"SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization), there is currently no unified Chinese translation in China, we call it 'search engine optimization' for the time being. This is a technical behavior that uses the search algorithms and rules of search engines to improve the organic ranking of target websites and links in search engines through guò analysis, in order to get more free traffic from search engines. ”

Gu Mojie sat on the sofa and talked eloquently.

Sheng Wei listened very carefully, and for the first time did not show his impatience. And from Sheng Wei's expression, Gu Mojie knew that he didn't digest the concept he said for the first time.

So he decided to give a more in-depth example.

"For example, if today I want to improve my IME download link and rank in the search results for the keyword 'Pinyin Input Method' on Google Chrome, what can I do? I can analyze how the Google engine sorts the search results, what algorithm is used, and then tweak my site-for-tat.

If Google's algorithm thinks that 'links placed under the second-level domain or shorter can be prioritized for a certain ranking order', then we should not hesitate to dig up the download links that were originally hidden under the third- or fourth-level domain names and put them directly on the homepage of the second-level domains.

If Google's algorithm thinks that second-level links that have been referenced by certain high-reliability backbone navigation links will be more trustworthy, then we need to find a way to get our links referenced by those Google-defined key navigations, even if it costs some expense.

In short, how to spend the least cost, or even no additional cost, to make our website and links appear on search engines has a greater chance, this is search engine optimization. ”

At this time, Sheng Wei completely understood, but then he felt that this matter was not profitable: "This is what you want me to do instead?" No matter how you look at it, there are some big investments and small returns. And I've never heard anyone do this in China. ”

Sheng Wei's reason for refusing is a little simple and crude, but it seems to be very reasonable: no one in China does it, which shows that this thing is not profitable, at least it is not cost-effective; If it weren't for the Chinese's nature of sniffing money and jumping on it, how could it be possible to put money and not make money?

And the status quo that Sheng Wei said is absolutely true. At the beginning of 2004, I hadn't heard of anyone in China who had spent their brains in the search engine optimization business. Even if it is a country on the other side of the ocean, in fact, the first batch of SE0ers has only tested the water for a year or two, and they are all semi-amateur piecemeal, and have not formed a systematic theoretical system.

"No one in China does this, that's just because no one in China uses Google, and the vast majority of netizens only have Baidu."

Sheng Wei was stunned: "Why?" Can't it be optimized for Baidu? ”

The question is purely reflexive and does not go through the brain at all. As soon as he asked, Sheng Wei immediately said the same to himself, knowing that this question was too innocent.

However, Gu Mojie thought he really didn't understand, and he had already explained. Sheng Wei didn't mind checking and filling in the gaps, and then listened carefully.

"Because Google only sells single-column keyword ads, but refuses to mix keyword ads with regular search results. Google's top of search results is not for sale, and can only be obtained through the strength of the website link itself, as well as SEO work, so foreign countries have the soil for SEO to survive.

Baidu's discipline is worse than Google's, it directly engages in bidding rankings, and sells the top position in search results for money. No matter how strong SEO is, can it still screw Baidu's direct harmony? Therefore, there was no SEO soil in China. ”

Let's use an analogy in a way that ordinary netizens can understand.

If the ranking of search results on Google can be compared to a real "list", then the front row of Baidu's search results is a combination of "list + recommended position on the website".

Only a pure list will attract people who brush the list to study how to brush the list; And the combination of the list and the recommendation position will only make people study how to bribe people who have the power to arrange the recommendation position, and get the recommendation position through the back door. Because trading under the table is always cheaper than brushing the list.

Of course, SEO is legal and reasonable, and it is a purely technical confrontation at the level of engine algorithms, and burning money to brush the list are two concepts.

The laws of the market are far-reaching.

Sheng Wei listened to Gu Mojie's words, pondered for a while, and persuaded Gu Mojie with a little dejection: "In that case, it would be better if you continued to stuff Baidu with money." Domestically, this business can't be done. ”

Gu Mojie smiled confidently.

