MikeNoLastName - 10:04 pm on Nov 30, 2012 (gmt 0)

"image hasn't been replaced by the same image on a scrapper site."
Yeah we had that happen a couple times.

And all the bullet items I've naturally checked and accounted for, but, OK, I think I have a new theory that seems to fit perfectly and that I've been testing the last few days.

Normally when testing to check your rank you go into G with your personal preferences turned off (to supposedly see what others see). Under this situation, you see that your page is say #500. Few people search that far to EVER see your page. Now say on the other hand you ACCIDENTALLY go to search for your page's term WITHOUT turning off the personal preferences once in a while, ta-da your page suddenly pops up at #8 for you. So you quickly turn off preferences, then proceed to see where you are without them, but that impression has already been recorded at #8 whether you click or not. OR, scenario 2, someone else, a non-SEO person, who has been to your page in the past by finding it when it was higher searches on the same term with THEIR personal preferences turned on and gets it at #8 or thereabouts as well, whether THEY click on it or not either.

So overall it indicates it in WMT at an average of 8, since no one EVER sees it WITHOUT their preferences turned on in order to lower it to around 500. Now if it's NON-preferences position is closer to the preference position, say 8 vs. 30, then WMT might show it's avg at more like 12 since some people might actually get to it at 30.

Simple when you think about it in that light.