scoble (v): To cry, whine, or bitch about not receiving something you didn’t deserve in the first place. As in, “He totally Robert Scoble’d about it” or “I stopped caring once he scobled”.
It’s Monday, I’m about to hop on a train to liveblog SES NY and big brands are scobling. Shoot me in the face.
I don’t want this to sound like a knee jerk reaction to “the story of the day” but frankly, I’m tired of the whiners. They’re annoying me. They need to stop. And you need to understand why so you don’t follow their path.
As you’ve likely read, the media giants of the world are scobling that they don’t get more attention in the SERPs and are appealing to Google’s Publisher’s Advisory Council (!) for help. They’re of the opinion that they should automatically rank higher than the “parasite” bloggers who they feel benefit disproportionately from Google’s algorithm. Basically, they’re upset that their male privilege doesn’t work quite as well as they had hoped. They’d like a Disney Fast Pass to the top three organic positions. And maybe some water while you’re up.
You know what? STFU, Big Brands. Because no one cares.
As far as I can tell, big brands already have the preferential treatment they’re crying for.
- They already rank better due to trust.
- They link to their own, breeding more misplaced trust.
- We had that whole Vince update thing.
- Hell, they knew that a Publisher’s Advisory Council even existed. Did you know?
I’m tired of bailing people out. As the proverb goes, a failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. It’s not my fault that you don’t exert the tenth of the energy I would need in order to see equal results. It’s not my fault you sat back and watched those parasite bloggers outrank you. It’s not my fault I rank higher because I’m smarter and offer more. This isn’t a new discussion. You just haven’t learned. Again, your issue; not mine.
You want to rank? You want to be successful? You need to put in the work. You get a trophy when you succeed, not for simply showing up.
Whatever you do, don’t strive to be a big brand. The big brands are fat and lazy. They don’t have the hustle the smaller fish do, the people who are out there doing stuff and ranking and making money. The media giants know what they need to do in order to rank well in Google. So why not just do that? Why not create a better Web site? Why not make it more accessible? Why not put in the effort and follow the rules and the steps to successful SEO? That’d be a far better use of their resources than simply trying to get a special note from the principal and calling out bloggers. But it takes work. And you have to do that work.
If you want to rank, put in the time. If you can’t do it yourself, hire someone who can. We’d love to chat with you. The big brands have no excuse for the situation they’ve put themselves in. Instead of crying to be bailed out, they could be taking steps to remedy their situation. They choose not to.
What’s frustrating is that this is 2009. We’ve been having the same conversation with brands for years now. I don’t know if they’re not listening or if they’re just not hearing. Either way, I don’t think their selective deafness is my problem.
Let’s get one thing clear: No one owes you anything. I don’t care how Paris Hilton-famous you think you are.
Instead of appealing for special treatment on a playing field that has never been level in the first place, why not just get in the game?
And with that, I have work to do and a train to catch. Lates.
