Has Google Violated Our Trust?

Trust is invaluable. Has Google squandered it?

Trust

A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

Recently, an anonymous source shared thousands of leaked Google Search API documents with Rand Fishkin, CEO of Sparktoro and former CEO and co-founder of Moz. Fishkin is an industry icon and a well-respected expert on all things search. In an email, the anonymous leaker claimed that the leaked documents were confirmed as authentic by ex-Google employees and that those ex-employees and others had shared additional private information about Google’s search operations.

It is important to note that many of their claims directly contradict public statements made by Googlers over the years. (“Googlers” is the fondly-given name to long-term Google employees, a name they may keep even after leaving the company.) In particular, the company has repeatedly denied that click-centric user signals are employed, denied that subdomains are considered separately in rankings, denied the existence of a sandbox for newer websites, and denied that a domain’s age is collected or considered, and more. Much more.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. And while some of these overlap with information revealed during the Google/DOJ case, many are novel and suggest insider knowledge. SEO experts have combed through the details, and I am here to tell you, these leaks look authentic.

You’ve heard the term “they speak with a forked tongue.” This certainly applies to what the Googlers have been doing.

Jumping back to the Google/DOJ case, one of the revelations revealed during testimony was that Google is using its monopoly status to increase prices and profits to benefit itself while leaving advertisers in the dark to try and figure out why returns on advertising were falling. I guess when you operate a ‘walled garden’—the industry term for an advertising platform where you are 100% reliant on the platform to provide accurate information—the advertiser needs to trust the platform and believe the information is accurate.

That word ‘trust’—one of the most important words in life, not just in business. I will leave it up to you to make your own conclusions about whether Google is trustworthy.

Below is testimony by Dr. Adam Juda, a VP from Google, explaining that higher prices are better and fairer—the prices they increased without telling us.

“Google tried to come up with better prices or more fair prices, where those new prices are higher than the previous ones.” – Dr. Adam Juda, VP of Product Management at Google.

No wonder we’ve been seeing a decrease in return on ad spend (ROAS) in Google Search—they’ve been gouging us, simply because they can. That’s why we’re increasingly moving campaigns beyond Google’s walled garden to the ‘Open Internet’ and embracing more omnichannel strategies. This includes programmatic display, rich media units, streaming TV (CTV), social platforms, multichannel retargeting, audio, content, and leveraging retail networks such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kroger, Home Depot, Lowes, and many others. There are numerous alternative methods and channels available to effectively reach your target audience.

Is it time for you to consider alternatives beyond Google Search? If so, feel free to give us a call.