The world should not be ruled by algorithms…and we need more than engineers to make the world safe for humans.

I’ve built probably 150 web sites in the 20 years since the web came into existence. Many of them no longer exist. Either it wasn’t their time, or I didn’t have enough of a mind for business to sort out great business models for them, or the idea for which I created them wasn’t strong enough to attract an audience. And, frankly…some of them were just junk, and I shut them down or otherwise disposed of them. Such is life, and I’m not bitter about any of that. No one DESERVES an audience for their idea…and even less so when there is nothing unique or valuable behind it. Lessons (mostly, at least) learned for me.

Google came into being a little over 10 years ago. They seemed to have built a better mousetrap, and most of my best web sites (especially those offering cool stuff for free) seemed to be treated favorably in their search results. For several years, in fact, I held the #1 position for keyword phrases like “kids music” and “free Christmas music”, because my sites were arguably the best resources available in those spaces. Thousands of people would visit many of my sites each day, I’d get emails thanking me for providing value, and I was pleased to invest my time sharing things that I cared about.

On top of that, in the summer of 2003, Google unveiled a program called AdSense to help webmasters monetize their quality web sites, freeing them up to stay focused on content instead of monetization. Advertisers seeking to spread the word about their products bought ads through Google…webmasters added a bit of Java code to their web sites, and relevant text ads were generated. When folks visited the web sites, they would occasionally click on an ad as an expression of their interest…sometimes resulting in a purchase, sometimes not…Google would make money, the webmasters would make money, and the advertisers would make money. Everybody was happy.

Then spammers entered the picture…hoping to game the system…both in terms of search engine results and in terms of Google’s ad program. They spotted weaknesses in both places and pumped them for every penny they could…and then profited by selling programs spreading the word about how to game the system. Google, of course, continually tried to shore up the system to fix these leaks…sometimes a bit harshly, but then usually moderating their moves as the overly-severe impact became clear. They wanted to protect the integrity of their search results, because that’s the only thing of real value they have to offer. Everything else depends on that.

The problem is this: Google doesn’t improve their process with human beings. They improve their process by tweaking an algorithm. A real human could have taken one look at a site like www.totlol.com and known that it was non-functional in 10 seconds…yet, it continued to show up on the front page of Google for many months after it was shut down. How many thousands of people wasted their time going there during those months? How many people gave up before finding a site worthier of their attention that was ranked lower in the results? But Google is a company run by…driven by engineers. They somehow believe they can (or should) do better by relying on algorithms.

So, several months back, they did a major tweak of their search engine ranking algorithm, called the Farmer update. Oddly (to my way of thinking), several of my sites tumbled from their previous rankings…some by 3 or 4 positions…others by 50 or 100 or completely out of the top 200 (though, truly…once you’re off the front page, it doesn’t really matter anymore anyway). Nothing had changed about the nature of my sites…but, interestingly, they were mostly replaced at the top by the sites of larger, monied interests.

And then Google dealt an even bigger blow. In their attempt to tweak their AdSense program (apparently to squeeze out more of the bloodsuckers in the system), they changed their algorithm there as well. Payouts to most webmasters seem to have taken a big hit in the process…and they still haven’t recovered. After 3-4 months of this, it seems clear that they never will.

As a result, I have lost a lot of money…but nothing changed with any of my sites. Did the competition get better? In some cases, probably. In other cases, if they did…it sure isn’t clear to me. But big behemoths are now being favored over little guys who were doing good things. Or at least, larger sites (likely an attempt to invalidate the hundreds of thousands of spammy little 5-page sites out there).

It would be one thing if you could call Google up and say, “Hey, can you explain to me how to get back in your good graces? Is there something about my site…the one you used to like and direct visitors to…that has somehow displeased the great Google Gods?” But, of course, you can’t. Because Google is about algorithms, not about people. There IS no one to call. And there is no transparency…because any time they even burp a bit of information, it’s pounced upon by system-gamers seeking enlightenment and used to artificially prop up rankings.

