The Last Post : Sundown at CommonSense

Sunset - Photo: AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker

CommonSense With Markk -- my very first blog launched in early 2006 -- has gone past its sell-by date. The time has come to send it to pasture. This is it, folks! Finito.

I hate to do it but I'm not going to feel nostalgic or sentimental about it after almost two and a half years of blogging on this site which, at one time, was going places. But since the Google PageRank slapfest late last year, things have not been the same like the "good old days."

I felt great with CommonSense when the going was good. It rose to PR3 in about four months after its launch and at one stage it attained PR5 before Goog started the slapfest. As is commonly known, writing paid posts has its downside - and that had incurred the wrath of Big G.

I'm taking this action now because the Google jive has started again and I'm not expecting Big G to show a benign smile on this blog. I've seen the little green thingy fluctuating in the last couple of days. Don't know when it will settle down but now I'm packing up here, don't care much for PageRank now where this blog is concerned.

Although I tried to plod on I found the task too tiresome and it was like a millstone hung around my neck. I soon realized that you can't be running two personal blogs -- the other being The Next Post -- at the same time. As it is, it's already tough for some bloggers to churn out post after post and making sure the stuff you write are not crap or fluff.

There's a lot of disadvantages in having a name like CommonSense With Markk. It's too personal and there's not much you can do to broaden its scope. I don't know what you all think but that's what I have learned through three years of running a couple of websites and a number of other blogs. I supposed if you treat blogging as just a hobby then it's fine to stay with it and continue posting at your own pleasure.

If I had wanted CommonSense to continue, I could, but reality check tells me I have to devote more attention to those other sites of mine. They are going to take up a lot of my time in the days ahead.

From here on, you can read future postings of mine at TheNextPost.

I have taken CommonSense With Markk off of the MyBlogLog site. I would like to thank all those kind bloggers whom I had crossed paths in our blogging journey for visiting this blog, especially those who had entered into some kind of communication with me and came back often to leave appreciated comments in my posts. If you happened to read this and has a blogroll link or any other in-post links to this site, please take the necessary action to avoid broken links.

Also, I have terminated my web hosting account for CommonSenseWithMarkk.com and have switched my URL back to Blogspot where this site will be left to dry under the blogging sun! I'll be doing some "house-cleaning" for a while (don't know how long it will take) and then if the weather is right, I just might press the self-destruct button for this site. Kaboom! Meanwhile, enjoy.

Adieu.

The 'Do No Evil' Empire Strikes Back

The Adland Digest keeps coming to me via email because I subscribe to it as a member of Adlandpro.com. Now and then I'll come across some hard-hitting articles written by special guest writers in their newsletters. They provide a good read and most times are thought-provoking.

These are free articles that can be used so long you acknowledge and credit the authors with a resource box at the end of each article. The Adland Digest has been one of the most effective newsletters on the Web since 1998. They provide useful information about Internet business and other related subjects.

The recent Google PageRank slapfest of big and small blogs had set the blogosphere alight with plenty of rants and some raves. But this article by Dean Philips might will be "a wake-up call" for many of us. It makes for interesting reading. I'll take a break and let Dean gives you the lowdown. Enjoy...

Google Zombies Need To Wake Up

By Dean Philips

Over the last couple of weeks, I've received more e-mails in response to my article, "Google's Trap, DMOZ's Nap, And Yahoo!'s Crap," than any other article I've ever written. And that's saying a lot because, I've written close to forty articles.

Most of the e-mails are very supportive and appreciate of the fact that I'm going after Google and the other large search engines, by telling it like it is.

Now even though I appreciate your e-mails and support, I need to make one thing perfectly clear. For the record, I AM NOT GOING AFTER GOOGLE!

Is Google a greedy, self-serving entity? Yes! Yes, they are. But lots of entities are greedy and self-serving. For that matter, so are a lot of people. The fact of the matter is, I happen to like certain things about Google. I think they're a fine search engine, and they perform a very valuable and much needed service.

No, my articles are not directed at Google per se. My articles are directed at the tens of thousands of Google zombies who blindly follow and applaud Google's every move and whim, like rats following the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

This also includes a good portion of the media, which also seems to be caught up in the bright lights of Google--not unlike a deer frozen by the headlights of an oncoming car.

Zombies, wake up! Google is a search engine--period! Nothing more, nothing less. And I will not exaggerate their existence or importance!

They are not a god or some sort of deity. They are a search engine--that's all.

And even though I've already said it in several different articles, I'm going to say it again. All of that money you're spending on search engine optimization, so that you can play in Google's sandbox is going to be all for naught.

Because other websites that haven't done any search engine optimization whatsoever are already starting to rank ahead of you in Google's results pages.

Yet, you keep spending your money, and beating your brains out trying to figure out Google's algorithms. And just when you think you've got it figured out, Google decides to take its ball and go home. Zombies, wake up! You're playing a game you can't win!

Didn't November 16, 2003 teach you anything? It's never wise to put all of your eggs into one search engine basket. I mean, forget about the "Florida Update." What if by some strange chance, Google goes offline for a day--for a week?

Think it can't happen? Think again. Nobody thought last summers crippling east coast blackout could ever happen either, but it did happen, and it turned out to be the biggest blackout in recent U.S. history.

Nothing and no one is infallible. So, zombies, wake up and do yourself a favor. Do the smart thing, and develop other ways to promote your website.

About The Author: Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net. Visit his website at: http://www.lets-make-money.net

Of related interests:
Wow! It's one Google PR rollercoaster ride
PageRank: 'Massacre' of the blogs

*The views and opinions expressed or implied, and the information presented in CommonSense With Markk are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of CommonSense With Markk and/or its associates.*

It Takes Two To Tango...

...But when it comes to linking, two is just not on. If you have been reading up on linking, you need to be like Oliver Twist: Ask for more. Try to get more. Reach out for more...

Yes, the more the merrier and I've noticed that this linking craze has reached a "ludicrous level" where some bloggers are just sort of like ready to give an arm or a leg to get on the bandwagon. In other words, they are dying to see that green thingy appearing on their Google Page Rank.

It's fascinating that sometimes the hunger for links can cloud a blogger's rationale or judgment on whether he or she is doing something that is considered the right etiquette or not.

Take for example, this recent "LinkRoll" fad that spreads from one blog to another and thus creating a "chain letter" kind of reaction that continues to grow. You can see this on a number of blogs as the owners proudly show the list in their posts.

Would you join this "chain letter" group so that you can game the Google PageRank system? Is this another form of "social networking" -- like you scratch my back and I scratch yours? Or is it more akin to a "link farm"?

Is it Google's fault because they are now stressing on the importance of inbound links? They think this approach will benefit the quality websites. But what is a quality website? To Google, to you and to me?

It's always different folks, different strokes when it comes to meat and potatoes. Has Google ever considered whether this "LinkRoll" method an organic behaviour of blogs? White hat technique or black hat?

Everyone knows that to get good search rankings in Google, there must be links pointing to your website from other websites. Of course, webmasters can cook up different methods to build links. There's always more than one way to skin a cat.
If Google's intention is to create an ideal "democratic" world of search, it's not happening. The "best links are earned and given by choice" rhetoric doesn't ring true. Everything is only abstract. Does Google know and understand the heart of a blogger? No, unless the blog's owner spells out his/her intent clearly.

Surely, there must be a better way than what we are experiencing now.