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Cracking the Google Code... Under the GoogleScope
By Lawrence Deon (c) 2005

Google's sweeping changes confirm the search giant has launched
a full out assault against artificial link inflation & declared
war against search engine spam in a continuing effort to provide
the best search service in the world... and if you thought you
cracked the Google Code and had Google all figured out - guess
again.

Google has raised the bar against search engine spam and
artificial link inflation to unrivaled heights with the filing
of a United States Patent Application 20050071741 on March 31,
2005.

The filing unquestionably provides SEO's with valuable insight
into Google's tightly guarded search intelligence and confirms
that Google's information retrieval is based on historical data.

What exactly do these changes mean to you? Your credibility and
reputation on-line are going under the Googlescope! Google has
defined their patent abstract as follows:

A system identifies a document and obtains one or more types of
history data associated with the document. The system may
generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on
the one or more types of history data.

Google's patent specification reveals a significant amount of
information both old and new about the possible ways Google can
(and likely does) use your web page updates to determine the
ranking of your site in the SERPs.

Unfortunately, the patent filing does not prioritize or
conclusively confirm any specific method one way or the other.

Here's How Google Scores Your Web Pages

In addition to evaluating and scoring web page content, the
ranking of web pages are admittedly still influenced by the
frequency of page or site updates. What's new and interesting is
what Google takes into account in determining the freshness of a
web page.

For example, if a stale page continues to procure incoming
links, it will still be considered fresh, even if the page
header (Last-Modified: tells when the file was most recently
modified) hasn't changed and the content is not updated or
'stale'.

According to their patent filing Google records and scores the
following web page changes to determine freshness.

· The frequency of all web page changes
· The actual amount of the change itself... whether it is a
  substantial change, redundant or superfluous
· Changes in keyword distribution or density
· The actual number of new web pages that link to a web page
· The change or update of anchor text (the text that is used to
  link to a web page)
· The numbers of new links to low trust web sites (for example,
  a domain may be considered low trust for having too many
  affiliate links on one web page).

Although there is no specific number of links indicated in the
patent it might be advisable to limit affiliate links on new web
pages. Caution should also be used in linking to pages with
multiple affiliate links.

Developing Your Web Page Augments for Page Freshness

Now I'm not suggesting that it's always beneficial or advisable
to change the content of your web pages regularly, but it is
very important to keep your pages fresh regularly and that may
not necessarily mean a content change.

Google states that decayed or stale results might be desirable
for information that doesn't necessarily need updating, while
fresh content is good for results that require it.

How do you unravel that statement and differentiate between the
two types of content?

An excellent example of this methodology is the roller coaster
ride seasonal results might experience in Google's SERPs based
on the actual season of the year.

A page related to winter clothing may rank higher in the winter
than the summer... and the geographical area the end user is
searching from will now likely be considered and factored into
the search results.

Likewise, specific vacation destinations might rank higher in
the SERPs in certain geographic regions during specific seasons
of the year. Google can monitor and score pages by recording
click-through rate changes by season.

Google is no stranger to fighting sp@m and is taking serious new
measures to crack down on offenders like never before.

Section 0128 of Google's patent filing claims that you
shouldn't change the focus of multiple pages at once.

Here's a quote from their rationale:

"A significant change over time in the set of topics associated
with a document may indicate that the document has changed
owners and previous document indicators, such as score, anchor
text, etc., are no longer reliable.

Similarly, a spike in the number of topics could indicate sp@m.
For example, if a particular document is associated with a set
of one or more topics over what may be considered a 'stable'
period of time and then a (sudden) spike occurs in the number of
topics associated with the document, this may be an indication
that the document has been taken over as a 'doorway' document.

Another indication may include the sudden disappearance of the
original topics associated with the document. If one or more of
these situations are detected, then [Google] may reduce the
relative score of such documents and/or the links, anchor text,
or other data associated the document."

Unfortunately, this means that Google's sandbox phenomenon
and/or the aging delay may apply to your web site if you change
too many of your web pages at once.

From the case studies I've conducted it's more likely the rule
and not the exception.

What does all this mean to you?

Keep your pages themed, relevant and most importantly
consistent. You have to establish reliability! The days of
sp@mming Google are drawing to an end.

If you require multi page content changes, implement the changes
in segments over time. Continue to use your original keywords on
each page you change to maintain theme consistency.

You can easily make significant content changes by implementing
lateral keywords to support and reinforce your vertical
keyword(s) and phrases. This will also help eliminate keyword
stuffing.

Make sure you determine if the keywords you're using require
static or fresh search results and update your web site content
accordingly. On this point RSS feeds may play a more valuable
and strategic role than ever before in keeping pages fresh and
at the top of the SERPs.

The bottom line here is webmasters must look ahead, plan and
manage their domains more tightly than ever before or risk
plummeting in the SERPs.

Does Google use your domain name to determine the ranking of
your site?

Google's patent references specific types of 'information
relating to how a document is hosted within a computer network'
that can directly influence the ranking of a specific web site.
This is Google's way of determining the legitimacy of your
domain name.

Therefore, the credibility of your host has never been more
important to ranking well in Google's SERP's.

Google states they may check the information of a name server in
multiple ways.

Bad name servers might host known spam sites, adult and/or
doorway domains. If you're hosted on a known bad name server,
your rankings will undoubtedly suffer... if you're not
blacklisted entirely.

What I found particularly interesting is the criteria that
Google may consider in determining the value of a domain or
identifying it as a sp@m domain; According to their patent,
Google may now record the following information:

· The length of the domain registration... is it greater than
  one year or less than one year?