"Don't worry, listen to me. Chinese can't always only use Baidu, there are always some professional netizens, netizens who have pursuits, will use Google, so we need to look beyond and let our website be optimized for Google. And that's just a minor aspect, and I'm going to advise you to change careers today, but there's a more important aspect – if it had been a year ago, I would never have recommended you to do SEO, but it's a different situation now. ”

"What is the reason?" Sheng Wei's appetite was completely suspended.

"Because in the future, SEO is no longer the SEO of the past, and its business scope is much larger. Before last year, what were the goals of those who did SEO in the United States? IT'S JUST OPTIMIZED FOR GOOGLE'S HOMEPAGE SEARCH RULE ALGORITHM, BUT SINCE THIS YEAR, GOOGLE HAS LAUNCHED THE ADSENSE AD MEDIATION PLATFORM. IN THE FUTURE, THE TARGETED OPTIMIZATION OF THE ALGORITHM CAN FURTHER EXPAND THE BUSINESS SCOPE TO INCLUDE THE ADSENSE ALGORITHM.

I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT GOOGLE'S ADSENSE PLATFORM WILL DOMINATE THE INTERNET AD MEDIATION MARKET AROUND THE WORLD IN A FEW YEARS. AT THAT TIME, ALL WEBSITE OWNERS ON THE PLANET WILL HAVE TO RELY ON GOOGLE'S ADSENSE TO PUSH ADVERTISING SOURCES FOR THEM - EVEN CHINESE WEBSITE OWNERS CAN ONLY USE GOOGLE IN THIS FIELD; Because Baidu can't do this at all, Google is invincible in this field. This kind of invincibility is not that no one can beat him, but that no one can fight him at all.

THINK ABOUT IT, IF YOU GET THE FIRST TIME TO GRASP AN OPTIMIZATION PLAN THAT ALLOWS ADSENSE ADVERTISERS TO SPEND LESS PER CLICK AD AND GET MORE CLICKS, HOW MUCH PROTECTION WILL YOU BE ABLE TO EARN FROM IT?

Of course, this market will be very large, you can't monopolize it, there are always a lot of smart people, and there will be no shortage of foreigners competing with you. But even if you are only the fastest and farthest of all Chinese in this segment, the money you can make is absolutely limitless - at least then, most of the Chinese advertisers who try to advertise on Chinese websites will come to you first. ”

Sheng Wei fell into deep thought, and he understood what Gu Mojie meant:

A few years later, when a Chinese advertiser advertises on a Chinese website; Although the deal seems to have taken place between two pure Chinese, it seems that it has nothing to do with the foreigners. BUT BECAUSE THEY CAN ONLY DO IT WITH GOOGLE'S ADESENSE AS AN INTERMEDIARY, A BROKER WHO KNOWS HOW TO EXPLOIT GOOGLE'S INTERMEDIARY ALGORITHM WILL STILL BE USEFUL.

BECAUSE, AT THAT TIME, THERE WILL ONLY BE ONE INTERMEDIARY ON THE EARTH, GOOGLE ADSENSE. There is only one in heaven and the world; In the underworld of the world, there is no other branch.

THE REASON WHY GOOGLE HAS GROWN TO A BEHEMOTH OF HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN LATER GENERATIONS, AND IT SEEMS THAT ITS BUSINESS IS FLOURISHING EVERYWHERE, IN FACT, THE MOST IMPORTANT CORE CASH FLOW IS PROVIDED BY ADSENSE, WHICH IS GOOGLE'S BIGGEST CASH COW, BECAUSE HE PLAYS THE ROLE OF AN INTERMEDIARY FOR ALL MANKIND'S INTERNET ADVERTISING.

Although this point is impossible for Gu Mojie and Sheng Wei to predict now, it is enough for them to pay attention to this part of the supporting business.

Sheng Wei had completely followed Gu Mojie's tone and knew which direction he should transform. At the level of motivation, there is no need for Gu Mojie to talk nonsense, and the rest is some small doubts in the technical direction.

