In retrospect, I should have said something. My own initial aversion to the 2000 bloggers incipient fiasco was purely personal, the Inner-Introvert whose skin crawls at the thought of too much social contact.
I was also operating from a rule of thumb I think of as Dustin’s Law: “If it sounds too much like high school, don’t do it.” I derived this by reading comments from Dustin Luther at Rain City Guide.
So why didn’t I say anything?
I didn’t want to rain on other webloggers’ parades. I didn’t actually realize that this game was wrecking Technorati’s utility until Thursday of last week, and, even then, I didn’t anticipate consequence at Google. I’m not aware of any of the usual SEO mavens sounding alarms, either.
But I did know from the very start that the 2000 bloggers project was trading in unearned links, morally suspect even if — at the time — seemingly inconsequential.
And by now we know that the game was not without consequences. On and off all day I’ve read people trying to excuse and rationalize what may turn out to be a huge disaster. Inasmuch as many, many RE.net webloggers were involved in this — bloggers who have great commercial hopes for their organic findability — this is not “only blogging.” It really does not matter what you are I or anyone thinks about this mess. What matters is what Google does about it.
Here’s my takeaway: If I have something to say, I’m going to say it. I don’t care if people call me a stick in the mud or whatever. This smelled wrong to me from the very beginning, and if I had said so at the time, a whole lot of people I like and respect might be sleeping better tonight. “Deliver us from evil,” is in some other guy’s job description, but I think you should be able to count on me to say so when I think something stinks, no matter whose toes I might be stepping on.
The truth is, I thought I was being nice, a good sport. But I’ve never been anybody’s “nice guy”, and I’ve never cared about other people’s opinions. I was wrong to keep silent about this. I won’t make that mistake again…
Technorati Tags: blogging, real estate, real estate marketing
Joel Burslem says:
I’m with you Greg. I took a look at the 2K bloggers project when it first launched and quickly decided it wasn’t for me.
Don’t get me wrong I’m not against self-promotion, far from it. It’s part and parcel of what blogging’s all about. But I do believe firmly that links should be earned, either by reputation or content.
February 6, 2007 — 5:22 pm
Doug Quance says:
I guess I’m glad I didn’t bite on that one. 😆
February 6, 2007 — 5:37 pm
REBlogGirl says:
Looks like the whole thing ruffled some people’s tail feathers. I personally like the whole “high school” analogy. However, the sad fact is, the social web is mostly about people reliving their high-school experience. But if you can apply 10% of what you learned in Sociology 101, you’ll come out a winner in this game.
February 6, 2007 — 5:57 pm
Jay Thompson says:
I bit. Was I trying to artificially inflate my link count? Absolutely not. I did it because I thought it was fun, and silly. Bloggers do silly things all the time… 100 blog posts in a day, 438 blog comments in 24 hours, the list goes on and on.
Techorati has been a pain in my butt since day one. I never could get them to recognize my original URL. Emails to “tech support” were apparently ignored. I don’t do anything to intentionally “game” Technorati. That seems pointless, and I have far better things to do with my time. My blog readership is miniscule compared to many, and the 4 or 5 visits I get from Technorati searches a week doesn’t impact that either way.
Is Techorati or Google going punish me for joining in a silly stunt? I suppose that remains to be seen. I’ve probably got too much faith in the Google gods, but the fact is, I didn’t ask to be included in the 2000 bloggers page. I just was. But even if I had specifically requested inclusion, is it right for Google to throw down (or throw up) all over my meager little blog?
They can exclude all this, if they so desire. In 180 days, it should all roll off Technorati anyway, assuming Technorati doesn’t break. Again.
G and T can penalize all the participants too if they wish. Nothing I can do to stop them. But again that faith in G’s all knowing and all powerfulness makes me think they won’t *penalize* participants. Ignore them maybe, but not penalize. The simple fact that many didn’t ask to be included should, SHOULD, mean something. I can’t control who links to any of my sites. G seems to understand that, and to be honest, I don’t really care what T thinks.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t get 2000 Technorati links out of this. I got 113. Now given that my “real” link count at the time was roughly 110, that is indeed a significant shift. Those 113 links didn’t come from Tino’s page, they came from all the bozos that linked to all the other photos (something I never did). So basically I got 113 links that I didn’t ask for, and yes, that I didn’t “earn”.
And Technorati says they’ve taken those links away. Well, in typical Technorati fashion, they are still there. Will I weep when/if they do go away? Nope. WILL they go away? Who knows.
Most importantly — you didn’t fail us Greg. Nor did any participant fail themselves. It remains to be seen if Google and Technorati fails us. And in my opinion, if they penalize the 2000 blogger participants, they will have failed us.
Some said the 9/11 “2,996 project” — where 2,996 bloggers each wrote a tribute to a 9/11 victim was another “game for linkage”. I participated in 2,996. Not for the links, but to pay tribute to an American hero. No penalty resulted that I can detect. And should G or T penalize for participating in that, well, they can kiss my ass.
February 6, 2007 — 6:15 pm
jf.sellsius says:
Sure sounds like high school, with Google & Technorati as Prom King & Queen, booting Tino and the misfits from their lunch table.
Neither Google nor Technorati are guardians of the social good or masters of the web to be appeased. I happily dance with Tino and the 2000.
Hallelujah Jay. I’ll meet you at the Ministry of Silly Walks.
February 6, 2007 — 9:48 pm
jf.sellsius says:
Second attempt to post this comment in response to Jay and REBlogGirl. (good thing I save all my comments on CoComment)
Sure sounds like high school, with Google & Technorati as Prom King & Queen, booting Tino and the misfits from their lunch table.
Neither Google nor Technorati are guardians of the social good or masters of the web to be appeased. I happily dance with Tino and the 2000.
Hallelujah Jay. I’ll meet you at the Ministry of Silly Walks.
February 6, 2007 — 10:54 pm
ipanema says:
Isn’t it funny how linking and ranks rule bloggers? Am not the least worried what Google and Technorati are going to do [they dont even look at content, it’s all LINKS]. They base their ranking on links. Now someone played their game, is it a crime? They’re going to penalise those 2000 bloggers for linking? And who says there are rules in linking?
…” a failure of leadership.”
February 7, 2007 — 9:33 am
ipanema says:
** continuation of previous post.
..”a failure of leadership” –whose leadership is that?
Besides, it’s fun to discover other blogs. Cheers!
February 7, 2007 — 9:36 am
mistergin says:
Google has recently changed the way their ranking works, which is pushing many folks in and out of the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). I’m also curious how this will further affect those ‘artificial’ organic rankings.
February 7, 2007 — 2:17 pm