Google News 'Massacre' Affects Small Business Bloggers

As Zennie pointed out earlier in his post, "Google News Meta Tags Program Killing Blog Listings" Google News has done a lot to "clean out" their database of small publishers. Basically, the decision was made without warning, without explanation, and without any input from Google Staff to publishers.

There are a couple of things at play, here and many unanswered questions. First, many blog owners have been sent out generic emails which state that their blogs don't meet "quality guidelines."

Really? What are the quality guidelines? I'd link to a list of them...but guess what? There are none! A review of some of the publishers who have reported their blogs to be de-listed leaves one scratching their head. Why are publishers who have been listed for several years, who give credit to their sources via links, and who engage readers in meaningful conversations de-listed while some content mills get to stay listed?

Scott Rosenberg at Salon.com called out one Associated Content writer for his overuse of the popular search key "Dr. Laura n-word" back in August. A cursory glance at the link to the piece
leads you to the
author's page... and guess what? The same author is still using practices, which Rosenberg describes as "vein, cobbled together with no care beyond an effortful -- and, I guess, successful -- determination to catch Google's eye by repeating the phrase...as many times as possible."

A quick look at Google's small amount of guidelines that are available in the Webmaster tools claims that you are supposed to make your content "primarily for users, not search engines" and that a Webmaster should ask him/herself before posting anything "does this help my users, would I do this if search engines didn't exist?" It's important to note that these are quality guidelines in general - not just for Google News. There are no such guidelines, to this blogger's knowledge, of any special quality guidelines for Google News alone.

The whole "content farm" and small publisher backlash has been a long time coming. Last year, Belinda Luscombe at Time Magazine wrote an article titled "Why Does Google Search Love Examiner.com?" The article goes on to say that articles on the site are a compendium of tidbits culled from other websites, neither advancing the story nor bringing any insight (a description, it should be noted, that can be just as fairly applied to many offerings of more mainstream media). Most Examiners are not journalists, and their prose is not edited."

This all goes against the premise of Google News which is "original" content - which you will find on sites like Zennie62.com and also ours and several other recently banned publishers.

There are a couple of questions that I, along with thousands of other small business bloggers, want answered. 1) What determined who got erased from the Google News database 2) Why isn't everyone treated the same? Why are there still small publishers in News? And most importantly...why aren't Google employees responding to the many publisher pleas in their "help" forum?

The Effects of Google's Blog 'Massacre' On Me

How has this affected this small business blogger? Our traffic has declined about 90%, and our ad revenue about the same. Therefore, it's not only our small business that has been affected - it's also the small business ad networks that we used in addition to Google Adsense. In addition, we had to tell our writers to 'hold off' on hyper posting until we can either get re-listed with Google News or figure out how to build our traffic up to a base where we can afford to pay writers.

We, too, contacted Google News explaining that we had installed a plugin to solve the "meta tag" compliance issues Zennie has discussed earlier. We explained that we hired an editor (who we will try to retain, but may not be able to), and outlined all we have done to "comply" with the implied quality guidelines.

The response we got was the same response Zennie got which read:We periodically review news sources, particularly following user complaints, to ensure Google News offers a high quality experience for our

Upon reviewing your site, we found that we can no longer include it in Google News at this time. We have certain guidelines in place regarding the quality of sites which are included in the Google News index

If your site is in violation of these guidelines, it will not be added to Google News. Please feel free to review these guidelines at the following link:]Please note that you'll still be able to find your site in Google Web Search and other Google services.

Thanks for your interest in Google News.

The Google News Team

Back to the drawing board.

This isn't right. There are too many weird factors at play. Is Google trying to suppress the voice of the independent blogger? Is Google giving in to "big media", paving the way to the day where we will have to pay publications for their online information?

All I know is that the actions are blatantly un-American, infringe on our rights, and borderline on violating first Amendment rights....but Why? Who's behind this recent action by Google? The same action which has added quite possibly 10-20 more people to the ranks of the unemployed - just on my publication (which has no relation to Zennie62.com) alone? Why was this move made over the holiday, and why won't Google reply to any inquiries from frantic publishers willing to bend over backwards and do whatever is necessary to keep Google happy?

