Comments on: Sidewiki: The Great Wall of Google

By: Ryan Healy

Ryan Healy — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:19:32 +0000

Seriously. I think it was reading Sylvie's updates to her original post that I found most shocking of all. Then again, judging by what Google permits on Blogspot blogs, I guess I can't be that surprised…

Ryan

By: Shel Horowitz

Shel Horowitz — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:09:05 +0000

I've had more than a few appalled words to say about Sidewiki since Michel and Sylvie alerted me to the problem. For a company that pledges to “do no eveil…”

By: Ryan Healy

Ryan Healy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:19:32 +0000

Ryan

By: Shel Horowitz

Shel Horowitz — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:09:05 +0000

I've had more than a few appalled words to say about Sidewiki since Michel and Sylvie alerted me to the problem. For a company that pledges to “do no eveil…”

By: johnfurst

johnfurst — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:27:58 +0000

Maybe a glitch?

I get your site as #1 for ryan healy and #6 for business growth.
(At least on Google.com calling from Spain)

Yours
John

By: Ryan Healy

Ryan Healy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:10:27 +0000

Interesting, John! Thanks for checking.

I've been checking almost daily on my end for the last two or three weeks and the search results are very different. I wonder if Google knows what sites I own? Or perhaps they customize search results for different parts of the world?

Ryan

By: Ryan Healy

Ryan Healy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:11:16 +0000

Thank you, Jodejong. At this point, I think the "risk" has already turned into reality. About 2 weeks ago, Google clobbered me. I no longer rank in the top 10 results for "Ryan Healy" -- and I used to be #1. Very suspicious since I own the domain RyanHealy.com.

Also, I used to rank #8 for "business growth" in Google and had been there for a while. Now my site cannot be found.

There are only two changes -- new inputs -- that could have caused this to happen. Either it was because I tested Adsense on this site again (Adsense usually negatively affects ranking... I've already removed Adsense to see what happens); or it was because I spoke negatively of Sidewiki.

Ryan

By: Ryan Healy

Ryan Healy — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:07:59 +0000

John – I could definitely see a class-action lawsuit in the future if Sidewiki damages a reputable business. Will be interesting to see what happens.

By: jodejong

jodejong — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:04:48 +0000

Lots of Brownie points to you, Ryan, for stepping up to the plate on this. Too few people are willing to risk potential wrath from Google by speaking out against this indescribably horrible intrusion that Sidewiki certainly is.

By: Jim Rodante

Jim Rodante — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:39:22 +0000

Nice summary Ryan, and comments by Sylvie on Sidewiki. Seems to me that Google has always grounded itself in authentic, relevant, seamless content. In other words, they specifically made it their flagship trait to NOT become the National Enquirer of search.

Sidewiki seems to have completely disregarded that foundation.

And yes, it will be interesting to see if it "takes" or gets eliminated.

Thanks Ryan for your always meaningful nuggets of marketing info.

Best,

Jim Rodante
@referral_pro