And hopefully (for the optimizer's financial well being, if nothing else)
they know that Google uses page ranking as ONE of the many pieces in their
ranking algorithm. And that other engines use other methods (meaning if you
are optimizing for Google, you may not be optimizing for vivisimo, etc). And
that the algorithm changes periodically (actually ongoing changes and
experiments, then announcements, then looking at reactions).
Actually, a bit of reading about optimizing brings up many references that
proper metatagging, keywords, and body content are at least as important as
page rank, even in Google. Not to mention that certain kinds of linking is
looked at as the equivalent of spamming.
Then need to realize that certain segments of the public use other engines.
So an optimizer optimizing only for Google may not be serving their client's
best interests. Then ask the optimizer about Goggle's changes in reference
to Florida or the 'Google Dance'. (leading causes of the 'I found this page
before, now I can't' syndrome')
When I go through the hierarchy of searching with my MS kids, we talk about
how SE works and what purpose they define as their goal. That brings us to
how that effects their search results. Then we discuss the importance of
having some solid background information from reliable resources in hand in
order to make sense of what the search engine tosses back.
And then hope, at least for the 8 yr old's sake, that the teacher really
didn't send the kids home to 'go search internet for information about MLK'.
Robert Eiffert, Librarian
Pacific Middle School
Evergreen SD 114 Vancouver WA
beiffert@egreen.wednet.edu
pac.egreen.wednet.edu/library
robert@crypticmachinery.net
-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Valenza Joyce
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 7:11 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Something new: Search engine optimizer's request
Hi All,
I got this in my mailbox this morning and don't know quite what to think. I
regularly use "less than perfect sites" as tools for instruction relating to
evaluation. I have a page set up clearly for that purpose. A search engine
optimizer wrote to request I remove a link because with Google's link
relevancy rankings, the more links a site has, the higher it appears as a
result. It seems to me that's a teachable moment as well, though I know
that not all Google users have had librarians and teachers to guide them in
their choices. What do you think?
**************************
Here's the letter:
I am a Search Engine Optimizer, which means specialize in making sure that
sites rank highly for certain keywords.
Recently I was researching a project with my 8-year-old son when I came
across the site www.martinlutherking.org. This site is a racist site, which
you know because you are using it a class about misinformation on the web.
What you may not know is that by linking to this site, you are helping this
site to rank higher on Google. Google judges sites on how many people link
to a particular site. The more people that link, the higher the site will
come up on Google's results.
Your site currently links to [ http://www.martinlutherking.org
]www.martinlutherking.org. I would like to ask you to deactivate that link.
While I admire the fact that you are teaching people to recognize sites
with bad information, you are also helping this site to spread its
disinformation to thousand of other people. Please deactivate the link with
either a space in the URL or some other method so that this site will fall
to the wayside.
<html><DIV>Joyce Kasman Valenza, Librarian
Springfield Township High School
techlife@school Philadelphia Inquirer
Phone: (215) 233-6030 ext: 2502
Fax: (215) 836-5237
Virtual Library: http://mciu.org/~spjvweb http://joycevalenza.com</html>
_________________________________________________________________
Working moms: Find helpful tips here on managing kids, home, work - and
yourself. http://special.msn.com/msnbc/workingmom.armx
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