I’m reading a lot of gobbledygook about the latest update by Google Hummingbird.  Marketers are in an uproar, SEOs are screaming damage control and the sky is falling. Well as you know I like to get to the point so I will try make this as easy as possible. This is what I’m telling my clients:

In a nutshell the word on the street is Google Hummingbird is not tracking keyword data because of marketers who are abusing keywords to manipulate the search engines.

Oh really. The maker of the rules is suddenly crying foul.

On the face of it that sounds like a good thing because I have been complaining about this problem for years.  It’s too bad Google took all this time to finally face the obvious. Or has it?

How much of that is just smoke and mirrors remains to be seen as I’m hearing a lot of honest businesses have been hurt by Hummingbird. So there must be more to it than first meets the eye.

It has been my experience Google likes to play the high road and let on it’s algorithm is more objective and clever than it really is. Sneaking a peak at the plethora of plagiarizers that are still running rampant in my niche easily proves that point. So how much of this is just bluster only time will tell.

Google’s Matt Cutts has also admitted that he plays favourites and boosts the authority of those who he deems worthy. That sounds to me like an excuse to create an internet oligarchy more than anything else. (You can bet that his buddies who sing Google’s praises are on the booster list.)

So it stands to reason he can just as easily demote those who he doesn’t like. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

What Google says and what Google really does doesn’t always add up. Scary isn’t it.

Of course the reality is Hummingbird is the latest push by Google towards its grand social media plan (i.e. Google Plus). After all it’s not as if Google has suddenly figured out that marketers are gaming the SERPS.

How lame would that be. Or should I say hypocritical… ya know what I mean?

More than ever my words still ring loud and true. Like I have always been saying keywords should flow naturally within our blog posts for good organic search results. Use keywords in your titles and anchor text. But don’ t overdo it and use your common sense.  

Most importantly focus on writing quality, original content.

This isn’t rocket science. Write first for people, not bots.

P.s.: If you didn’t believe me before that SEO is a Dog Chasing its Tail, the time to start believing would be now.