randle - 4:57 pm on Oct 25, 2011 (gmt 0)

Then yesterday, the same search term showed NONE of the sites that had been there earlier in the week. Instead there were useful and informative pages in a nice mix of informational and transactional pages. I was astonished at such a change - this is a trademarked brand with only about 4,000 results, so far down the long tail that a manual action is out of the question I think. So something changed algorithmically during the week that made a positive difference.

This is something I think about quite a bit, they do in fact have the ability to display a much higher quality version than they generally do. What you typically see is not the best they can do.

So the question is why? (I am a firm believer in the total division between paid and organic so I discount that)

Anti spam - the better version allows more loop holes? - something to do with infrastructure limitations? The better results cant be updated as often - not as fresh?

There is a reason, just don't know what it is. It's to bad though, every now and then you see something so superior, and then you realize they can do it.