Search Engine Optimization

Aaron Wall of SEObook.com spotted a major update rolled out by Google. In a nutshell Big G awarded fortune level companies with core listings.

• 4 airlines recently began ranking for “airline tickets”
• At least 90% of the first page of search results for auto insurance is owned by large national brands.
• 3 boot brands / manufacturers rose from nowhere to ranking at the top of the search results.
• 3 of the most well recognized diet programs began ranking for diets.
• 4 multi-billion dollar health insurance providers just began ranking, with Aetna bouncing between positions #1 and 2.
• 3 of the largest online education providers began ranking for online degree.
• 5 watch brands jumped onto the first page of search results for watches. To be honest I have never heard of Nixon Now.

The article is a must read if you’re in business of search engine optimization, since the rules of the game are changing yet again. Aaron also put a lot of emphasis on Eric Schmidt’s quotes from 2008:

The internet is fast becoming a “cesspool” where false information thrives, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said yesterday. Speaking with an audience of magazine executives visiting the Google campus here as part of their annual industry conference, he said their brands were increasingly important signals that content can be trusted.

“Brands are the solution, not the problem,” Mr. Schmidt said. “Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.”

“Brand affinity is clearly hard wired,” he said. “It is so fundamental to human existence that it’s not going away. It must have a genetic component.”

Less than 6 months and we see this philosophy in action. The big question is, what does Google consider a brand worthy of boosting up in search results? What is their criteria? It is easy to identify Fortune 5000, or even Fortune 100,000 and give them a boost in search results, but what about smaller guys?

I have a feeling Google is digging through all major corporations, their customer focus, etc and giving them good rankings based on offline data alone, as it can afford research of this magnitude now. The update is likely to move into the next stage assoon as Google measures results from rankings boosts it gave away.

http://www.seobook.com/google-branding