Rise to Power through Confusion
The Puritans: New church, no clear leader
McCarthyism: America just finished one war, starting two more (Cold and Korean)
Google: Rose in the midst of the dot-bomb era to become the market leader
A Soapbox to Stand-On
The Puritans: The Pastor, the Church
McCarthyism: Senator McCarthy, the Senate
Google: Matt Cutts, Gadgets, Google, and SEO
A Superior Mentality
The Puritans: Find and punish witches to help fight the Devil
McCarthyism: Find and punish communists to protect America
Google: Find and punish link buyers to prevent index spam
Scared Snitches
The Puritans: No one wants to go to Hell – must report witches
McCarthyism: No one wants to be blacklisted or deported – must report communists
Google: No one wants to be banned from the index – must not buy links & must report other link buyers
The Dust Settles
The Puritans: Members were dead, the flock was broken
McCarthyism: People lost their jobs, their homes, and their reputations
Google: Google is dethroned and loses considerable search market share. Consumers & search marketers win because a superior service has been created.
There are plenty of people already covering the buying links is bad/buying links is good debate. What I am pointing out is that Google’s obsession with the detection, reporting, and devaluing of paid links is blinding their ability to create a superior search experience. Google is stuck on creating a spam-free index, while competitors like Ask.com continue to innovate and redefine how a SERP can assist searchers, even if their index doesn’t contain every nook-and-cranny of the web.
