CLEANING UP THE CESSPOOL
In 2008, then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the Internet was
becoming a cesspool and that brands were the solution. “Brands
are how you sort out the cesspool,” he said.
Less than six months after his comment, along came a Google
update called Vince.
Big brands suddenly seemed to be ranking a whole lot better in the
SERPs.
But it wasn’t really intended to reward brands, according to
Google.
Google wanted to put a greater weight on trust in the algorithm
(and big brands tend to have more trust than smaller and less-
established brands).
20 YEARS OF SEO: A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION