Data Value Inflation: Remembering That Google is A Database Application

The properties and apparent shifting of Google’s indexing results are contingent on, and a function of a dichotomy inherent in all databases. There is a tension between the purpose of a database to assimilate information and an effort to maintain uniqueness of search results, otherwise known as a query in database terms. Every database application strikes a balance between these two parameters. Ultimately, the assimilation of all data wins out over the filtering of replicated information. This is where an SEO expert will succeed by virtue of determining the best methods of insertion of records or data into the Google data storage and retrieval system. Ultimately, because Google is designed to provide comprehensive storage and retrieval, filtering is a secondary process. Thus, Google becomes dependent on patterning algorithms to purge duplicate data and something else far less prevalent in traditional databases- noise, also known as web spam. Avoid the patterning detection and you succeed in gaming the system to some degree. In a utopian Internet, there would be no SEO because all information would be archived and presented based solely on the merits of unique quality and quantity. This is not the real world, as we know, because commerce is necessarily a part of the real world and commerce is competitive and it is repetitive. Inflation is controlled but is not eliminated. In fact, inflation of the value of data is inherent in the system. This will continue so long as Google operates on a profit basis. A certain level of repetition is not only tolerated, but expected because commerce is based on repetition. I’m not talking about Plagiarism or mass duplication but I am referring to consistent broadcast of a message and syndication with consistent growth. Fail to do this and other competitors that follow these norms will surpass you.

If I write an article about real estate, Google will index it, at least internally, and compare it to the rest of its database. If it passes initial tests, the “record” is committed. Periodically run stored procedures may later purge the data or modify its value in query results. If I insert a reference in valued data, the reference is successful in adding value to the referenced data. A link to a video on youtube such as Mirasol Homes for Sale, from my real estate example, becomes inherently more valued because of its association to Youtube. The anchor text is assigned a value beyond its intrinsic value by association with the higher valued resource. This is the basis of the inflationary nature of SEO. The next competitor must outperform this process to compete for higher positions in query results.
To compensate for inflationary tendencies, Google uses several methods, including attrition of disuse to deprecate value in archived data.