Unless you are a webmaster or attentive to the developments in SEO there is a very real chance you do not know of Big Daddy, but Big Daddy definitely knows about you or at least your website. Google’s latest update is impacting directories all over the
world. Described by Google as not a mere algorithm, but a ‘major infrastructure update’, Big Daddy (satirically referred to on some bulletin boards as ‘Big Brother) seems to be an oddly appropriate name for a Google update which sent the SEO and web development world into total uproar over the ranking and indexing of their directories post Big Daddy, that is if one considers the explosion of webmaster bulletin board activity on that topic since the updates implementation. So intense and rapid was the discours.come mid-March that Google engineer and self-appointed webmaster liaison, Matt Cutt, advised Google to set up a team to address the ‘supplemental’ problem faced, for no clear reason.
For this to make much sense for us less specialized folk, some rudimentary knowledge the Google search machine is required. At its most basic, Google serves an indexing and categorizing function so that when people search for something, certain algorithms have already determined (are always determining) where they will take the viewer to look. This indexing is performed by the Googlebot 2.1 and the Mozilla Bot, both of which ‘crawl’ directories while applying content-analyzing algorithms to web content and code. These algorithms determine, among other things, which directories go into the main index (which is where you want to be) and which into the supplemental index, referred to in webmaster jargon as ‘Supplemental Hell’ since not only does it exclude its contents from searches, but is notoriously difficult to escape once thrown in.
The functionality of a special corner for inactive websites, spam sites, and other nuisances extant on the web is clear. The current problem and essential source of confusion, however, is that active, original, and non-spam directories, post Big Daddy, are being cast into the supplemental flames for no apparent reason. As one of the many people t.comment in response to Matt Cutt’s ‘Gone Supplemental’ blog post of March 22, 2006, Our site has been redesignedIf I do a searchmost url’s are from our old site marked as supplemental results. Google is hardly indexing our new site And the problem was not limited to just one directory here or there, but thousands around the world, as the followin.comment, one of many, indicates. I have a site with 4 sub domains including http:// All of them have active contentall of them are supp and I do not see any return at all nor is google heavily crawling them. We are talking about 300k+ pages in the supp index for some reason.
If it has not occurred to you to do so yet, it may be a good idea to see where sit your directories post Big Daddy. To see if you are directories are affected, simply paste the URL as a Google search. If the pag.comes up as missing it has fallen from main index grace. If this is the case with your directories post Big Daddy the first thing you will want to do is look for any code or content which might cause the bots to reject the page.
Any number of things from spam (or what the bots code as spam), hidden text, and copied or ‘scraped’ content (closely paraphrased with the same keywords) can push a directory into Supplemental Hell. Depending in the use an.complexity of your directories, the services of an SEO expert or organization migh.come in handy to take a look at your directories post Big Daddy. While some webmasters are reporting a return to normal, others are still faced with difficulties regarding their directories post Big Daddy. While Big Daddy is drawing attention to the need for more and bette.communication between Google, the web design world, and users, it may be some time yet before all the kinks are worked out and fluid channels o.communication for problems like these are in place. For now the best one can do is pay close attention to the indexing of their directories post Big Daddy.
Mark is the webmaster of indexplex a popular
indexplex.com web directory . Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our web site.
This article is free for republishing
Mark Lawson is a technical manager with Discount Domains, a UK leading Domain Registration service.
discountdomainsuk.com This article is free to republish provided hyperlinks remain working
