Yesterday, an article was written in Search Engine Land regarding Google and the secrecy behind their algorithm. The details around the algorithm - how it functions, the factors it considers, the weighting of all of these factors - is a closely guarded secret and one that Google is not ashamed to publicly stand up and say that they will not ever release this information. The fact that there is so little information surrounding the algorithm is the bane of every digital advertiser and web developer's existence. As we all know, in order for search to be useful for us, our website needs to feature in the top 3 or so organic listings. Very few people scroll past the top 3 listings, and ever fewer move past the first page of listings.
Google's CEO, Eric Schmit, is adament that Google will not officially publish the factors that are considered in it's algorithm; a fact that clearly riles the author of this article. The article differs from a traditional journalistic article in that it is very opinionated. It is very relaxed in tone and includes a short excerpt from the public interview with Schmidt. The fact that the article is so opinionated and biased clearly works well within the publication, Search Engine Land. This site is more of a blog format than a traditional publisher, and also specialised in the world of search engine marketing, hence the author can afford to display a strong opinion on a topic. Such a blog is designed to create discussion and thought-leadership on the topic of Search.
I do like the fact that the author has included video excerpts of the actual video and that they have included them at the end of the article. Often video included mid-article can be distracting, however attaching them in an appendicies format only supports the authenticity of the article.
Additionally, the author also directs the reader to other articles covering the same event and interview. One of these articles is written for the New York Times, which I think is a nice contrast to the opinionated blog format of the article in Search Engine Land. Here the article is much more objective. The author presents an unbiased coverage of the event itself, rather than using the platform for discussion; to present an opinion. This style is what one would expect from a reputable publication such as the New York Times.
In saying this, I do like the blog-style format of the article in Search Engine Land. I think, as part of wide reading, opinionated blog posts can really encourage further learning and deeper thought about a particular topic. It is important, to ensure that such an article is taken into consideration with, as I mentioned, wider reading on the topic, if one is to get a well-rounded view.
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