So what’s the bottom line here? I, a webmaster who built sites believing above all else in providing uniqueness and value for visitors to my web sites…am now stuck investing my time and energy in trying to get my sites better rankings and better monetization…while my web sites suffer with outdated content. In other words, I have been beaten back by the systems designed to disempower spammers, even though I hardly qualify as one myself.

In Google’s defense, I think they are trying to put more weight on social media, which is much harder to manipulate than their old system…because it generally (though not nearly always) tends to involve real people. But their refusal to have human beings vetting at least the search results for the first page or two of results for most keywords just mystifies me. As does their lack of transparency. Surely they could offer SOME explanation for why a site has dropped from #10 to #124?

So what is it: Am I just an embittered old guy who has been bypassed by the new conditions of business in 2011? Or is it the fault of those who steadfastly refuse to introduce another level of humanity to their business, and to face up to the human toll of hiding behind number-crunching?

It’s probably a little of both.

There are certainly realities here that must to be faced up to.

On my end, for sure. And I’m working my butt off to do my part.

But what about at your end, Google?

Those who have spoken up over the past…oh, however long it’s been…about the “dangers of do-follow” are focused on the evils of spam and the increased maintenance side of things. Yes, if you’re going to manually monitor and approve blog comments (as I still do), it adds a bit of time to your daily routine. But I think this perspective is missing the point. Blogs are about self-expression, yes…but they are also about community. For me, if you don’t want community on your blog…TURN OFF THE COMMENT FUNCTION and just use it as a newsletter.

But on the flip side, I appreciate it when folks come and actually contribute to my sites…and I certainly want to reward them for their contribution…which is why I use Do Follow, CommentLuv (which highlights their most recent blog post, if they link from a blog) and KeywordLuv (which allows them to identify themselves by name…always a good thing…as well as to preserve their anchor text in a very graceful way).

But that’s not what I’m writing about this time. I am a busy guy. I won’t go into all the reasons, but they involve family, friends, vocation and many other priorities. If I’m awake and not engaged in other entanglements, I’m working. Thus, it’s very difficult for me to carve out time to read and respond to the blogs of others. And yet, it’s something I really love to do. I enjoy the heck out of sharing my perspective, memories, personal experiences or knowledge of relevant resources (i.e., where possible, I like to help people!).

And, as a part of link building for my own web sites (made possible by the Do-Follow philosophy), I have committed to setting aside some time as the day winds down to visit some blogs and comment a bit. I am STRONGLY opposed to spam in all its forms…and that includes “Great post!” and other lame blog comments along those lines. If I don’t have something to say…something of value and something that is uniquely me…I won’t comment at all. I’m not there just to build my own business…which would require me to lower my standards. I’m there as “me” (why is why I don’t farm this task out to someone else!), contributing what I have to share. I’ve been doing this for a couple days now…and I’m really enjoying it. It’s pleasurable…and profitable, too! No, I’m not there to subscribe to their feed. I just want to leave a little piece of me for the benefit of the blog owner and other visitors.

What about you? Have you considered setting aside some time to contribute to some web sites, and benefit a bit yourself? If so, here’s are a couple nice resources for finding Do-Follow Blogs: Tricia’s Musings and Court’s D-List. Don’t worry about PageRank and all that. Every link counts for something. Instead, focus on contributing something worth everyone’s time. Bring some humanity back to the web…don’t let those Grinch-y Internet Marketing spammers win!

UPDATE: As a result of my frustration in looking for good do-follow blogs on which to comment (many of the lists out there are woefully out-of-date), I’ve started a new directory of do-follow blogs:

Rise Above Directory

Despite their slowness to adopt new technologies and business models in the internet age, I’ve still found myself mostly on the side of the record companies when it comes to the file-sharing debacle. The grounds for my position have been both legal and moral: Legally, the record companies own the rights to music that is created, produced and publicized as a result of their investment (no one forced artists to sign with record companies, and if you go that route, then they control your music for the most part)…and morally, because it’s wrong to steal. And file sharing is theft…no matter what fancy semantics or logic you attempt to employ to argue otherwise. And besides, I would argue: the record companies are getting better. Just look at iTunes, Amazon, Walmart…for 88 cents to $1.29, you can buy a decent copy of virtually any song…and that’s a lot better than the way things used to be.

