SPRING 2020

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Joe Dysart Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Thousand Oaks, California. A journalist for 20 years, his articles have appeared in more than 40 publications, including The New York Times and The Financial Times of London. During the past decade, his work has focused exclusively on ecommerce. Telephone: 631-256-6602; web: www.joedysart.com; email: joe@dysartnewsfeatures.com SHAME POLICE: GOOGLE TOYS WITH PENALIZING SLOW WEBSITES Search goliath Google is toying with the idea of shaming slow-loading Web sites by displaying a “Usually loads slow” splash screen in place of a home page when someone is trying to visit your fastener distribution Web site. The move, which Google detailed in a recent blog post (www.blog. chromium.org/2019/11/movingtowards-faster-web.html), would have a chilling effect on any Web site Google deems as slow-loading. Essentially: A “Usually loads slow” splash screen served-up by Google would pretty much be the kissof-death to any fastener distributor, encouraging a Web surfer to move along to an alternative Web site with better performance. “Internet users are less tolerant of slow Web sites than they’ve ever been,” says Marcus Taylor, founder, Venture Harbour (www.ventureharbour.com), a digital marketing firm. “And the shift towards Internet-enabled mobile devices means that if you’re not fast, you’re not going to be seen.” While Google was careful to word its shame police intentions as a possibility rather than an inevitability, it’s no secret that the search giant has been campaigning hard for a faster Web for decades. Moreover, the search titan has demonstrated it has no qualms about stepping in as officer-on-the-beat when it comes to exposing poorly performing Web sites. GOOGLE MAY BEGIN WARNING WEB SURFERS ABOUT SLOW-LOADING WEB SITES. GOOGLE CO-FOUNDER SERGEY BRIN IS ALREADY POLICING THE SECURITY OF WEB SITES. Indeed, since the summer of 2018, Google has been branding Web sites exhibiting poor security by displaying an ‘insecure Web site’ icon in a browser’s Web site address bar. (Secure sites are rewarded with a green padlock icon – the sign of a correctly secured Web site.) No one asked Google to do that. Are more than a few Web site owners have been vexed by the branding. But like it or not, Google has already set itself up as the arbiter of Web site security. Now it’s looking to expand that policing role to include rating the speed of Web sites. Bottom line: Many Google watchers see the Google post on shaming slow Web sites as a trial balloon – a probe to see if there is significant backlash to the idea, or widespread acceptance. The prudent move is for fastener distributors to up-their-game on their Web site’s download speed now. As many of us have learned over the years, more often than not, what Google wants, Google gets. Here’s a game-plan for protecting your fastener distribution Web site from the splash screen of death: ¤ Get a quick look at how fast your Web site downloads: Given that Google has a vested interest in a fast Web seeded with its advertising, it’s no wonder it offers free tools you can use to quickly assess the speed of your Web site. CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE CONTINUED ON PAGE 114