Helmut Melzer
Anyone looking for information on the Internet asks the search engines Google & Co. Which pages are displayed there are decided by their secret algorithm - and especially money.
Anyone who enters the term “sustainability” on Google (and other search engines) in Austria will be amazed at critical examination. Because apart from thematically questionable advertising and not a single eco-NGO on the first pages of the (individual) search results, two ministries criticized for a lack of eco-commitment and particularly numerous companies with a moderate ecological reputation can be found. Also present: OMV, Henkel, the Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Austrian Newspapers and the retail giant Rewe.
The criticism of Google & Co is justified and shocking at the same time: the Internet has long since not been objective and only those who take money into their hands get a place among the relevant top places in the search results. So it's no wonder that in view of the capitalization of the Internet, even the non-profit organization WWF has to run Google advertising.
The magic word SEO (Search Engine Optimization) explains why this is so. A billion-dollar industry has long since emerged from the targeted manipulation of search results, which not only helps web shops to be successful, but also helps to influence opinions on a large scale. Probably not always for the better. One thing is certain: only those who are shown far ahead on Google will be perceived accordingly.
Competition promotes advertising business
Google - currently in third place of the most valuable brands with a current turnover of 323,6 billion dollars - cannot easily pull itself out of the affair, because the search engine company itself requires most of the SEO measures for a good ranking. And thus presumably quite consciously promotes the competition for the coveted page 1 places: The more people participate in the competition, the more difficult it is to get a good place. The result: In order to be successful, all that remains is paid Google advertising, the main business of the search engine giant.
Almost censorship
From a civil society point of view, the development is extremely worrying and is almost heading in the direction of censorship: Only those who have enough money in hand for SEO can spread their opinion or ideology. All others are also indexed, but due to a poor ranking they reach significantly fewer people. Conclusion: Capitalism has long since reached the Internet. Money dominates opinion on the Internet.
Google's lack of understanding
“The hypothesis that Google could try to manipulate results is completely unfounded. Regardless of the topic, Google has never rearranged search results to influence user attitudes. From the beginning, providing the most relevant answers and results to our users has been the cornerstone of Google search. It would undermine people's trust in our results and in our company as a whole if we were to change this course, "said Google when we asked. Google apparently did not understand the problem or does not want to. Because the criticism is not direct manipulation, but the preference for websites that have been optimized through high investments and the firing of SEO dynamics.
However, Google indirectly confirms the accusation in its statement: “Algorithms analyze hundreds of different factors in order to find the best information on the web - from the topicality of the content to the frequency of the search term on the page to the user-friendliness of the respective website. […] If other well-known websites link to a page on this topic, that is a good sign that the information fits well there. […] To help website owners, we have provided detailed guides and tools, such as PageSpeed Insights and Webpagetest.org, so they can see what they might need to adjust to make their websites mobile. "
In other words: Only those who continuously optimize their website have a chance of a good ranking with Google & Co. And: It is particularly important to meet the criteria imposed by Google.
Alternatives not much better
Anyone who thinks that it is better with other search engines is wrong. Apart from the extreme market share of Google in the world market (70,43 percent on the desktop, 93,27 percent mobile, August 2020), all other search engines also use corresponding algorithms. And even the supposedly “good” search engine Ecosia is no exception. Both Ecosia's search results and search ads are served by Bing (Microsoft).
Risk of disinformation
Even if Google's approach legitimately pursues its own entrepreneurial interests, the result is problematic, similar to the development of social networks: In particular, it opens the door to misleading opinion-forming and disinformation. If you want to spread your opinion, you can do it better than ever today with the necessary capital. And this can change prevailing opinions for the benefit of profiteers. Political regulation is overdue.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is achieved through targeted repetition of search terms in a text and other “tricks”. In order to be really successful, expensive know-how of specialized companies has to be accessed. The quickest possible display of the content is also crucial for the success of a website with search engines. A fast server, an optimized network connection and so-called cache tools are particularly necessary for this. The realistic annual costs for this: several thousand euros.
Another possibility for manipulation is the so-called link building. For this purpose, SEO texts are placed on external websites for a fee, which refer to your own website via a link. In this way, the search engines are led to believe that it is of particular relevance, which enables a better ranking to be achieved.
Photo / Video: Shutterstock.
Disagree completely. SEO offers especially the "small" with relatively relatively little effort (compared to large, for whom it is much more expensive) the opportunity to rank next to the "large" in certain terms in the first places. With a good strategy and content know-how, a lot can be achieved in the long term. You should keep your hands off link building (bought links) and other short-term tricks or "too much of a good thing" or black sheep. Because that can backfire if a company is penalized by Google and completely falls out of the search results. Prominent examples like BMW are well documented. Then it gets really expensive - not only through the loss of income from disappearing from the search results, but also through a lot of money to repair the SEO penalty. There are big guys who still struggle with it even after years.
You can achieve a lot with SEO. However: if you can't do it yourself, you have to take money into your own hands. As a result, there is a financial hurdle in the way of online success.