Tech Mentat

Is Google, in its attempt to purify web SERP and project its idea of quality, killing small business owners? I know the question isn’t a new one but it’s been on my mind for the past few weeks as I have heard more and more accounts of small business owners “packing it in.” Then last I read business weeks story about “The Small Fry Sour[ing] on Search Ads.” While the story contains no hard figures (data that would suggest we are in some sort of advertising dust bowl) and is barely a persuasive article, it does contain a question; unfortunately the question only pertains to paid advertising and not organic search marketing. It unfortunate because without any numbers to move on we are just playing a guessing game as to the effect that changes in the paid market place are having on small business owners.

For my quick take on it (and I do think it’s a much longer discussion) I think that Google’s insistence to place the burden of cleaning up the SERP on the advertiser has soured the marketplace for small business owners. Rather, the market has soured for businesses that cannot afford to have a specialist in-house (or even on contract). While I believe in the idea of optimizing your site/ads (glad the idea exist b/c I wouldn’t have a job) it may be a cheap way of solving a larger algorithmic problem. It could be argued that because Google (and others) have not figured out how to weed out spam and are forcing website owners to consistently optimize, that they are killing the small business.

That’s my late-night $0.02, I would love to hear what you have to say about this…

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