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The Myth:
“We have an inside person at Google that can help us get you to the #1 rank.”
“We have a `special` relationship directly with Google that will help you acheive top search rankings.”
The Dodge:
“He`d get in trouble if we told you his name, we have to keep this on the down-low.”
The Facts:
Google employs 36,118 people worldwide. With Motorola included, the total jumps to 53,546. It`s certainly possible that a search engine optimization person might know someone at the company. But that person might be a janitor, cook, data center expert or a receptionist.
The notion that one sole person out of Google`s 36,118 employees can just go in and tweak the main Google algorithm to favor one site over the other is just not based on factual evidence.
A Google employee would likely be fired on the spot if they even tried to manipulate search rankings.
Google is driven by numbers, testing and the end-user experience. Each year, Google tests more than 20,000 different small changes to its core algorithm. At any given time, there are between 50-150+ different versions of the Google core algorithm running, each testing different methods to be able to deliver the best search results possible for end users. Plus, Google uses your past search history, location, device and many other metrics to personalize your search results.
Automated Safeguards.
Even if someone at Google did manage to change a ranking, there are automated safeguards that bring things back into balance.
For example, Google knows when someone clicks a search result, goes to a page, and then quickly hits the `back` button in their browser (this is called a bounce). This means that the end user probably didn`t find what they were looking for. Too high of a bounce rate, and your search rankings drop automatically. The “inside” person at Google would have to manipulate this safeguard, too.
Very rarely, Google will take what is called a manual corrective action. This usually happens after a national newspaper like The New York Times does a big article exposing some company that has been able to game the system. JC Penny lost rankings, and Google later changed it`s algorithm to prevent abuse like this from happening again in the future.
The Summary:
Anyone pitching SEO that claims they know an inside person at Google who will help manipulate rankings for your company is lying.
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