Google.com does not rank #1 for Google

[ThouShaltSeo]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...le&btnG=Search
https://desktop.google.com/ shows at #1.

[randfish]

I've seen this for a few things in a similiar manner now. I believe it has something to do with the comparitive rates at which the domain has been earning the links. It's very, very interesting from the point of view of someone who watches the Google algo. Thanks for pointing to this - excellent find!

[I, Brian]

It's hard not to see that as illustrative of how Google's newer algorithm is causing poor results.

Desktop holds 1 and 3 for the search term, while the main Google site is relegated to 2nd place - does that make sense to anyone?

[ThouShaltSeo]

desktop has hijacked google via a redirect. Now why did that happen? if a PR10 and millions of links can;t help you, what else can?.

Originally Posted by randfish

I've seen this for a few things in a similiar manner now. I believe it has something to do with the comparitive rates at which the domain has been earning the links. It's very, very interesting from the point of view of someone who watches the Google algo. Thanks for pointing to this - excellent find!

[dazzlindonna]

Just goes to show that the 302 "fix" not only didn't work for everyone else, but it also isn't working for Google themselves. Also, the statement that GG made that sites that were affected by redirects had "something else" wrong with them to allow that to happen....hmmm...nuff said.

[ThouShaltSeo]

maybe they bought sitewide links or have no original information

Originally Posted by dazzlindonna

Just goes to show that the 302 "fix" not only didn't work for everyone else, but it also isn't working for Google themselves. Also, the statement that GG made that sites that were affected by redirects had "something else" wrong with them to allow that to happen....hmmm...nuff said.

[Randolph]

this reminds me of a few months ago, i did a little experiment for humor's sake.....a search for "best search engine" on MSN Search yielded Google and Yahoo as #1 and #2, with MSN coming in at #3.

I blogged the results, and they were fixed a few weeks later...I wish I'd made a screenshot of it...that would have been a great poster.

[Jill Whalen]

Let's just hope that Google doesn't come in here and complain, "I've dropped from number 1 to number 2 on my company name, have I been penalized?"

[I, Brian]

Appears to have been dealt with already.

[I, Brian]

To some people this who incident is just a humourous anomaly - the internet information giant couldn't even rank it's own website properly for its own unique brand name.

And Google can just go into its own system and fix things, so that it can rank fine again. Great.

But, really, what this shows is just how *****ed up Google is.

Let's face it, if it can't even rank it's own main website for its own brandname, then what about all of those other websites that have been losing business because Google has an equally *****ed up attitude to them?

To some people, there's no humour in this at all.

[Jill Whalen]

You can't say for sure that they hand tweaked this. I doubt they would bother nor care.

[arius]

What's amazing to me is that the overture suggestion tool says that Google is searched for:
971,765.6 / day
Yahoo:
575,442.6 / day
Just imagine the traffic.

I haven't found a more popular keyword yet.

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by Jill Whalen

You can't say for sure that they hand tweaked this. I doubt they would bother nor care.

Certainly can't say for sure, but I'd be personally surprised if they didn't - the responsibility they have to shareholders means that they need to care.

[Jill Whalen]

They need to care that another one of their pages showed up for their company name rather than their home page? I'm not sure I understand why.

It's not like some other company's site showed up.

This is such a complete non-issue. But you gotta love how people in this industry love to make big deals outta nothing.

[Mel]

Yes its a big deal to people whose job it is to try to understand how Google ranks sites. Whats your take on why the subdomain outranked the parent Jill?

Google is one of the most recognized names on the web, has millions of links pointing to Google.com using Google as a keyword, uses google as its page title and should certainly rank before any other domain (even a subdomain) for thier own name.

IMO its not a coincidence that the rankings changed within a short period of time and also is probably indicative of how important Google thought it was.

[Jill Whalen]

Whats your take on why the subdomain outranked the parent Jill?

Good question!

I think the answer is fairly obvious to those who have noticed that when there's a lot of new news about a site, and lots of new links from reputable sources, it tends to give a temporary boost to the site in question.

I would guess that was the case here, as well.

[ThouShaltSeo]

You're kidding, right?
If Google.com is not #1 for Google there's no problem according to you?

Originally Posted by Jill Whalen

They need to care that another one of their pages showed up for their company name rather than their home page? I'm not sure I understand why.

It's not like some other company's site showed up.

This is such a complete non-issue. But you gotta love how people in this industry love to make big deals outta nothing.

[ThouShaltSeo]

don't guess: run the link command for https://desktop.google.com

http://www.google.com/search?num=100...om&btnG=Search (ONE link)

http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=us...top.google.com
(12 total links)

It's pretty obvious that you're wrong.

Originally Posted by Jill Whalen

Good question!

I think the answer is fairly obvious to those who have noticed that when there's a lot of new news about a site, and lots of new links from reputable sources, it tends to give a temporary boost to the site in question.

I would guess that was the case here, as well.

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by Jill Whalen

They need to care that another one of their pages showed up for their company name rather than their home page? I'm not sure I understand why.

Well, if Google so obviously is unable to do what Google is supposed to be able to, then that's bound to raise embarrassing questions. While that's fine in SEO circles, making investors twitchy on the other hand is something companies learn at their cost, as Amazon and eBay have both learned.

And, unless anyone noticed a significant shift in either the ranking algo, or else how Google processes 302's, then while it's fine that Google can go behind the scenes and make a quick fix for their own site, it's nothing but frustrating for anyone else suffering from issues with the overwhelming dominant force in search.

I nearly lost my very first client yesterday - they went from straight rankings to complete sandboxing, hence the change in tone. Now, while it's fair to say that trying to improve a site's visibility in search involves risk and volatility and I accept that, when that site is beaten by other pages that simply quote it - whether scrapers, or those static Hotbot search pages - then I also consider it fair to say that the product I'm working with has become badly flawed - ie, the Google algo.

So when Google then has problems ranking it's own main domain for its unique brand name - one of the most popular and searched for names on the internet - it's hard not to take this as clearly indicative of the deeper problems with its own perception of "relevancy".

[Jill Whalen]

If Google.com is not #1 for Google there's no problem according to you?

Huh? Google.com WAS number 1 for Google. Desktop.Google.com is still Google.com.

Seriously, do you get upset if a page other than your home page comes up for your company name? You've never seen that happen before? Again, I just don't see this as an issue!