Thoughts - Mapping Truk Atoll and Still Frustrated and Angry With Google

Truk Atoll - EVS Precision map (1:350,000)

Truk Atoll - EVS Precision Masp (1:100,00)

Yes! I'm still making maps. This latest unfinished project resulted from a conversation with the Chief Machinist on a ship that travels periodically to Truk Atoll, now known as Chuuk Atoll. It was the site of a devastating air raid, Operation Hailstorm, that sunk 70 Japanese ships. Aircraft and ground fortification were also targeted. The attack was a total success and viewed by some as America's revenge for Pearl Harbor. Today, divers from around the world travel to this lagoon of ghost ships to explore the relics of war. The young man said charts of the lagoon were of poor quality. I promised him a high quality map (not nautical chart) of the atoll. In addition, I intend to plot sunken ship locations.

GOOGLE, YOU REALLY MESSED WITH MY VISIBILITY

I finally figured out why I am so frustrated first and angry second with the folks at Google. On November 1st someone at Google made a change that negatively affected my post's page rankings. Let me share what I've discovered about the ranking of just one of my past mapping efforts, Anaa Atoll, which previous to Nov 1st, was on Google's page 1 search results.

Anaa Atoll shows up in the number 8 position on page 1 of Yahoo! search results and in the number 3 position on page 1 of MS Live Search results. Yet, it shows up in the number 10 position on page 12 of Google's search results. I am sorry, but that's messed up! The 120 sites pushed ahead of mine are largely of little value (weather, airfares, hotels, etc.) to a person wanting to learn something of substance about this atoll.

I don't want to sound pompous, but my map work is of a high quality and I share it with any and all. I work hard at perfecting my mapping craft and ensure my Google website maintains the highest quality. And now, someone at Google made a change that negatively affected the ranking of information from my site. As a result, my European and Asian readership is down to 4 or 5 pageviews a day and was previously 30 to 50 pageviews a day. My USA readership is down to 10 to 20 pageviews per day and was previously 100 plus pageviews per day and growing. All of this because a Google techie made a change that has wreaked havoc on my website's visibility.

I've checked my "robots.txt" file and it seems to be in order, but even if it wasn't I couldn't change it. Google controls that. I've emailed twice to the black hole called Google Webmaster and was assured someone would read my email, but would not contact me with their solution. Google is so good on so many levels, but truely sucks when it comes to resolving an issue such as mine. They allow you to email, but do not answer. They never give you a name, a phone number...

Argh! I'm just really frustrated. I've worked very hard for the past 3-years building the quality of my website. Things were great. My hard work and the quality mapping projects produced were paying off with increasing pageviews. Now, because somebody at Google made a change affecting my website on Nov 1st, my 3-years of hard work have been virtually erased. I am back to square one, trying to figure out a Google-less way to share my island mapping projects. But, if Google isn't in the picture, neither is your work. Damnit!@