998Pay-for-placementBill Gross said:
“This is an opening shot of changing the search engines from a white pages to a yellow pages”
Algorithmic
SEO... Manipulating web connections
1998
2000
1994Google used PageRank, and people preferred the minimal interface and results
2004
Yahoo! had bought: Inktomi, AllTheWeb, Overture, AltaVista launched engine replacing Google’s search engine underneath
Microsoft began showing results from its own crawler MSNBot
• You no longer needed to submit your site• The clutter of a web portal was gone• Google made it possible for sites to be found on the net without
buying keywords• The results were varied and good• SEO became a booming business…
Google solved a problem.
• SEO businesses filled the net with spam • It was too easy to ‘game’ the PageRank algorithm…
But Google also created a problem.
• Keyword stuffing• Linkfarms • Webrings • Reciprocal links• Anchor text• EMDs• …
• An increased ability to understand queries and the web • Human evaluators and Google spam teams working together• Scoring unique, fresh and relevant content• Machine learning• Classification
To identify spam, Google evolved.
Rosey-lipped batfish
Stargazer fish
Characteristics of a predator.Superior capabilities.
• Sharp senses • to find their prey: echolocation, vision, audition, magnetism, olfactory
sense
• Extra abilities• to capture prey - teeth, claws, venom
• Agility and Speed
Characteristics of a predator.
• Sharp senses• Caffeine, Percolator, Chrome, android, Google Glass, spam detection (Panda,
Penguin, Hummingbird… Authorship ?)
• Extra abilities • Dremel, Pregel, Streetview & navigation, images, videos, speech recognition,
knowledge, machine reasoning, lots of data, ngrams…
• Agility and Speed • Google fibre, 100ms load time, VP9 video format
Characteristics of a predator.
Signs of predatory behaviour.A changing environment.
How to tell there is a predator about…
• Antagonistic reactions - one side benefits • A losing side is evidence there is a predator
• Interactions - force a dynamic ecosystem • Migrations, prey develop symbiotic relationships
• Predator Impact – noticeable change in population• Decline, or get fitter to survive, changing size or shape
Impact of predators.
The search environment is changing…
• Recipe search – 24 February 2011• Image sorting – 5 September2011• Flight search – 13 September 2011• Personal search – 1 October 2012• Knowledge graph – 16 May 2012• Knowledge graph carousel – 8 August 2012
Signs of a predator.
• Extinctions e.g. blog networks
• Prey is increasingly easily consumed (Twitter bootstrap, SEO friendly frameworks, SEO plugins)
Google: Eat you, sir?Site Owner: Yes. Eat me.Google: Yuk! With a gammy leg?Site Owner: You needn't eat the leg, Google. There's still
plenty of good meat. Look at that arm…
• Technical SEO - SCHEMA.org
• Optimising for Google (instead of optimising for visitors)
Impact of predators.
Signs of a predator.• Compare functionality
• Flight arrivals box
Signs of a predator.
Matt Cutts – Older sites won’t always keep their rankingshttp://
searchengineland.com/googles-matt-cutts-explains-older-sites-wont-always-keep-current-rankings-182743
Cutts advises taking a ‘fresh look’ and constant tweaking
Google is ingesting everything…Google wants everything you can give…
Google may drive your site to extinction next…
Signs of a predator.
Predator prey relationships.Impact on prey.
Age of Fishes - Extinction over millions of years
Predator prey relationships - Lotka-Volterra cycles
Time
Popu
latio
n
• Where are we in this cycle?
Predator prey relationships.
Time
Popu
latio
n
Somewhere here
• What has Google realised about the environment?
Predator prey relationships.
The need to diversify after eating all the data
Popu
latio
n
Time
Recall the beginning…
A collage of the wildlife found in one cubic foot on the reef near Moorea, French Polynesia © David Liittschwager/National Geographic.
Predator changing diet and environment.
Rare pink handfish – Tasmania. Photograph courtesy of Karen Gowlett-Holmes.
Predator changing diet and environment.
Rare pink handfish – Tasmania. Photograph courtesy of Karen Gowlett-Holmes.
• Robotics – 8 companies bought • Boston Dynamics, Bot&Dolly (robot arms), Holomni (legs), Meka
robotics (environments), Redwood robotics (telepresence), Industrial perception (warehouses), Shaft Inc (bipedal robots)
• Google Glass – what are you looking at ?• Driverless Cars – where are you going ?• SlickLogin – sound based data security (Israeli defence)• Nest – are you at home ?• Google Lens – your physiological state ?• Google Fibre – let Google connect you• Green Throttle – entertainment systems• DeepMind – machine learning• Titan Aerospace – solar powered drones
Stop being prey: protection from Google.Strategies for survival.
