| -- End Ad Box ---> | | | | is just coming out on DVD and the "fresh crawl" daily |
| 1. Introduction - about Google | | | | process visits your site and makes note of it. |
| Unless you are a web surfer in the true meaning of | | | | Because of its relevance in time (overly simplified: |
| the concept, if you are reading this, I am almost | | | | sort results by pagerank and date), your page climbs |
| certain that you know Google. Or, you think you | | | | to the top of the SERPs for a few days. Eventually, |
| know Google. You are probably aware that Google is | | | | though, the story falls off your homepage and is |
| a "search engine", that almost 80% of the internet | | | | replaced by another story about another movie |
| searches in the world are done through Google. If | | | | which is soon gobbled by Google's robot. Meanwhile, |
| you are a metro- or uber-geek, you probably know | | | | the long-standing sites regarding that particular movie |
| that the term "to google" became part of the English | | | | regain their dominant positions in the SERPs. This is |
| language, as in "she googled her high school | | | | Everflux in full action. |
| boyfriends". And if you are really, really on top of | | | | As I am writing this article, there are reports of a |
| things all trivia and have Wikipedia as your browser's | | | | potentially calmer Everflux coming to a browser near |
| home page, you might even know that the name | | | | you. Google has very recently performed an update |
| "Google" is a play on the word "Googol", which was | | | | to their software, dubbed "Jagger". It appears that |
| coined by Milton Sirotta, nine-year-old nephew of U.S. | | | | "Jagger" affected Everflux, but things started to slow |
| mathematician Edward Kasner in 1938, to refer to | | | | down. It has been reported that the most interesting |
| the number represented by 1 followed by one | | | | effect of "Jagger" on rankings has been diminishing |
| hundred zeros. But here's one piece of geek trivia | | | | the effect of reciprocal linking as a measure of |
| that you might not know: The "Google" spelling is also | | | | popularity. It looks like "Jagger" has negated the hard |
| used in "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by | | | | work of thousands of website owners. The result is |
| Douglas Adams, in which one of Deep Thought's | | | | expensive linking campaigns that lead to high rankings |
| designers asks, "And are you not," said Fook, leaning | | | | and high revenues have plummeted. On the other |
| anxiously forward, "a greater analyst than the | | | | hand, article submission seems to have come through |
| Googleplex Star Thinker in the Seventh Galaxy of | | | | the "Jagger" update apparently safe and sound. I |
| Light and Ingenuity which can calculate the trajectory | | | | believe this is happening because Google has put |
| of every single dust particle throughout a five-week | | | | more emphasis on one way links. |
| Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard?" | | | | The moral of the "Jagger" update story? Make sure |
| 2. Everflux - what is that? | | | | that you do not follow the fads and the top new |
| Some obscure "Glossary of SEO terms" (SEO = | | | | found ranking factors of the search engine algorithm. |
| Search Engine Optimization) defines the Everflux as | | | | If you have all your eggs in one basket, I promise |
| "An anomaly by which pages can quickly appear and | | | | you, Google is sure to trip you up eventually. So, |
| then disappear in Google page rankings. Usually occurs | | | | diversify your ranking efforts and generally, try to |
| to newly added webpages." | | | | follow the very basic rules that webmasters have |
| Basically, Everflux refers to the constant change in | | | | been hearing since the beginning of the web: design |
| Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), while | | | | your website for users, not for Google and not for |
| Google constantly scours the web looking for | | | | robots. Make sure every page has a unique title (you |
| minty fresh content, changing their index | | | | know, the tag), don't put a google of keywords in |
| accordingly. | | | | the title, just one or a few that reflect the content |
| In plain English, occasionally, ranks go up or down | | | | of that page. Make sure every page has different |
| randomly, link popularity is completely lost, pages that | | | | content and different title. Most of us, myself |
| have been indexed for years just vanish and are | | | | included, get lazy or just copy and paste pages and |
| nowhere to be found in Google and other similar | | | | forget to change the title - Google's software sees |
| Outer Limits phenomena. Most people whose income | | | | all that and does not forgive. Make use of the |
| depends proportionally on their potential customers' | | | | old-fashioned tag, that is the "Header" tag. Google |
| ability to find them via a Google search, may think | | | | considers it to be polite to have paragraph headings. |
| their business is destroyed, they are ruined, and I can | | | | Don't use images for titles, or anything text. Google |
| clearly see why. | | | | does not care about your images and does not |
| According to forums at Webmasterworld, the first | | | | consider a page full of images to be useful - they put |
| sightings of the phenomenon took place in July 2002. | | | | a lot of emphasis on good old text. Use the |
| Later that year, the following speculation on Everflux | | | | description tag (read about Meta Tags if you don't |
| emerged: "Lastly, they could be working on the | | | | know what I'm talking about) and the keyword tags. |
| index, rolling indexes back, switching parts of the | | | | Do not keyword-spam, do not use gateways, do not |
| index, backing up parts of the index, rewriting some | | | | hide text (you know, white text on white |