"Gu Mojie, I, Sheng Wei, have never served a few people in my life, I have always been alone, and today I am really convinced-just look at you, I will do it with you! However, I still don't think too much about it, if we want to do this business, what angle should we start from in order to maximize our existing resources and technology accumulation? ”

The transformation of science and engineering men is very rational, and they will not directly transform without considering the technical feasibility of the brain.

Even if the owner of a small factory wants to change the products of the factory, he still has to think: what can be produced to use the machine tools and equipment already in the factory?

Sheng Wei's willingness to follow Gu Mojie's train of thought does not mean that he is willing to abandon his current foundation and start from scratch in a completely unfamiliar field.

Fortunately, Gu Mojie did his homework today.

"We can still give an example to illustrate this problem: for example, in the past six months, among the customers you have received, are there any sports club official websites or the like?"

Sheng Wei didn't think much about it, so he replied in the affirmative: "I have received that one of the biggest names is still an NBA team, an operator on the team's official website, who contacted me privately and hired my broiler to order the advertisements on their official website, and then the additional part of the advertising fee was shared with me." In that business, I faked tens of millions of fan clicks before and after, and made two or three million. ”

Gu Mojie nodded, and then continued the material provided by Sheng Wei to explain:

"Okay, so I'll use the NBA team's official website as an example. LET'S SAY GOOGLE'S ADSENSE PUSHES TWO TYPES OF ADS TO THIS OFFICIAL WEBSITE, AND ITS ALGORITHM IS AS FOLLOWS: FIRST, GOOGLE'S ALGORITHM AUTOMATICALLY RECOGNIZES THAT THIS IS A TEAM'S WEBSITE, AND THE USERS WHO COME TO BROWSE THE PAGE ARE FANS, SO THEIR ADS SHOULD CATER TO THE NEEDS OF FANS IN ORDER TO MAXIMIZE CLICKS.

Let's assume that basketball and jersey ads are the most clicked categories on the team's website, and then Google searches for N advertisers with basketball ads on it, and some offer 5 cents a click, some 20 cents. Naturally, Google would have prioritized the basketball ad, which was worth 20 cents per click.

However, Google's push algorithm is not simply sorted by the bid per click, it also takes into account the maximization of the product of the unit price and the number of clicks.

For example, in addition to basketball and jerseys, Yunnan Baiyao, a drug for bruises, is also in great demand among the user base of sports websites, and Yunnan Baiyao is a consumable, and the frequency of consumption is much higher than that of non-consumables such as basketball.

AT THIS TIME, IF THERE IS A YUNNAN BAIYAO AD WITH A BID OF 5 CENTS PER CLICK, AND A GENUINE BASKETBALL AD WITH A PRICE OF 20 CENTS PER CLICK, AND AT THE SAME TIME IT IS WAITING TO BE PUSHED ON GOOGLE'S ADSENSE. ADSENSE WILL CALCULATE THAT IF THE OVERALL CLICK PROBABILITY OF THE GENRE OF YUNNAN BAIYAO ADVERTISING IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS EXCEEDS THAT OF BASKETBALL ADVERTISING BY MORE THAN 4 TIMES, THEN EVEN IF THE ADVERTISING FEE OF YUNNAN BAIYAO ADVERTISING IS SMALL, ADSENSE WILL STILL GIVE PRIORITY TO PUSHING YUNNAN BAIYAO.

Of course, Google's algorithm will certainly not be so simple, and there are thousands of algorithm engineers behind him who are constantly optimizing. I've just given you the simplest example.

Now let's recall: in the past six months, have you ever encountered such a thing: for example, when the NBA website owner hires your botnet, he asks your broiler to give priority to clicking on certain ads on his website with a relatively high unit price; At the same time, he'd rather make less money and tell you not to order some ads that aren't very valuable? ”

This time, Sheng Wei recalled for a long time, and finally realized: "When you say this, it seems that there is such a thing!" ”

Gu Mojie showed a demonic smile and chased after the victory: "This is what those website owners are optimizing the push that Google gives them!" Anyway, they hired botnets, and no matter what ads Google pushes to them, there will be botnets. So at this time, they are trying to hope that Google will push them the most expensive ad categories as much as possible.

