DO WHAT I TELL YOU OR YOU WEB SITE WILL NEVER BE FOUND!
By: Rich Brunelle

Over the past year I have often joked that Search Engines dictating how web sites are
built. And, now I look at it with less and less humor. Doesn't anyone else have concerns
about this? Web Site Owners are paying Webmasters a small fortune in pursuit of high
Search Engine Rankings. Search Engines have a penalization process for web sites not in
compliance with their dictates. And, with the exception of the benefit of keeping a lot of
people employed I see less and less of the Search Engine dictates as fair and reasonable.

Countries world wide fought against the Microsoft monopoly. Citizens in this country do
not often tolerate anyone controlling their conduct in any way. But, world wide it seems
as though everyone is jumping to follow Search Engine Dictatorships. And do so without
concern for the fact that these dictatorships may be responsible for negative impact upon
income and/or business success.

Have we become such sheep that we allow ourselves to be herded by corporations that
dictate how we must conduct ourselves to make them money? Even web sites that are
non-comformative to government are comformative to Search Engines dictates. I mean,
isn't it ridiculous to allow a Search Engine to have so much control?

Compare a Search Engine to the Telephone Book. The Phone Company lists everyone
business that wants to be listed in their Yellow Pages. And if you have the cash, you can
get an enhanced listing. It's pretty standard. Everybody gets at least the basic listing,
alphabetically. Nobody is denied a listing because of association, non-conformity, or
product line. But do you realize that you can be penalized and even blocked from holding
a listing by a Search Engine? Do you realize that the Search Engines dictate how many
links, what the content is supposed to be, and how many times you can say certain
words? Search Engines regulate how soon your site will be listed, the quanity and quality
of your linkage, and who can even link to your site. Even more disturbing than all of the
preceeding is the way that Search Engines determine the relivance of a web site and rank
you web site listing by their criteria.

Face it, we the Internet public are not only lazy, but we aren't too bright either. If we
weren't a little on the dim side and so lazy, would we really confine our use of the
searches to the first three pages of results? If we are the intelligent and value concious
people we claim to be, wouldn't we select from the results by looking at a few of the top,
then a few in the middle, followed by a few at the end? Are we so stupid that we cannot
see that we are missing out on real opportunities and great deals by not looking over a
broader selection of the search result? Do you really think a company's product or
customer service quality has any relation to its Google page Rank?

If you plan to rank high with Search Engines, you have to follow their dictate on what
code (programming language) is used for your site. This is because, high ranking requires
Search Engine friendly code. Thus, all the cool scripts, animations, and newest
technology are a no-no because the Search Engines aren't trying to keep up with
technology to be able to read the code and index it's message.

Are you aware that unless you place a robot.txt file in the root of your web site advising
the Search Engines where they can index, that they have their robots invade every nook
and cranny of your web site collecting information? Did anyone ask you for your consent
prior to their invading your data? Nobody asked me.

Now I know it may seem as though I'm anti-Search Engine, but I'm not. On the contrary,
I recognize the need for some sort of protection from Search Engine spamming by over-
zealous persons trying to be number one on the list. However, I think the Search Engines
are going about it wrong. And, I believe the Search Engines should be regulated.

And, then I would make it a point to educate the masses. . .

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