How Google is killing independent sites like ours from HouseFresh talks about a constant complaint from smaller publishers and site owners about how larger publishers and site owners consistently outrank them in Google Search. The irony here is that the story is being overtaken by Reddit, no joke.
Google ranks Reddit above HouseFresh. Here is a screenshot for a search [Google is killing independent sites] where Reddit, a hugely popular forum, is beating out the original site that posted the content, HouseFresh, for its own article. And the Reddit post links to the original story!
The question. The complaints aren’t new, Google has been complaining about big sites overtaking smaller sites for a couple of decades now. Former Googler Matt Cutts even posted about it at a decade agoasking site owners to post examples of smaller sites that should rank better.
But often, smaller publishers are right and should rank higher than them. This is not in all cases, but in some cases, where the content is better, from the original source, and has all that useful content and EEAT elements, why Reddit should beat this piece.
Google responds. Danny Sullivan, Google Search Link, said, “My thoughts that I’d like to see us do more to make sure we’re showing a better diversity of results that includes both small and large publications.” “I hope we do better in the future with these kinds of problems,” he added.
He later wrote:
As for the larger question of, shall we say, “big site vs. small site,” I’ve raised that concern over the past few weeks as well, because it shouldn’t (and isn’t always) that way. But yes, we should be rewarding the best content, regardless of site size. Like I said, I hope we get better here.
irony The irony of Reddit beating this story from a smaller publisher is a bit over the top. Especially since this Reddit post links directly to the smaller publisher’s original story.
The article even wrote, “After Google’s latest useful content update, Reddit and LinkedIn started ranking high in Google search results. If you want to learn more about Reddit specifically, you should read on this article by Glen Allsopp.”
Why we care Does this mean smaller publishers are doomed and won’t be able to rank well in Google Search? No. Does that mean it will be harder for smaller publishers to rank higher than larger publishers? Not necessarily.
But if you think about it, it’s not far from a small home improvement store trying to compete with Home Depot everywhere. It is possible, you can earn your niche and do well, but it is not easy.
That said, Google has been promising for decades to provide a more diverse set of search results for smaller publishers, but has it delivered? Will Google ever be able to fulfill this promise? Is that even a promise Google wants to keep? Does the searcher care if they read it on Reddit or the original site? Does Google care?
For many smaller publishers, we’re here and waiting for Google to release a new search algorithm update that will hopefully address some of our complaints. When Google releases this update, we will of course write here.
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