Where your website would show in Google, Yahoo! and Bing used to be somewhat predictable over a period of time, but it isn't anymore. In case you haven't noticed or wonder why your telephones stopped ringing, Google has a new and mostly unpredictable algorithm. Yahoo! and Bing often take so long to index websites that hopefully you have not isolated your attempts to get websites indexed with Google alone.
Advertising for adult businesses – escort services and party or stripper entertainment businesses that serve adults only – on the internet has become extremely complicated lately. I admit that I resent this as we are not all 10 years old and the parents of the 10 year-old (or whatever age) should be responsible for the non-adult's internet access and not the rest of the damn world. I am not sure about the rest of the world, but it seems that in the US everything is being optimized for children. It has always been that way in Orlando because of Disney so I am used to it, but I imagine the rest of the country is surprised. Welcome to my censored world.
This new obscure algorithm will soon be implemented throughout the world, so don't get too happy if you're in another country. In all that I have read recently I understand this is a really serious issue in Germany too. This surprises me – no adult ads in Google, Yahoo! and Bing in Germany? What happened that I missed? Germany has undergone serious changes since I lived there. There is a list of countries that have been affected by these new rules concerning adult content so it isn't only Germany.
Focus on Local
I think we all realized the importance of the local focus a while back. Google Maps was really great for all while it lasted, but it has changed (see previous posts) and Places is not so great. If you read through the help forums for Places you will see what I mean. If you already had a listing before the major change then you may be okay, or not. Now they are even rejecting many that use a mailing address instead of a physical location, but that is far from the only problem. It isn't only adult businesses that are having problems with Places – it is all types of business, but you could forget about phone verification as the rules have changed. Read through the Places Help Forums
People are actually changing their websites in attempt to conform to Places demands and get a listing. Now that is crazy – the website is what it is and if you delete all the keyword phrases that matter, well, your website will be worthless anyway.
A while back I had a couple of websites that were refused by Yahoo! Local. The email stated that there was no way to appeal this so don't bother trying. Please keep in mind that I have never designed and submitted any website that even had nudity! Not even a breast! Any website I have ever submitted could easily be considered general audience, but focusing only on adults. Bing Local has always been out – Microsoft has never been keen on anything adult, which is ironic as the first escort service website in the world was in Seattle, Washington (Microsoft territory). Now Bing and Yahoo! are together.
Yet you see escort businesses with listings in Google Places, Yahoo! Local, and Bing Local. So how do they get there? One way to get in Yahoo! Local is through Express Update or through City Search as both feed Yahoo! Local. City Search looks far too expensive, but I admit that I haven't read thoroughly and am not exactly clear on what you get for your $s. Express Update has a free listing option.
I am not clear on Bing Local yet – supposedly they're mailing a few postcards out so I will post when I see what happens next. Perhaps they have changed, or not.
The New Algorithm
Google's new algorithm is supposed to use a secret formula and thus far it is a secret kept from all. I am getting mixed messages between Google, Yahoo! And Bing. Yahoo! appreciates the keywords in the domain name and this will give your website higher ranking with those keywords. Read the section on Domain Implementations in this Yahoo! Advertising guide. I do not believe that Google appreciates this anymore though, and it may serve to lower your Google ranking – I have seen evidence of this in the new algorithm.
Perhaps you must have one website optimized for Google and one optimized for Yahoo! and Bing. It has all become confusing. It used to be that you simply had one website that said what your business did and offered information, and then the SEO (search engine optimization) people came along and changed that – your website needed SEO or it would sink in rankings. Now the SEO craze seems to be over, except that everyone is attempting to figure out and master the new algorithm. Read through the ongoing discussion on Webmaster World.
As an example, my site that I use for research has been lost at times and research is not really possible as the phone doesn't ring anymore, except periodically (I will get to that issue). Websites that do not relate to the keyword phrase at all have a better rank now, including one that has a couple of sentences and a telephone number and otherwise several blank pages. What the hell? Somehow I do not believe that deleting all information from my website will help it get back the better ranking. I do not get it.
I sometimes check ranking on that site from different IP addresses – easily done by checking from a Blackberry, an Android, and a PC or laptop. Well, the results are astonishing to me: Using the same keyword phrase it will not show at all (I only check up to page 5 of search results) at times, it will show on page 1 at times, and on page 2 at other times. There is no formula possible here except a rotation of some sort. There is no way to optimize with that algorithm and perhaps that is the idea, except that when it doesn't show some total garbage websites do show – and what good is that to the searcher? What good is it to the business? It is just screwed-up and nothing more.
What about PPC (pay per click)?
This is also confusing. You will certainly see PPC ads at the top and side of search results for adult business websites; however, Google has been suspending accounts of adult business sites using AdWords and Yahoo/Bing are anything but clear on adult content ads in their advertising program. Still, you see ads on all three that are wild in comparison to your mild content and images, right?
Want to be confused? Read Microsoft Advertising's Adult Content Guidelines and the Google AdWords Help forum to start. Apparently the rules do not apply to all of us.
Final Thoughts
My advice is to have at least two websites that are different and use different keyword phrases. One domain should make use of the most important keyword phrase in the URL and the other should not. They have decided to confuse us all to death. Use confusion to your advantage and have 10 different websites and watch and see which websites make it in which search engines. Now that is time consuming!
