Thu 8 Oct 2009
Can Somebody Help Me Find A Baker, Because Google Can’t
Blurb by Shaun Anderson (Hobo)Google is a truth engine to some, but Google’s reliance on trust and domain authority (while good for those who understand how to leech leverage traffic from such sources) delivers some weird search terms.
For instance, if you search for a baker in Google UK at the moment, you get plenty of results, and not one of them is for a baker. Bing at least has 1 result for a baker and Yahoo is as helpful as Google.
The search for bakers is a bit better but no1 is the dog food company which is quite funny.
Of course, this term is so generic – but I would have thought at some point some diversity filter would have kicked in and provided at least a local business result for the local baker.
Maybe being a baker is a dying breed or bakers just don’t know how to promote themselves online 
Note – a lot of folks have been complaining about the state of Google serps in the UK, and with good reason in some cases – it’s a mess.
Did you know when you link to a Hobo SEO post we have search engine friendly links back to your site if approved? Our comments are also search engine friendly you know (once you've commented on a few posts)! Do you need any more encouragement to get involved in the conversation ;)
your query is too general for google to do much i guess…it always works if you narrow down the search a little, like adding a location to that. besides that…try the word ‘bakery’
Well, that means there’s a huge opportunity here…
Just create a website like bestbakersinUK.
Then contact the best local baker in every city in the UK and tell them you can get him in the top 10 of Google UK using the keyword baker and the name of the city.
Isn’t that an idea?
Baker 4 U here but not the real pan man from ooop north you get me the joker?
Shaun – nice observation, glad I’m not the only one – The UK results are amazingly bad at the moment.
I love google, I really do, but each day, I do a few of my stock searches to see what position my site is in and I’m always disappointed to see quite a few competitor’s who are obviously, nay blatantly buying lots of cr*p links, are hogging the top positions, like bloated hot air balloons.
Over the past few months the disappointment is growing into anger and frustration – WHY can’t they pick up what these guy’s are doing?
I’m going to have to book myself in again for some more uk serpanger therapy.
Cheers for now
Normally I am in full agreement with you on your comments on SEO, in fact I like to tell all the people I know and meet to come read your work. But this piece of Google bashing is pure nonsense, how many bakers in the UK have websites? How many have CMS systems that the spider can even read?
Everyone can have an off day, this is yours. Get back to the good stuff asap
This is a good post! I had the same problem. I was searching for rose salt (for the kitchen, not the bathroom) at Wiesbaden (Germany) and the results were also so weird. I was only transferred to other search engines that could not help me. Google search results are no longer helpful!
@Darren lol… noted – well I can’t say look at this serp where I am no3 in and the top 2 are spamming Google in a big massive network…. can I?
It wasn’t meant to be pure Google bashing
Users using such generic and broad queries don’t deserve to find exactly what they’re looking for! :p
Google can only do so much… it will always require some effort and guidance from the user since it can’t mind read. What’s to say you didn’t want to find Baker Skateboards when you put in that search?
P.S. Please send your emails out in a the same font as your website! The serif font is difficult to read
Also, Yahoo doesn’t give paragraphs double spacing but does.
That was supposed to be “but does”.
Argh. Double break does.
@Jordon I will look into that but the email is sent via Feedburner so not sure how much control I have
Try searching in each of the 3 big search engines for “Search Engine”. Google ranks itself 4th, Yahoo 2nd! Dogpile comes “top of the pops” in 2 of those 3.
oh yeah, and bing doesn’t rank itself, Yahoo or Google in the top ten
Nice timely post Shaun – I hope you’re enjoying Wave
Loads of Local and/or Maps listings in my area here in sunny Plymouth, Devon are total spam or fake.
Of course, besides a couple of website designers that have “bolt on crap/rip off seo packages” , there are many local listings that are closed, non existent or just not right.
I walked miles to a Fancy Dress store the other day and it wasn’t there….
A few years ago when I was in the US I expressed interest in the “feet on the street” idea that Google had which would have been cool – sort of a DMOZ Editor that could promote adWords at businesses, take pics and report skullduggery – sad to say that programme didn’t seem to come to fruition.
I’m sure there are many, many local “smaller, honest internet marketing companies” like mine that would jump at that opportunity were it to be introduced.
This would, of course, help clean up all the annoying local/maps spammers and bastards that make our life annoying.
I’m game Google! My trusty Vespa, Panasonic camera and I are ready to clean up the ‘hood
David