Zennie62.com Ad and Video Rate Card for Blogs and Videos – Zennie62Media

Rate Card for Blogs and Videos – Zennie62Media (Division of Sports Business Simulations)

Zennie62.com has the following blogs designed to take ads:

Zennie62.com (http://www.zennie62.com)
Atlanta Focus Blog (http://atlantafocus.blogspot.com)
Chicago Focus Blog (http://chicagofocus.blogspot.com )
Las Vegas Focus Blog (http://lasvegasfocus.blogspot.com )
Los Angeles Focus Blog (http://losangelesfocus.blogspot.com)
Oakland Focus Blog (http://oaklandfocus.blogspot.com )
Miami Focus Blog (http://miamifocus.blogspot.com )
New York Focus Blog (http://newyorkfocus.blogspot.com)
San Francisco Focus (http://sanfranciscofocus.blogspot.com)
Washington DC Focus Blog (http://washingtondcfocus.blogspot.com)
NFL Business Blog (http://nflbiz.blogspot.com)
NBA Business Blog (http://nbabiz.blogspot.com)
NFL Draft Magazine (http://nfldraftmag.blogspot.com)
The Super Bowl Game Blog (http://superbowlgame.blogspot.com)
MLB Baseball Business Blog (http://mlbbiz.blogspot.com)
NCAA College Football Blog (http://footballncaa.blogspot.com)
Hollywood Business Blog (http://entbiz.blogspot.com)
Women's Fitness and Bodybuilding Blog (http://femstrong.blogspot.com)

Our main video channel is at http://www.YouTube.com/zennie62
We have video channels on Blip.tv and 7 other services.

The rates for ads per blog are as follows:

1 – In main title: “sponsored by Corporation XYZ” with website link - $500 per month
2 – Ad cells below main title:
Left - $250 per month • Center - $300 per month • Right $200 per month
3 – In video logo ads: $500 per video (videos play on the blogs with each click during a visit to the blog.)
4 – 30 second video segment in video (Zennie62 makes the segment): $1,000 per video
5 – Special 3 minute viral video - $2,000 (plays in the blogs)
6 – Blog article on corporation or person - $50 per post. (Blog posts are placed on social bookmarking sites to gain more readers and higher search placement.)

Payment: retainer for each. For example, a left cell ad requires a $250 payment by check or credit card (we will send invoice) then the ad is installed for one-month; if the client wants to renew for the next month, we repeat the process. The client can buy all ad and video options at once , totaling $4,800, but we charge just $3,000 as a package for a savings of $1,800. For all ads purchased as a package the total monthly cost would be $750 per month, but we will charge just $550 per month, a savings of $200.

For videos, we “tag” special 3 minute videos to reach specific areas and audiences and design them with respect to your message. The videos are installed on YouTube, Blip.tv, and 8 other platforms.

TV Show: "The Blog Report With Zennie62" TV Show - http://www.zennie62.com

The Blog Report With Zennie62 starts May 2 2009 and covers politics, tech, news, and sports on The CoLoursTV Network. Times: Saturday 3:30 PM PST / 6:30 PM EST and 11:30 PM PST / 2:30 AM EST, Sunday 12 noon PST / 3 PM EST. CoLoursTV is in 17 million households on the DISH Network, and on cable with Comcast, NTCT, Cox and Insight. The CoLoursTV Network is on channels 9407 & 9396 on the DISH Network Satellite TV

Ad rates for the TV show are as follows: single episode sponsorship : $2,000 – includes logo exposure in 15-second segment, and end of show credits. In show mention: $4,000 per episode. Special episode on corporation or person: $10,000 per episode.
For questions contact Zennie Abraham at 510-387-9809 or zennie@zennie62.com

Barack Obama Issues First Veto Threat To Congress

More from Huff Post: “President-elect Barack Obama made his first veto threat Tuesday in a closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats. Obama told his former colleagues that if Congress passes a resolution blocking release of the second half of the financial bailout funds he will veto it, said Sen. Joseph Lieberman after leaving the caucus meeting.”

Golden Globe ratings: worst since '96 - LA Observed

More at LA Observed : “Americans who watch TV don't watch the Golden Globes any more, even if the newspapers, blogs and celebrity cable channels continue to insist they are a big thing. An average of 14.6 million viewers nationwide tuned in over three hours, down 26% from two years ago in the 18-49 niche and the worst audience since NBC took over. The Globes's did a little better than "Desperate Housewives" and "24," but only a little better — and "24" is on Fox.”

Do Black Women Support Black Female / White Male Relationships But Not Black Male / White Female?

More at Racialious: “Most Black women who I am close with approve of, and even cheer on, a Black female/White male interracial relationship. But one that’s the other way around evokes a feeling far less warm and fuzzy. For example, if Obama had been married to a White woman… eek. I’m sure we wouldn’t have been as quick to embrace him (and actually, I’ve talked with men and women of every color about this hypothetical situation, all of whom expressed a similar “cringe” - perhaps a topic for a different post).”

-- A great column. As one who's dated inter-colorially (I hate the term race) since I started dating, I predicted this years ago. What bothers me is that television shows more Black female / White Male pairing than for Black male / White female. Why? These images impact social development.

