The year 2009 was the year of slaps, smack and strict rules in the world of web 2.0. Social networking sites saw a mammoth rise in membership by marketers, followed by a surge of spammers and eventually got punished by Google for their leniency.

So their slap by the search engines is being passed down to you. Everyone has tightened their belts, restricted certain content, lessened the number of links you can use and implemented any other rule to prevent Google from doling out the same harsh punishment in the future.

Social networking was once a way for peers to share information and opinions its so much more than that now. It paved the way for marketers to immerse themselves in communities where targeted consumers were lurking, converting peer traffic into click-throughs and sales.

It probably would have been smooth sailing if everyone had done his or her part to provide great content and keep topics above the board. But its inevitable that when a good thing surfaces (like web 2.0), spammers and seedy characters will suck it dry of any opportunity it possesses.
Read the rest of this entry