An interesting blog article from The New York Times caught my eye, but I think it misses the main point, at least from our e-business-oriented point of view.
I don't think Google really cares what you, or Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. Web surfer, do online. Not as an individual.
I do think they use data like this, "aggregating it" as they say, to help them figure out which sites are good, as opposed to merely relevant. So they care when someone does a search.
I don't pretend to know Google's algorithm and anyone who does is speculating. But...
They're on record as having added 200 factors in their search algorithm since PageRank (PR) was first invented.
Those factors aren't ON-page (i.e., the keywords appearing on your site, which are important for relevance and which you still need to get "big picture" correct, which Analyze It! does for you).
The OFF-page criteria, and by that I mean more than just inbound links, as discussed in "The Tao of SBI!" (for non-SBIers, see The Tao outlined in MYLW!), are and will continue to become more important. And that, as always, means to "keep it real."
When you do that, no matter how much "smarter" Google gets, your site will do just fine because you are both relevant and good. "Good" means you are pleasing humans, and the only way Google can figure that out is by getting more and more sophisticated at seeing how "aggregates" of visitors react to your site... before, during and after their visits.
And in the "same Google vein," here is another article for purely optional reading.
Once again, the main point is how much farther ahead Google is than everyone else. Others may be doing bits and pieces of this, but Google's overall approach and execution never fail to amaze me. I just don't see anyone on the horizon dethroning Google's SE dominance for a long, long time.
And folks still wonder why I say "SEO is dead" (Search Engine Optimization). The truth is that on-page basics are easy to get right with Analyze It! (I don't even consider that SEO, just the "ante" to have a shot), get inbound links right (and diversified) to really get the snowball rolling, create great content, get the word out in all the right ways (part of SBI!'s system of tools that either happens behind the scenes or that you do a one-time setup for)...
And you really can't go wrong as Google's smarter and smarter "off-page" criteria become more and more important.
All the best,
P.S. Lately, it has seemed more fashionable to bash and fear Google because they're getting "too big." So I just thought I'd add a little counter-balance.
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