Pat Quinn: The Man Who Would Replace Blagojevich - TIME

Pat Quinn: The Man Who Would Replace Blagojevich - TIME: “In a state so plagued by cronyism and shady self-dealing that the head of the FBI here didn't hesitate to call Illinois one of the — if not the — most corrupt states in the nation, Lieut. Governor Pat Quinn is considered something of a Goody Two-Shoes. Responsible for slashing the size of the state legislature, he has been booed by legislators on the capitol floor. He keeps a minimal staff and is said to charge $75 a ticket for fundraisers — at a time when entry to most is well into the hundreds if not thousands of dollar”

-- Lets hope Quinn lives up to his billing.

Why There Are So Few Minority Conservatives, Part 176 | Oliver Willis

Why There Are So Few Minority Conservatives, Part 176 | Oliver Willis Oliver is right on -- Republican extremists, some call themselves Conservatives -- are too far to be of any real value to the improvement of the American condition.

Brett Favre's family has a Blog Right here on Blogger

http://favrehopefoundation.blogspot.com/2008/10/family.html

His Wife Deanna has a few things to say about the Nasty Media(which i assume is the NY Media as well as the Green Bay Media)

McCain Aide: Don't Have To Use Computers To Know Impact

Mark Soohoo of the McCain for President Campaign really stuck his foot in his mouth -- several times -- at this panel discussion as part of the Personal Democracy Forum 2008. Mark Soohoo says that one does not have to use a computer to understand the Internet. He also says that Senator McCain, is "aware of the Internet." But can he find it? Watch the video, where Tracy Russo of the Edwards campaign really takes Mark Soohoo to task for his comments.

I guess McCain's aware of all Internet traditions too!

First Day of Legal Gay Marriage In San Francisco - Video Account

This video covers the events outside San Francisco City Hall involving the first day of legal same sex marriage in San Francisco: Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 5:38 PM. A historic news and politics event. I went with the objective of determining the opinions of people in the crowd.

A New Design For Zennie's Zeitgeist

"To Everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a season.." A time to ..change blog designs. This is a new and evolving design that comes two years after Bloggers change to XML, and after our own -- and my own -- journey into rich media content. The increased use of video and special links gave such a weight to the original design that it was too slow to load. Finally push came to shove and here we have this new design.

Although it doesn't look like it, we are able to accomplish much of the same objectives with this cleaner look, from seeing our writer's names, to viewing the YouTube channel Zennie62, to buying tickets, to presenting our simulations. Plus, it's more in keeping with the fact that our blog network has taken on a life of its own and thus needed its own identity.

I also like the cool blue, but I'm now interested in XML, so future changes will reflect my increased knoweldge of how to code in it.

This design will evolve more, but the basic look is what you're going to see for awhile. Kudoes to Gekko and Fly for developing the look! Let me know what you think!

What's "The Zeitgeist" - An Important Point

Some people ask me what Zeitgeist means. Well, it basically means "The sprit of the age" and that's what I try to capture in this blog.

At times that means the content may piss some people off. Like the whole deal with Laure Manautou and the photos -- which aren't on this site save for one tame one -- or the Debra Le Fevre Teacher / Teenager sex controversy.

But the bottom line is that those issues also tend to dominate Technorati, which is the main source I use to make decisions on what goes here -- except politics of course. In this area I'm a stauch supporter of Senator Obama for President and anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that.

But the bottom line is I'm trying to give you a balance of what's going on in the World but via my eyes. See? Hence, Zennie's Zeitgeist.

I find that people in America, my country, are far too neurotic about generally small issues. It seems that people in other countries have less hangups than we do. Perhaps New Media will cause us to relax a bit over time.

Why Are You A Democrat? - Democrats Give Their Reasons

I asked this question to Democrats attending a Democratic Party fundraiser in San Francisco earlier this year. I got a variety of responses but all seem to center around the theme of equality and social justice.

I was so inspired in part by this and by the support for Barack Obama that I purchased the music from Buffalo Springfield "For What It's Worth" and used it as the back music for this two minute video. Take a look. Why are you a Democrat?

Mark Cuban's Right - CD's Are On The Decline

Mark Cuban's certainly totally wrong about the football business , but he's right on regarding compact disks and their future as a music distribution system. Just check out his blog and its references.

As I think about it, I can remember the last time I listened to music on the CD and that was in a car. But I've not done that anywhere else: not at home, for example. I watch movies on DVD, but music on CD's? Only in the car. It's a matter of time before one's able to just plug in their iPod and use it as a full car stereo for all cars, not just a few.

But Mark's totally wrong about football; the UFL will fail.

"Online Marketing Buzz" - A New Blog

Since SBS' now has SBS-ON, I decided a new blog on Online Marketing -- see the caps -- was a good idea. It's designed to track trends in Internet marketing both to share and for SBS to use in its own work.

It's going to be a fun ride with this one. Check it out. I'm already a Twitter.

I'll have to report that online marketing is growing faster than the total rate of understanding of those who do it.

The Sundance Film Festival - Video Blog From Susan On Pierre Huyghe

I've never heard of her or the film-maker she's vlogging about, but the video is quite interesting. Here's Susan: