How to change your Google Rankings the easy way

Last week Google launched their SearchWiki technology, which allows its users to edit their personal search listings as well as add comments that other users can see. But how useful is this technology really and will it change the way people use search engines?

Personal Listings

Excellent I can now go to Google and make myself rank number one for all my favourite keywords. And what a warm fuzzy feeling that would give me, except it’s a lie as no one else will see the same listings I do. But my fantastic comment about my website will be available for all to see.

So what if I went further than just adding a nice comment about my own website, what if I added something to the sites around me?

Will this affect my listings?

On the face of it you would think not, but what if enough people were to see the comments I made and start visiting my site over those around me, the increased clicks could surely have an effect. So if this is possible what stops a company employing a group of people to add false comments on competitor listings? It may not affect the listings but it could influence the decisions of a user.

The Process

Let’s go back to basics for a moment and assume the system is game proof and adds real value to its audience at what point does someone start amending their search listings?

Although not a typical Internet user I would imagine most, like myself, would come to a search engine because they cannot locate the information they want anywhere else. When arriving at Google they would enter a query and click on the first listing available, usually with very little thought. At this point they either find the information or return to the listings to repeat the process with another result.

So what happens when they have located what they wanted? Do they leave? Or do they return to the listings to start moving things around? There are some users that will do this, but most won’t. Not because their unmotivated but because they never expect to perform the same search again, and even if they did would they really remember the exact query they used?

This is where I make an assumption. You are editing a listing based on a specific query, if that query was to change even slightly you would receive a different set of results, making your amended listings irrelevant. Therefore to see those listings again you must use the exact query you used when making the changes.

So what’s it all about?

Google says the technology is revolutionary in the world of search. Google’s dominance ensures anything they do has wide reaching consequences. But the idea of tailored search results is nothing new. So has Google implemented the technology in order to capture some of the social search market or is it the first step to something more worrying; a fully social powered Google.

Above are my opinions of the new technology so if you agree or disagree leave a comment below.