Of course, the waters are always muddied somehow. Many songs are not available online yet (inexcusable) and many people still steal just because they can (inexcusable). But, though these problems are inexcusable…at least, there’s SOME kind of twisted logic involved. I can’t say the same for my most recent experience with a record company…a company apparently determined to cut off its own nose to spite its face.

I recently went to see the second Narnia movie, Price Caspian. I enjoyed it a great deal. In fact, it was better than I expected…far superior to the first one. And another nice surprise came at the end of the movie. A sweet little pop song performed by Regina Spektor, titled The Call. It’s fresh and sweet…a perfect ending to the movie, but also just a great little song all on its own. This is the kind of thing that I would want on my iPod to listen to again and again.

So, being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I went to iTunes to buy it…only to discover that the geniuses at Disney (a company for whom I lost my last shred of respect long ago) had done it again…they had made the album’s three “singles”…in other words, the only three cuts that weren’t typical soundtrack instrumental filler-music…available for purchase not as individual tracks, but only with the purchase of the entire album…for 10 bucks.

Now, I like the song. I’d gladly pay $1.50…even $1.99. But, there’s no way I’m shelling out 10 bucks for it. So, let me ask: Who’s the loser here? Well, certainly I am. And so is anyone else who wanted to buy this song…or the Switchfoot song (while I like them a lot as a band, this particular song didn’t catch my attention). But I still won’t go steal the song via Limewire (and yes, it’s on there), as a matter of principle. Nor will I bow to the record company’s unreasonable demands for those who want to buy the song (that’s a matter of principle, too). And I’m hardly alone…as of this writing, the soundtrack has 952 comments posted…and without reading more than the first few, I can predict that most of them are regarding this lame policy. That’s a LOT of lost sales.

But here’s what’s much, MUCH worse. Instead of making whatever portion of 99 cents or $1.29 a record company makes from an iTunes track download, they make ZERO on a no-sale…AND they go out of their way to show me that they don’t want my business (that my dollar is so worthless that they’d rather I keep it)…and that the smartest path to get what I want is to go steal it. In addition to creating ill will, they have also reinforced the very lifestyle from which the RIAA is spending tens of millions trying to steer people away.

This is inexusible, indefensible, manipulative greed. And it’s bad business. And despite the fact that record companies have rights…even the right to be stupid…and despite the fact that they’ve played a vital role for good in the music business over the last 50 years (and plenty of bad as well…you don’t have that kind of power without it leading to frequent abuse)…I’m slowly being dragged over to the side of the crowd that eagerly anticipates the death of all major labels within the next few years.

I’m not sure exactly what will replace the major labels. But it’s hard to believe that anyone can be much denser than the Disney company has been in this matter.

I guess I’m writing this point for one good reason: I just want to make sure it’s written down somewhere, so that I don’t have to keep repeating myself (because I will, and that gets old for me and for you). It’s easier to just refer folks to a single spot if they want to read more.

For me, this whole “make money online” thing is growing a bit old. I think that’s mostly due to the same reason that most music and TV bore me these days: People are so busy reinventing the wheel that we only rarely see anything new, much less anything new that’s worth seeing. I have a degree of respect for the scrappy, creative thinkers who not only think outside the lines, but invest the energy to study what they’re doing and pass along some of the results (i.e., Shoemoney and John Chow), but even moreso for those who seem to have made it their mission to instill some ethics and conscience in an industry that’s sorely lacking (i.e., Darren Rowse, Rand Fishkin, John Reese).

