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I have idolized Check n Go’s organic search rankings for a long time now.  There site was officially crushed by Google.  I was doing some research and noticed Check n Go’s keywords fell dramatically. This is proof that “Hell has no fury, like a Google engineer scorned.”  This Google update addressed a lot of backlinking strategies that Google feels is Spammy.

The Google update came on April 24th with the code name: Penguin.  Check n Go was ranking for over 4,000 keywords before and now are at appr. 600.

So what does this mean for Check n Go from a analytics standpoint?

Check n Go does not share their analytics with the world, so this is just speculation, but here goes anyway.  When they ranked in the top 20 for the 4,000 plus keywords, this would result in a possible 951,000 searches, where Check n Go is in the top 20 of the Google organic search.   Now, there is no way they were getting 951,000 clicks b/c a search shows multiple sites and they were not always the first result.  Check Into Cash does publish their results at Quantcast.com.  They get about 60,000 visits a month, surprisingly half of that is international.  Not sure how that’ possible.  You can view Check Into Cash’s stats here.  On a side note, I think that’s pretty cool of Check Into Cash.

http://www.quantcast.com/checkintocash.com?qcLocale=en_US

To put this in perspective, they now rank (in the top 20 on Google) for a potential 95,000 searches.  That is potentially about a 900% monthly decline is traffic.  If we say they get 10% of these clicks, they were getting 95,000 clicks and now that number is closer to 9,000.

More bad news.  The keywords that they lost are the high value keywords like:  cash advance, payday loan, payday loans online among others.  These are the keywords that are searched more than 10,000 times a month.

Google also poured a little salt in the wound.  The term “check n go” is searched around 40,000 times per month.  They were #1, now they’re #9.  Ouch.

This comes late, but I was using Open Site Explorer to see what backlinks Check n Go was using.  I thought it was a glitch because they had a lot of spammy looking .edu domains linking to them.  Google has penalized other big companies, like JC Penny and Overstock.com.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0ArnCEjkoqUQxdEpFbmFfTlQ1VmtpQkFBTU1CSUczTWc&output=html

I read in TechCrunch that ZestCash, just raised $73 million round of funding. $23 million is equity (Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, and Lighthouse Capital Partner) and they secured a $50 million line of credit (Victory Park Capital).

Now they have $73M to play with.  I bet they spend the $23 million on lead acquisition and the $50 million to back loans.  Is this huge news?  I think for a couple of reasons:

1. The cash advance industry has an image problem.  When high profile people get involved ( Montel Williams shout out?) it brings a higher level of legitimacy.
2. They’re not Advance America $600M + revenues, but it will be interesting to see what happens.

Here is what I found interesting:

1. The founder is a Google guy, but he site has very little SEO.  They rank in the top 5 for very few keywords (see below).  This means they’re buying leads.
2. They’e in four states— Utah, Idaho, Missouri and South Dakota.  I’m surprised that when you place an application from another state, they just say something like, sorry, we’re can’t give you a loan.  They’re not selling unused leads.  They make it clear that they’re going into other states.
3. They’re not payday loans.  Allegedly, they let you select how much you want to pay?  It’s on their website HERE.

Intro XL is completely web based and hosted. This means that you don’t have to purchase hardware, or install software. You simply login from our website, and you have instant access to all of your borrower data and documents.

Installment Loan Software users can manually create a new payday loan or installment loan, the software contains all data fields from the a long form payday application. Intro XL automatically verifies and validates all data that is entered.

Intro XL automates the mortgage loan process by creating a unique set of loan conditions that are based on specific loan rules entered on each borrower. These conditions can be customized to match your companies’ current workflow. Intro XL shows exactly what loan documents need to be completed at each step in your workflow. Your companies’ workflow is broken down into customizable statuses that list the required conditions for the current loan status. Additional conditions can be manually added to any mortgage loan file; however, through rules processing, Payday Loan Software can automatically most lending conditions with ease.

Users can then upload electronic payday documents directly their website. In addition, a payday lender can utilize lead generators, SEO or Adwords to generate leads. This technology routes each electronic document to the correct borrower and loan condition to make better credit decisions. You can also securely email and fax documents directly out of Intro XL. We send an encrypted link instead of attachments so there are no email restrictions based on the document attachment size.

Blake Sims and Justin Hosie of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, P.C write an informative article titled “Tribal lending titled, Tribal Loans to State Residents – The Next Test of Sovereign Immunity.”  The article provides a brief history and then summarizes some key cases that relate to payday lending.

So does partnering with a Native American tribe provide immunity to your payday loan business.  The answer is:  It depends.  You will need to get the right advice from the right attorneys.  I’ve had the pleasure of working w/ Blake on two occasions and he’s great.  Unfortunately, I have not have the opportunity to do a deal for the Sovereign Nation Model.  I hope I get that opportunity.

Want to read more.  Here is an article about the “FTC Investigates Native American Tribe Payday Loan Operation.“

The Huffington Post was talking payday loans today.  The article is titled “An Alternative to Payday Lenders“.  It was your typical anti-payday loan stuff.  Here is the comment I left:

I think the PDL Industry should defend itself, but also also think you need to be realistic.  Some people will never want payday loans, under any circumstances.  You should tune them out.

I added a tool called Skribit to this blog.  This tools helps my readers make suggestions for articles.  For example, someone may want to read an article on Regulation Z and APR calculation or industry benchmarks.

If there’s something on your mind, let it go; and put it in the box to the right.

This is worth sharing.  Credit scores, which have been long a key factor in whether you get a loan or a credit card, may not be sufficient for many future credit decisions.

The Credit Card Act will require credit-card companies to consider an applicant’s income or assets and current debts before approving credit.

What does this mean for borrowers?  Probably less credit.  You can read the full article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Look Who’s Peaking at Your Paycheck.”

Don’t leave.  You’re in the right place.  PDL Industry got a new domain and  look.