Back in January 2023, an anti-trust case was brought against Google, using a series of internal emails as evidence, exposing their manipulation of pay-per-click, contrary to how customers expected the platform to work. The manipulation was to increase their turnover, whilst penalising other users. The same documentation went on to say their intention was to captivate very young users to become dependent on Google and as they got older would not go elsewhere.
On May 5th, 2024, a 2,500-page document with over 14,000 lines of code was ‘accidently’ uploaded to GitHub - owned by Microsoft - Google's competitor i.e., Bing! The content was scraped and immediately uploaded to other servers around the world at which point it was ‘pounced on’ by SEO experts. Within hours, Google deleted it. Initially Google denied its veracity to The Verge and a day or so later confirmed its authenticity.
Google SEO Adjustment Summary
In summary and how business should act in response, (citing Rand Fishkin and his article: An Anonymous Source Shared Thousands of Leaked Google Search API Documents with Me; Everyone in SEO Should See Them):
- Identify, contract or employ one experienced and published author
- Drive traffic from emails to blogs as Chrome ‘browser’ collects click-stream data
- PageRank is based upon domain authority AND clicks! Even from PPC
- Digital PR is not worthwhile from small sites
- Outbound links are a waste of time as they’re only linked to spam scoring
- Page title to match article title – it matters
- Subdomains are taken into account
- ‘Humans’ used for whitelisting political content, medical sites etc. It’s all weighted
- Google appears to operate more like a social media platform
- Short content is not required to elevate ranking
- Efficient and logical navigation is a positive ranking factor
- Long-form structured evergreen pages are desirable (do your own marketing)
- EEAT 80% propaganda vs 20% substance (do your own marketing)
- SEO is really for established big brands 1998-2018 (do your own marketing)
- Create demand for video and images (do your own marketing)
- Build brand outside Google search (do your own marketing)
The two main exposure elements B2Bs have relied upon for the past twenty years, Seo and pay-per-click, has been exposed. No self-respecting marketer can uphold their position of maintaining a strategy that relies upon Google exposure.
Point One:
Your success in the search engine results page (SERPs) is not based upon the merit of your content
Point Two:
Your bidding position for pay-per-click can be skewed to benefit Google, not your adverts!
Don’t be Evil
Google’s mantras ‘Don’t Be Evil’ seems to be a false flag! In fact I believe they removed it from one of their European offices, yet it is still all over Google in the images! However, let’s not forget, Google is not a social service. They are a money-making commercial entity with unparalleled reach across the world.
If you have poor results, they are borne out of a misleading reliance on something that was ‘marketed’ to you, that you believed was transparent and beneficial to your business or those you have invested in.
Certain elements of this may have seemed to have been misleading, but by whom? Did your company act on Google’s instruction, training or documentation or were you advised by an SEO ‘guru’?
Google are not about to release their most closely guarded secret, i.e., their definitive algorithm and whilst access to Google is mostly free, the content you create makes you the product, in the same way with Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter.
This is not even a case of caveat emptor – buyer beware. You didn’t pay for Google; therefore they can do anything they please – within reason and dependent on the DOJ etc.
Do Your Own Marketing
For the past five years salesXchange has researched, tested and created an entire B2B marketing strategy that does not rely on any organic exposure. As a B2B you must be in control of what your plan is. You cannot be reliant on another entity you cannot control.
As a B2B, here are some reasons to consider why you might want to urgently pivot:
- The anti-trust case currently with the Department of Justice in the USA
- The error-leaked 2,500 pages and 14,000 lines of Google API code which contradicts many comments made by Googlers in the past.
- The shock this has had on the SEO community and their collective responses centring around don’t rely on Google and ‘do your own marketing’.
- The performance, ROI and profitability of every marketing strategy and cost against all sales for every or any month you choose to select.
- The fact most B2Bs and SaaS vendors are only achieving £100k ARR-FTE or less.
- Past experience attempting to get pages discovered, crawled, indexed and ranked.
- Every CMO is abundantly aware of the financial performance of the business, yet despite poor figures they failed to pivot at the end of any quarter or end of year.
It is likely most marketers will try and keep these facts as quiet as possible as it exposes them for not doing their jobs and researching better ways of increasing exposure, engagement and building a platform upon which to make consistent sales.
The Google revelations contradict and or question the advice and strategies from every marketing employee or so-called SEO guru for the past ten years, at least. This documentation clearly illustrates it’s all guesswork, and even when Google does announce something, it’s not always true. It is a staggering business model.
Conclusion
Trust what you can control.
Since 2019 at salesXchange we recognised the consistent failures within traditional B2B sales and marketing that stopped them from acquiring consistent new business.
We have created a comprehensive strategy and multiple tactics to achieve what every B2B is looking for: low cost, low effort high visibility exposure and engagement with your total addressable market.
Our website is testimony to how we think and believe businesses should exist online, promoting and enabling businesses to self-serve, self-educate and establish ROI before speaking with us.
If you feel it is time to consider a change, start by reading The Alternative to SEO and Cold Calling or take a look at our website or simply call us for a chat on 0800 970 9751.
The author and founder of salesXchange, Nigel Maine is a B2B marketing and sales expert with a proven track record in scaling up growth for Technology, SaaS, and Professional Services organisations. With 30 years hands-on experience and unique approach, Nigel has developed an effective strategy that dramatically increases exposure and profitability for B2B organizations.