After all, the online money-making/marketing industry has been dominated for so long by the double-talking, JV-backscratching, let-me-score-quick-and-get-out-of-here types, that it reminds me of an illustration I once heard about the difference between a traveling evangelist and a pastor. The traveling evangelist was often a flashy dresser, but ALWAYS had the quick tongue, the drama and the promise of drastic life changes (“if you’d just give you heart to JEEE-sus!”…this was the church equivalent of the one-page sales letter). On the other hand, the pastor was the workaday guy. He needed to not only work unlimited hours, and try to keep his family together (lest it affect his credibility…and we ALL know how those preacher’s kids are!)… but he also was still around after the evangelist had moved on…he was the guy who had to clean up the mess.

I think it’s great that we have some good teachers as part of this industry as well. Guys like Ralph Wilson and Eric Giguere…who have taken the time to study what’s realistic and what’s not…and made it their mission to patiently lay out the facts, even in the face of outrageous new claims that come flowing out every week or two (cup of Rich Jerk, anyone?)

So I’d like to talk briefly about the ONLY reason that I see to build web sites. I have no great credentials on which to stand, and I’m often accused of overstating my point. So feel free to take what I say and glean whatever you can from it. I try to live by it myself…but not everyone is like me (thank God!).

I believe that the web has become a vast wasteland of crappy sites, with a few diamonds sticking out here and there. I’m always excited to see a great new online resource… whether they are blogs on how to live more efficiently or with more of a sense of a higher purpose…or some simple video instruction on how to get that stupid screen door unstuck once and for all…or some great new concept in social networking and content creation. I especially like it when these resources are free. More and more web developers are finding ways to monetize without the need for an admission fee. That’s excellent. But, great sites don’t just fall off trees. They need one factor behind them above all else: HEART

By “heart”, I mean a sense of passion. “There’s a legitimate need here. And I can offer something that’s not available elsewhere…or, if the idea exists, it’s not well-done, and I can clearly top it.” In other words, if you’re going to do it…you have a definite sense of how you can provide TRUE VALUE, and that it’s not already being done just as well elsewhere (UNIQUENESS).

What’s NOT involved in a site built from the heart? Hmmm…scraped content, a bunch of syndicated articles that already exist elsewhere, and a satchel full of your affiliate links…that’s what (sound familiar?). WHAT IN THE WORLD is someone thinking in building that kind of site? Clearly, they’re not thinking beyond the end of their nose. It’s all about “the score”, isn’t it? Take what you can grab, whether or not you did anything to earn it…and then move on. Sorry, but that just makes my skin crawl. There’s a great saying (although I have no clue where it originated): “Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you should do it.” Since when has that been a justification for anything anyway?

Why does Google have to crack down on MFA (Made for Adsense) sites? Because those who built them are displaying the ethics of email spammers. Email SHOULD HAVE BEEN one of the greatest opportunities ever to directly reach people. Almost completely free. Goes to them instead of making them remember and come find you. Instead, it’s costing U.S. corporations tens of BILLIONS of dollars just to filter it out (because NO ONE wants it), and it’s making all our online lives much harder. What makes you think that the same stuff won’t result from spamming the web with junk sites filled with crap content, spamming article directories with duplicate content, and…the latest approach…filling up blog comments with fine contributions like: “Great post!” and a link back to your site.

IS IT NOT POSSIBLE that we all consider the relevant issues and take a stand…taking the initiative to speak up and say “Not me…I won’t participate in that stuff!” I know there will always be Nigerian email scammers, teams of overseas fraudulent clickers, and yes…even those that promise that you, too, can make a million dollars online IF YOU JUST BUY THIS E-BOOK!

Stuff I do:

• I am trying to be consistent in asking myself: “Am I adding value and uniqueness?” before I move into any new venture
• I believe in linking to and supporting those whose work I admire
• I take time to share cool things with my friends
• I make time to comment on blogs who I feel are doing something unique enough to warrant my contribution

To me, THAT’s what this whole “web thing” should be about. Connectedness, encouragement, admonishment, support.

I hope you’ll tear yourself away from the gurus long enough to ask yourself how you would teach your children or grandchildren to behave in this regard. What are we teaching by example? What are we passing on to future generations? We can’t just preach it. We have to live it, too. And, in my opinion, the time for that is now.

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