S.E Board Member-conflict of interest?

Hi,

It has been brought to my attention that a competitor of mine whom has a website that competes with mine - the owner of this website is also on the board of AOL search engine decision making. In other words, there is a board on AOL (whom is now partnered with google) that decides what url will be ranked where on the search engine. Of course his website is always ranked on the 1st page and ususally within the top 5 if not top two. My website was for a short period #1 for some generic terms. Guess what, I got bumped down to the bottom of the first page and google/aol and my competitor/board member is on top again!! I have spoken to this gentleman before-just about business - not this. He never has told me he was on the board - but it has been confirmed by quite a few people.

Okay, my question is - isnt this a CONFLICT OF INTEREST? What can I do about it? Something is not right here? Or is this just a fact of life and I need to accept it. Do I have any recourse?

I appreciate all comments and advice.

Dixon

No. I dont agree with that as it's all in the algo. The board is setup to negotiate marketing and integrating technology into AOL. I have talked to the same board you are refeering to except for AOL Canada.

I dropped 6 spots from 4 on a competitive keyword and that's just life. I haven't seen any traffic lose either. Question: How is your traffic holding up because of this?

If he used to rank highly before than why wouldn't he rank highly now?

There is no Conflict of Interest because than AOL would be manipulating Google's info that would in part break the TOS even if they are partners. It would reflect poorly on Google.

-PK

Hi Pk,

Thanks for the quick reply!! He was ranking high, than for three weeks he wasnt and he is back on top now!!

Hey, I am not a pro on this. I just thought this was ironic - he usually is on top.

My ranking just fell from #1 to #9, I am not sure how this will affect me. I would imagine it will though, how many people make down to #9.

It is amazing, some websites stay in the top 3 positions for many months at a time, how do they do it. I couldnt stay for more than 3 weeks. Gosh, I have a lot to learn. I am curious though how some stay at the top for a very long time. Any ideas. Again, I appreciate your quick response.

Thanks,
Dixon

Hey dixon
If you look around the board you will notice ALOT of people's rank fell for certain keywords recently. (I fell from #4 to #10 but I dont rely on just one or two keywords so I haven't seen any traffic change). Sites that stay on top of the list is due to good:

SEO <- Search Engine Optimization
PR <- PageRank (get the Google toolbar @ toolbar.google.com to see PR)
Backlinks <- How many sites link to them especially backlinks with good PR.

These are but a few reasons (but most important). Just read up on everything in this board and you'll get the idea and hopefully take back the #1 spot.

BTW Welcome to the board.

-PK

PK, you are great! Thanks for your input. Much appreciated!! Dixon