In the process of selectively clicking on ads, your broilers will feedback a wrong large number jù to Google ADSENSE, making Google mistakenly think that those low-bid ads are really not clicked, so gradually they will push less; And those expensive ads, if people have been ordering, Google will think that it is hot, and the more it is pushed, the more it is pushed. As a result, the unit price of all advertising space on this website began to rise, and in the long run, the website could not make money! ”

Sheng Wei was dumbfounded when he heard it, he used it as a knife, and he didn't even know it. Although Gu Mojie has no personal experience, he said it as if he had seen it himself.

Mo Jie's wisdom is almost demonic.

After a long time, Sheng Wei came back to his senses: "Grass! I didn't expect these website owners to be darker than me! If they do this, they won't be afraid that the reputation of the website will be damaged! ”

Gu Mojie sneered: "What do they have to be afraid of, now it is not the past, the advertisements in the past were directly placed on the website by advertisers, and of course the website owner has to take care of his reputation." FUTURE ADVERTISEMENTS WILL BE PLACED BY ADVERTISERS ON ADSENSE, AND ADSENSE WILL THEN BE PUSHED TO WEBSITES; There is no intersection between website owners and advertisers at all, and the credibility of Google's behemoth is endorsing website owners. As long as those websites get the loopholes in Google's algorithm and snipe before Google, why worry about not being able to earn more advertising fees. ”

Sheng Wei was so choked that he couldn't speak, and sat back in his chair. Gu Mojie saw that he had almost digested it, and said his final conclusion:

So, what you're doing is you're helping the owner get as many clicks as possible from the 20-cent one-click ad into their site and get enough clicks, and at the same time pushing the low-priced ad out of their site as much as possible for the two-cent ad per click.

What I'm asking you to do now is the opposite. From my standpoint as an advertiser, even if I only pay 2 cents for a click, you have to let me get enough appearances; Let Google's algorithm misjudge how often my ads are expected to be clicked, overestimate me, and push me out as much as they can.

Even if I'm a basketball seller today, I only pay 2 cents, and in Google's intermediary library, there are a bunch of basketball ads that cost 10 cents and 20 cents on me; I also want you to use guò technical means to deceive Google's algorithm, so that Google automatically recognizes me as a seller of Yunnan Baiyao, and then as long as I am more expensive than the single-click bid of my Yunnan Baiyao peers, I can get the push. ”

When Gu Mojie said this, Sheng Wei finally completely comprehended it, and countless places that he couldn't understand before were enlightened in an instant.

"Let's talk about your specific requirements."

GU MOJIE WAS NOT IN A HURRY, POINTED TO A PLAN AND SAID: "MY EXPECTATION IS TO OPEN AN ACCOUNT ON ADSENSE, AND THEN PUSH OUT MY INPUT METHOD ADS ACCORDING TO A MINIMUM OF 2 CENTS AT A VALID CLICK." What you have to do is make sure that even if I only give 2 cents, I still have a strong enough appearance. In this process, you can use the botnet resources at hand to do traffic drainage, forge false large numbers, and mislead the Google algorithm to make a misjudgment, thinking that my ad has a strong enough probability of being clicked - the details need to be studied slowly. ”

Sheng Wei promised: "It's done!" I did it! ”

"So, let's talk about the cost to you......

"I don't have to talk to my brother about the cost this time!" Sheng Wei stopped Gu Mojie's words, and said proudly, "Just by the way you woke me up, it is worth at least a few million." Brother is also a person from tens of millions of industries. Money is just a number, you have found a technical direction for me to study, and I will not charge you money this time. It's a big deal.,Just take your input method advertisement,As the object of my practice.。 ”

On the road.

Gu Mojie knew that he had won another bet. To deal with a technical maniac, you have to use technical foresight to convince the other party, which is sometimes more effective than the boss who doesn't know how to use money to brutally smash people.

Of course, Gu Mojie's trick is not something that everyone can learn, the premise is that you must also understand this technique yourself.