What happened Google?

Something strange happened last week. Readers may remember that last July, I noted that my first name, Gavin, had put me near the top of Google searches. On Google.ie I was ranked third, while on Google.com it was usually about fifth, along with Gavin Friday and Gavin DeGraw. Now this is something I have checked out of curiousity, and maybe a little vanity, for a number of years.

Last week I was mysteriously dropped from the rankings. Not only am I not in the top 10, I am not in the top 100. Now I have a fair idea how Google’s technology works, and this could be a temporary blip, but it is very strange indeed.

It was the case that 20 to 30 people a day visited after searching simply for ‘gavin’. My traffic fell through the floor around the same time, perhaps Google have reorganised the index, tweaked the algorithm, or ominously, perhaps I was removed. I shall wait and see.

‘Who goes, you [don’t] decide.’ Cheers big brother.