| offending part of the index, deleting parts of an | | | | background). Basically, play nice, a-la late 90s pure |
| index - or a multitude of other actions or problems | | | | HTML websites. If all this is too complex, hire a SEO |
| that only Google could know about." | | | | consultant at the very least. An analogy is the stock |
| Legend has it that there is one ex-Google employee | | | | market. If you know what you're doing, you know |
| who goes by the name of Googleguy, who posts in | | | | what you're doing - basically, you follow the rules and |
| related forums. He offered this explanation: "As we | | | | play nice. If you don't know what you're doing, yes |
| do a full crawl of the web, we find most of the sites | | | | you can dabble, but most people have an adviser to |
| from our fresh crawl and put them in our regular | | | | avoid the ups and downs of the market shift. In the |
| index. My advice on our fresh crawl is to view it as a | | | | Google world, we call this shift Everflux. |
| nice "bonus" on top of Google's deep index. Users | | | | 3. Conclusion - don't be scared of the big bad |
| can always search our full index, but sometimes we | | | | Everflux |
| can serve up even fresher pages as an extra nicety." | | | | Even if you don't own and/or design and/or run your |
| Google introduced a "fresh crawl" process to make | | | | own website, it's interesting to see how all the |
| their results as relevant and as fresh as possible. It | | | | information collected by humanity over centuries is |
| runs each day. The purpose of the daily fresh crawl | | | | put into place inside a so called index of indexes. It is |
| is to update Web pages in the index that change | | | | interesting to see how the exponential increase in |
| regularly. This allows Google to provide results that | | | | information that has to be indexed presents real |
| are up-to-date with current events. | | | | challenges to a process that started as a mere |
| Google also does one major update per month, which | | | | science experiment and evolved into a cultural |
| generally begins anywhere from around the 19th or | | | | phenomenon. It is also interesting to see how the |
| 20th of the month to approximately the 28th of the | | | | people at the steering wheel deal with such |
| month. The update process continues for several | | | | challenges and the creative solutions they come up |
| days, with search results appearing to fluctuate as | | | | with in order to tame the information overload |
| the update continues. Once the update has been | | | | monster that can literally eat it all, if unleashed. |
| completed, the new data migrates to Google's | | | | Now if you do own, operate, design websites and if |
| partner sites. The main reason for the fluctuation is | | | | your paying bills on time process depends on the |
| that Google employs several sites that have to be | | | | above mentioned process, it can be really frightening, |
| synchronized (in popular terms). While this process | | | | as incertitude is the main enemy of happiness as we |
| takes place, search results might seem to jump and | | | | know it. The advice we get from the most famous |
| information might seem to disappear and re-appear. | | | | gurus (found in forums postings, of course) |
| It is similar in concept with the idea of DNS | | | | unanimously suggests the following: "don't go hacking |
| propagation. | | | | your pages to bits on account of Google's Everflux." |
| The regular monthly crawl takes place at different | | | | In other words, it's not something to freak out |
| times for different web sites. The results of this | | | | about, but it's still something a well rounded |
| crawl are generally reflected at the time of the | | | | webmaster should understand. As always, I believe |
| following update. | | | | that while you might not be able to control a |
| For a number of months, beginning early Summer | | | | process, your happiness will benefit dramatically from |
| 2002, spidering of sites and changes have been | | | | just the mere idea of understanding that process. If |
| observed to be going on all month, in between the | | | | you can't beat it, join it - in other words, learn how |
| regular monthly updates. This has come to be known | | | | to understand it and live with it. |
| as Everflux, and represents Google's continuing desire | | | | 4. Conclusion - about Google |
| and efforts to keep their search relevant, of high | | | | Someone should really write a book entitled The |
| quality, and "minty fresh." | | | | Hitchhiker's Guide to Googling and start it with an |
| Everflux is another evolutionary step in the process | | | | excerpt from Google's own "Information for |
| of offering the most recent and relevant snapshot of | | | | Webmasters" resource: |
| the web to the public. Google is adding to their value | | | | [...] "Don't Panic." Just do the normal things you should |
| as a search tool by giving their index some of the | | | | do: |
| same qualities as what is being indexed. That is, the | | | | 1. Create a great site. |
| more fluid and adaptable an index of the web is, the | | | | 2. Submit your site to google on our "add url" form. |
| more accurately it will be able to reflect the fluid and | | | | 3. Get a link from the Open Directory Project or |
| adaptable nature of the web. | | | | other directories (Yahoo, etc.). |
| These of you who analyze web logs probably notice | | | | 4. Don't panic if your site takes a little while to show |
| that traffic surges for certain search terms on certain | | | | up in google. Be patient, and start to look around the |
| days. For example, say you create a page on the | | | | web--there's lots of great advice about improving |
| web (or as the younger generation refers to it these | | | | your site for users and search engines. |
| days - you make a blog entry) about a movie which | | | | |