Google's rationale for domain registration is based on the
premise that valuable domains are often secured many years in
advance while domains used for sp@m are rarely secured for more
than a year.

If in doubt about a host's integrity, I recommend checking their
mail server at www.dnsstuff.com to see if they're in the sp@m
database. Watch for red flags!

If your mail server is listed, you may have a problem ranking
well in Google!

· The address of the web site owner. Possibly for returning
  higher relevancy, local search results and attaching
  accountability to the domain.

· The admin and the technical contact info. This info is often
  changed several times or completely falsified on sp@m domains;
  again this check is for consistency!

· The stability of your host and their IP range... is your IP
  range associated with sp@m?

Securing a reputable host can and will go a long way in
promoting your web site to Google.

The simplest strategy may be registering your domain several
years in advance with a reputable provider thereby demonstrating
longevity and accountability to Google. Google wants to see that
you're serious about your site and not a flash in the pan sp@m
shop. See:

http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1604302-10294265

Googles Aging Delay has teeth… and they're taking a bite out of
sp@m!

It's no big secret that Google relies heavily on links when it
comes to ranking web sites.

According to their patent filing, Google may record the
discovery date of a link and link changes over time.

In addition to volume, quality & the anchor text of links,
Google's patent illustrates possible ways how Google might use
historical information to further determine the value of links.

For example, the life span of a link and the speed at which a
new web site gets links.

"Burst link growth may be a strong indicator of search engine
spam".

This is the first concrete evidence that Google may penalize
sites for rapid link acquisition. Whether the "burst growth"
rule applies to high trust/authorative sites and directory
listings remains unknown. I personally haven't experienced this
phenomenon. What's clear for certain though is the inevitable
end to results orientated link farming.

I would point out here that regardless of whether burst link
growth will be tolerated for authorative sites or authorative
link acquisition, webmasters will have to get smarter and work
harder to secure authorative links as their counterparts become
reluctant to exchange links with low trust sites. Now Page Rank
really has value!

Relevant content swaps may be a nice alternative to the standard
link exchange and allow you some control of the link page
elements.

So what else does Google consider in determining the aging delay?

· The anchor text and the discovery date of links are recorded,
  thus establishing the countdown period of the aging delay.

· Links with a long-term life span may be more valuable than
  links with a short life span.

· The appearance and disappearance of links over time.

· Growth rates of links as well as the link growth of
  independent peer pages. Again, this suggests that rapid link
  acquisition and the quality of peer pages are monitored.

· Anchor text over a given period of time for keyword
  consistency.

· Inbound links from fresh pages... might be considered more
  important than links from stale pages.

· Google doesn't expect that new web sites have a large number
  of links so purchasing large numbers of brokered links will
  likely hurt you more than help you. Google indicates that it
  is better for link growth to remain constant and naturally
  paced. In addition, the anchor text should be varied as much
  as possible.

· New web sites should not acquire too many new links; it'll be
  tolerated if the links are from trusted sites but it may be
  considered sp@m.

So how do you build your link popularity / Page Rank and avoid
penalties?

When it comes to linking, you should clearly avoid the hocus
pocus or magic bullet linking schemes. If you participate in
quick fix link exchange scams, use automated link exchange
software or buy hundreds of links at once, chances are Google
will interpret your efforts as a sp@m attempt and act
accordingly.

Don't get caught in this trap... the recovery period could be
substantial since your host and IP range are also considered!

When you exchange links with other web sites, do it slowly and
consistently.

Develop a link management and maintenance program. Schedule
regular times every week to build the links to your site and
vary the anchor text that points to your site.

Obviously, the links to your site should utilize your keywords.
To avoid repetition use lateral keywords and keyword phrases in
the anchor text since Google wants to see varied anchor text!

Your sites click-through rate may now monitored through
bookmarks, cache, favorites, and temporary files.

It's no big secret that Google has always been suspected of
rewarding sites with higher click-through rates (very similar to
what Google does with their AdWords program) so it shouldn't
come as a great surprise that Google still considers site
stickiness and CTR tracking in their criterion.

What's interesting though is Google is interested in tracking
the behavior of web surfers through bookmarks, cache, favorites,
and temporary files (most likely with the Google toolbar and/or
the Google desktop search tool). Google's Patent filing
indicates Google might track the following information:

· Click-through rates are monitored for changes in seasonality,
  fast increases, or other spike traffic in addition to increase
  or decrease trends.

· The volume of searches over time is recorded and monitored for
  increases.

· The information regarding a web page's rankings are recorded
  and monitored for changes.

· Click-through rates are monitored to find out if stale or
  fresh web pages are preferred for a search query.

· The traffic to a web page is recorded and monitored for
  changes... like Alexa.

· User behavior may be monitored through bookmarks, cache,
  favorites, and temporary files.

· Bookmarks and favorites could be monitored for both additions
  and deletions, and;

· The overall user behavior for trends and changes.

Since Google is capable of tracking the click-through rates to
your web site, you should make sure that your web pages have
attractive titles and utilize calls to action so that web
surfers click on them in the search results.

It's also important to keep your visitors there so make your web
pages interesting enough so that web surfers stay some time on
your web site. It might also help if your web site visitors
added your web site to their bookmarks.

As you can see, Google's new ranking criterion has evolved far
beyond the reliance of criteria that can be readily or easily
manipulated. One thing is for certain with Google, whatever
direction search innovation is going; you can trust Google to be
pioneering the way and setting new standards!

================================================================
Lawrence Deon is an SEO/SEM Consultant and author of the popular
search engine optimization and marketing model Ranking Your Way
To The Bank. http://www.rankingyourwaytothebank.com
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