Google is turning into a corporate cheer leader where large companies dominate the rankings (revenue grab? knocking out the small business?). Type “e” and I got: ebay, espn, expedia. “s” - skype, sears, staples. Randomly type 2 letters: “be” - best buy, bed bath and beyond, etc.
What happened to independent results? Someone really needs to come out with an independent search engine that doesn’t sell out to corporations.
Google is all about making money and giving people what they want. That is why big corporations are ranked high on the first pages because people trust them and know they can’t go wrong with them. Just think what would happen if google placed a new company that had lots of backlinks and wasn’t really trusted by buyers. IF something bad happens it is all googles fault because people think the high you rank the better products you provide.
Seems to me like Google are just trying to provide what people are likely to be looking for. Grandma’s “Beautiful flower site” isn’t likely to be the result people seek as often as “Best buy”. Small businesses only have a small custom, large ones have a large custom, therefore it’s only suitable when guessing what people are looking for to aim for the masses. Why on earth would Google promote smaller (and therefore lesser seeked) sites over the results people may want? 
It is all business, and business is first and foremost about money. No matter what anyone says.
If Google can continue to provide great value and results for its users, they don’t care. And for organic results, it is simply because they are big, have lots of links pointing to them, hire SEO’s etc.
To me it is kind of like saying to land developers, don’t sell to Wal-Mart and Home Depot, let small shops setup first… it just does not work this way.
also biased towards their own products… search for anything and now there’s a special google box taking up more space in the results - videos, products, maps, etc.
I’m finding the results more and more useless every day. Used to like Google because I could actually find interesting exploratory information… now I just find Google products and big corporations. Junk.
Exactly. “Google is all about making money.” It is a business, first and foremost.
The key here is to resist the urge to complain or throw up our hands, but to figure out the ways to promote our business within the parameters of reality.
Google is turning into a corporate cheer leader where large companies dominate the rankings (revenue grab? knocking out the small business?). Type “e” and I got: ebay, espn, expedia. “s” - skype, sears, staples. Randomly type 2 letters: “be” - best buy, bed bath and beyond, etc.
I think those are more likely searches more than anything.
What happened to independent results?
They still exist. To be fair I’ve been using Instant Google since the beginning and now I don’t even look at the results until I’ve finished typing. Personally for me it has made no difference, as I still work the same way I did before.
Bigger brands can be a mixed bag; does everyone want to visit Best Buy when they search DVD? Not necessarily but Best Buy is a leader in the field with significant products and content (good for google to index), lots of links (weight) and of course a sizable marketing team trying to optimize. That’s a lot of reasons for them to legitimately rank well… but it’s not a guarentee, look at longer terms and you’ll see issues with some of the big guys ranking.
I think this sums it up really. The Instant Google feature does not really affect anything, it’s like a gimmick that people will only look at when they come to the end of their search. It’s those final results that matter. Not what comes up when you type “s”. As you will probably type “sk” and then look for “sky”. People are over exaggeration this feature, and there is nothing to be afraid of.
I feel this feature will aid new-comers (like my dad) and old folks to use Google easier. Since many new comers don’t have a Google Account I think it’s not really relevant at the moment. This feature ideally should be activated without a Google Account.
Do you have any idea how many people link to wikipedia. They have crazy links and plenty of trust rank and page rank to rank for almost anything.
Google is about relevancy. Wikipedia is relevant. People go there, they read, they return. That’s relevant.
Bigger brands can be a mixed bag; does everyone want to visit Best Buy when they search DVD? Not necessarily but Best Buy is a leader in the field with significant products and content (good for google to index), lots of links (weight) and of course a sizable marketing team trying to optimize. That’s a lot of reasons for them to legitimately rank well… but it’s not a guarentee, look at longer terms and you’ll see issues with some of the big guys ranking.
it’s not links and SEO
search for any term and there is a guaranteed wikipedia listing on 1st page
even though it would have not links pointing to it and no SEO done but it STILL would rank on 1st page
Google is clearly biased in favor of Wikipedia