Rubel Suggests SEO Change

[Paul Keith]

http://www.steverubel.com/are-likes-poised-to-replace-links-as-the-webs

For years the mighty hypertext link has served as the web's traffic signal network. Links guide where our clicks, attention and, therefore, money flows. It has given rise to multi-billion-dollar businesses and even entire industries. As the blockbuster AOL/HuffingtonPost deal shows, we truly do live in what Jeff Jarvis calls "The Link Economy." But maybe just maybe that economy could be peaking.
More recently it appears that an equally powerful network of signals has emerged just as certain kinds of links are being called into question in the mainstream press.

Still, this poses an interesting question: could the like, one day come to dominate links as the primary way we find and engage with content? Is Facebook's EdgeRank the new Google PageRank? It may seem improbable now but history is filled with metaphors.

The irony?

#1: More data analyzers has been done on Twitter users than Facebook users.

#2: Like is worse than Up and Down arrows and StumbleUpon has/is been gamed.

#3: Mark as spam besides a Google search is basically Like minus the requirement to have multiple fake users pad up the numbers to create a difference

The good:

#1: Like used in conjunction with Follow is win as evidence by services such as Mashable Follow/FriendFeed and BlogLuvin

#2: Spammers vs. Rabid Fans = better than just spammers

#3: Like is closer to the concept of a Semantic Web tag compared to search

The horrible:

Outdated concept that is still being under-discussed by people who just happen to look too closely into Facebook and nothing else.