In recent years, dissatisfaction with Google has grown among SEOs and website owners. With Google constantly changing its rules, life has become increasingly challenging for those relying on organic traffic. Some have even taken the radical step of banning Google from their websites. While I’m not ready to go that far, I believe we rely too heavily on Google for traffic. Here’s why Google isn’t winning hearts:

Constant Rule Changes

Many believe Google’s frequent algorithm updates make it difficult for businesses dependent on organic traffic. Google’s primary goal is to provide the most valuable search results, which means constantly testing and updating its algorithms. SEOMoz reports that Google makes between 500 and 600 algorithm changes annually.

Solution?

As we often say at SpiderSavvy, don’t put all your eggs in Google’s basket. You can do everything right, but you will still find that your site has vanished from Google’s search index. Ensure your online business has multiple streams of lead generation to avoid vulnerability to Google’s whims.

Increasing Difficulty of SEO

Achieving a top position on Google is increasingly time-consuming and complex. With Google making it harder to manipulate rankings, many website owners give up trying to compete with established sites. Matt Cutts famously stated that “SEO is hard” and will only get more challenging, raising the question of whether this is honesty or scare tactics.

Scare Tactics

Google is known for pushing website owners and SEOs towards ultra-white hat tactics. While great content and user experience are valuable, they don’t guarantee Google results. Focus on creating content for your audience, not just for search engines.

Decline of Organic Results

Google has gradually given less precedence to organic results, pushing them down in favor of PPC ads. Recently, Google reduced the first-page organic results from 10 to 7, further impacting organic visibility.

Adwords and Adsense Account Closures

Many website owners are frustrated with Google for closing their accounts without explaining that admin-serous web admins are losing significant earnings due to unexplained account closures. One notable case involved a webmaster winning a court case against Google after losing $721 in his Adsense account.

What Now?

While some anti-Google sentiments are circulating, I’m not an anti-Google enthusiast yet. However, basing much of your online marketing strategy on Google’s organic rankings is risky. A more diverse approach will yield long-term results without the fear of losing all your traffic overnight.

The anti-Google sentiment is strong, with some sites banning Google. Are you part of the anti-Google campaign, or do you think the uproar is exaggerated?