Stop being prey.
Run from the predator…
Walrus and the Carpenter – Alice in Wonderland – The Walt Disney Company.
Wile Coyote and Road Runner – Looney Tunes – Warner Bros.
Is running our only option ?
How can we survive in this environment ?
What can we learn from nature ?
Strategies for survival.
Become a predator – play the same game
1: Think like a predator
Dionaea muscipula, fastest plant closing in 100ms, by Kaim-Martin Knaak
1: Think like a predator
• Re-imagine something, do it better.
• Make acquisitions in related or ancillary businesses to improve product offering
• Make acquisitions in new markets to increase market share
Ask: “What would Google do next in my particular sector?”
1: Think like a predator
Partnerships – work together to beat the predator
2: Symbiotic Partnerships
Clownfish and anemone – Samuel Chow.
2: Symbiotic Partnerships
Tips to help identify partners:
• Look at your business upstream and downstream
• Find partners with deep knowledge of your sector
• Look at customer segments and associated brand preferences
2: Symbiotic Partnerships
Starve the predator – change the environment
3: Change the environment
Spodoptera exigua feeding on Nicotiana attenuata, Wiki: PLoS Biol 2/8/2004: e250
Change the environment:
3: Change the environment
Xbox – TVSmartGlass
Apps
Real WorldInteractions
Sound
Data Layer
Go boldly into :
• Alternatives delivery: Sound, SMS, NFC tags, iBeacon
• Real world interactions: AR and CAVEs, bump contact
• APIs – share your data behind the scenes
• Be device ready – from 4k screens to pebble watches, in car systems to entertainment consoles and games
• tCommerce – advertise in sync with TV programmes
3: Change the environment
Buy some extra time by distracting the predator
4: Distraction
Octopus vulgaris squirts ink – by Theasereje. Common Seastar – Asterius rubens by Herbythyme.
Secret Project ‘purple’
4: Distraction
NFC vs iBeacons
Creative Legal challenges (anti-trust cases)
Tips:
• Be sneaky - add secret features
• Distract Google with the ‘standard’ web content
• Offer a rich, personal experience by context or behaviour e.g. visit frequency, location, device, weather, local events
Build customer loyalty AND stop Google replicating your site
4: Distraction
Evolve faster than the predator
5: Stay ahead
Scalar patterning of a butterfly’s wing – scales detach easily to escape spiders’ webs by Janice Carr .
5: Stay ahead
Tips:
• Stay ahead of Google – e.g. property search
• Offer services related to customer need – what they want, in a form they can use, wherever they are
• Learn from community advocates and use this additional knowledge to inform business developments
• Store information from your sector for future use
5: Stay ahead
Carry a payload – use the predator to your advantage
6: Carry a payload
Xylocopa violacea vibrating wings at flower causing harmonic resonance of anthers, by Thorsten Wagner
Use Google to your advantage:
6: Carry a payload
Use Google to your advantage:
• Photospherehttps://developers.google.com/photo-sphere/
• PhototourBuilt using Panoramio or Picasa
• Earth Tours• Floorplanshttps://maps.google.com/floorplans
• See Insidehttp://www.google.com/maps/about/partners/businessview/
• Trekker
6: Carry a payload
Ideas for selective information dispersal:
• Look at ways information is displayed by GoogleMake data available to Google in an appropriate format - Hack the Knowledge Graph to define entity relationshipsUse: tables, books, scholarly articles, videos, music, images, PDFs
Don’t give Google your knowledge…give it what you want it to display for you…
• Use digital curation to your advantage – modify visitor behaviour, send to other marketplaces where your brand is better exposed.
6: Carry a payload
Stay hidden – make the predator look elsewhere
7: Hide
Anthocyanins camouflage the plant, keeping insects away by Ivona Sandru
7: Hide
Force Google to look elsewhere:
• Keep best content from Google behind a login or pay wall
• Obfuscate internal links using javascript
• Make more services available to those logged in
• Use other channels hide the ‘crown jewels’ from Google.
7: Hide
P… Become a predator
R… Form symbiotic relationships
E… Change the environment - starve the predator
D… Buy some time by distracting the predator
A… Stay ahead of the predator
T… Trick Google into carrying a parasitic payload - make the predator an unwitting part of your business lifecycle
O… Obfuscate, stay hidden
R… Run….
Seven strategies for survival.