The East Comes West is my favorite. I could have spent a number of hours making it bigger and more detailed but done is better than perfect.

Yes, the Google = The Law is something many latch on to like a rabid dog. In the end, I view Google as the zoning board who is simply trying to cater to the demands of their constituents. Algorithm changes aren’t aimed at SEOs, they’re in response to market forces and customer demand. If Google doesn’t respond, those users will go elsewhere.

Additional to the speeding analogy, consider the steroid analogy. They’re not necessarily illegal (although they can be), but if you’re caught using them then you’re out of the game, sometimes permanently, and all the work you’ve put in up to then, and any achievements you made, will count for nothing.

That said, if everyone else is using them and getting away with it, you’re unlikely to achieve anything without them anyway, so a lot of people end up hooked.

The only real problem with the analogy is that most sporting bodies are much better at picking up on and punishing athletes using steroids than Google are at doing the same for websites that are breaking their guidelines. But it does avoid the implication that Google = The Law, which I find people often get a bit hung up on.

Nor does it change the rules as they stand right now. Things change and evolve. Tracing the history of those rules and why they exist now is … interesting, but ultimately unproductive.

Could I assume that the main point here is to step up and take responsibility for your own actions? Especially after being the recipient of a disciplinary response.

I too saw your comment from yesterday or Sunday (whenever it got posted) and couldn’t help but have a hearty laugh. Great analogies you have created with these stories.

Always good to have some camaraderie in our industry.

Thank you for the Tuesday morning smiles.

Yes, it was making that comment on Point Blank that gave me the idea to do this. So I reworked those two stories and tossed in a two others that had been in my head.

The last one is my favorite as well. I could probably write three times as much and/or make it a first person narrative. Maybe I will some day. I liked the idea of an alternate science-fiction universe with a nod toward Gulliver’s Travels. Not sure that came through but I think my point did either way.