Snooth: Google putting the hurt on "content farms"

WINE TALK
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110225/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_google_search

NEW YORK – Google says it has tweaked the formulas steering its Internet search engine to take the rubbish out of its results. The overhaul is designed to lower the rankings of what Google deems “low-quality” sites. That could be a veiled reference to so-called online “content farms” such as Demand Media’s eHow.com.

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That’s good news, although I was hopeful that when Greg dal Piaz went over to Snooth, that it was a sign that they were going to do something useful and clean up their act.

He’s definitely developed some original content, based on trips and tastings, but the site remains hard for me to understand, and seems to be primarily a “low quality site”.

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Sure is. When you Google, it generally comes up first, claiming to have the TN or whatever you want, but when you click the link, there is nothing there. Bloody nuisance. IIRC a few years ago it was much more useful.

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Snooth is always at the top or towards the top of a google search, and there’s RARELY any relevant information on the sight.

I have this problem with restaurant listing sites too. There seems to be a million restaurant listing websites that try to to get users to input data, reviews, menus, etc… Of course, most of them are empty of any submitted data.

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Just playing around with a few searches and snooth was no where to be found.

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I just tried my standard snooth stole from CellarTracker search and snooth did NOT show up. (BTW - the search is for MamSue’s Vineyard 2008 Merlot - I had the only bottle in CellarTracker and the only TN. And most folks don’t know where the winery is!)

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Live by SEO, die by SEO.

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I’ve done this same thing a few times over the last month, with some esoteric stuff that I’ve posted notes on. In the past, a clear linkage between my CT notes and the stuff that showed up Snooth. Now…notta. So, to give them credit, Snooth seems to have cleaned up its act as relates to CT content…at least as far as I can tell via a few random spot checks.

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I’ve had this problem as well. Every time I feel like I should at least try to check it out, I end up hopelessly wandering around trying to find some sort of valuable information. In fact, I have trouble even finding useless information. [scratch.gif] From the standpoint of a winery member… it’s even worse.

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+1 on the consumer side of this. The only time I’ve ever “hit” on this site is when it was on notes derived from CT. Between CT and Wine-Searcher, I’m thinking I don’t need Snooth? Am I missing something?

Thanks,
Jim

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Early in January, before the whole “content scavenging” blow up here over CT notes being misappropriated by Snooth, I asked myself the same thing, “What am I missing?”. Like you, Snooth had never provided anything for me other than a time wasting maze of mouse clicks.

I figured, though, that maybe I just didn’t know how to use it, so I looked a little and without the prejudice of it being a garbage site built just to drive traffic. Plus, I knew Greg was there, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and dug in the site.

It was still a maze of incomprehensible crap, but that’s when I discovered Greg’s trip notes, and that some of my imports were to be found in their listings. Some info was incomplete, lots of it wrong, so I tried to do what Randy did and join as a member so I could edit the info. “If you can’t beat 'em, join 'em,” right? I’m a pretty tech-handy guy, but I couldn’t even get that done, even after an email to Snooth asking for help! Nor did I glean any insight into what use that site is; it’s a real jumble of crap that feels like a scam waiting to happen…or happening as it collects whatever data it can from my visit.

So, I gave up on that POS site, and am happy that crap won’t be clogging up my search results anymore.

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It’s currently the #3 site listed for a Google search of “wiggly jiggly sneezy,” providing a link to this non-wine I’ve mentioned before: http://www.snooth.com/wine/tolo-wiggly-jiggly-sneezy-the-dragon/

Yeah, I would characterize Snooth (the core site, anyway) as a low-quality content farm.

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But you have to give thanks to any site that offers this review.

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As of yesterday there are TONS of searches where Snooth used to be ahead of CT and now CT seems to be several places ahead of Snooth. It will be interesting to watch Quantcast over the coming weeks to see how traffic on both sites is impacted.

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Here it is – much too delicious not to quote:

Tolo Wiggly Jiggly Sneezy the Dragon - 01/28/11
This wine has awesome, hedonistic, mouth-filling gobs of fruit at th every beginning…I just can’t believe the level of encapsulation here, it reminds me of 1947 Lafite when it was two years old… although of course I never tasted that…I am referring to what it should have tasted like from how it tasted at the Fat Pig Dim Sum house where me and some buddies gathered for another gut-busting evening of hedonism…most of all I enjoyed the carapace, with its scents of pain grille, white flower petals and Jeff’s underpants…this really sent me into a vortex of delight…one of the greatest wines, from the greatest vintages, from the greatest wineries and the greatest winemakers ever…and that’s ho hyperbole…you read it here first…some would suggest this reflects imbecility…but anyone who says so, or disagrees with me, is just plain WRONG! I have the universal palate!!


Read more: > http://www.snooth.com/wine/tolo-wiggly-jiggly-sneezy-the-dragon/?t=reviews&r=2998853//url#ixzz1F5RGMKWZ

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I love the “user tags” on that review: : fat pig Jeff’s underpants palate [rofl.gif]

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Well, I would hope that the content I provide snooth doesn’t fall into the “Useless Crap” category you guys are referring to. Granted, my work is more food related, than wine related. But if you are into food, and you realize that Snooth is behind publicizing people such as myself, then you should maybe cut them a little slack. I know I’m not that active on this forum, but many of you know me and know I wouldn’t be pushing useless content on people.

(PS: Whatscook.in is snooth)
http://www.whatscook.in/author/Eric+Guido/

As for wine, the way I see it, snooth is more user friendly to the beginner. I don’t think they are trying to appeal to people like us. Plus, Greg’s reviews and editorials are a great treat and I find it worth navigating some of the minutia, to read the work of such a trusted source and amazing palate.

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Manusha? Talk about worthless content! [wink.gif]

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Eric,

You know I’m a fan of your work, subscribe to your blog, and have now enjoyed several dinners with you. Greg is an old friend who I have enjoyed countless dinners with, and he has a terrific palate. Moreover, I fully realize that neither you nor Greg are in charge of any of the other parts of Snooth.

But what those other parts do is largely useless and annoying. If I google a wine and Snooth comes up, then I still click on it in hopes that it will lead to a note by Greg. Sadly, it rarely does. Instead what I get is some useless information and maybe a tiny photo taken from CellarTracker or Vinfolio.

I think you and Greg should push for a cleaner interface which makes it easier to find your content. There is no doubt that you and Greg provide real content, but it is very hard to find.

BTW the What’s Cookin’ site is much better laid out and easier to navigate than Snooth itself. Another chef well worth looking for on that site is Magda Gagliano (wife of another Barolo friend of mine whose food I have very much enjoyed):

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So let’s give an example. Let’s say I’m interested in Rivers Marie wine. If I go to snooth and click on a random bottle, 2008 Sonoma Coast, I get . . . absolutely no information. The overview is a description of pinot noir. Nice. I click the reviews tab, no reviews. I click the photos tab, no photos. I click the Compare prices tab, 1 store is selling it for $55 - Vinfolio. Should the amateur wine person be buying wines from vinfolio?

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