Whois changes are bad for SERPs?

or just another myth

[aleksl]

Just want to know what experienced users here think about WHOIS info changes. IMHO there is a myth going around that changing your WHOIS info is bad for SERP placement. To clear that, just go to one of the many WHOIS sites (URLs get obfuscated here) and do a search for Domain History on any major domain - you will be surprised to learn that their WHOIS info changes EVERY DAY.

What do you think?

[oddsod]

Major WHOIS changes may be accorded different treatment. Google's patented a lot of clever and silly stuff. Half of it is there purely to muddy the water and throw SEOs (OK, I've got my tin foil hat on today) but, as a famous marketing quote goes, which half?

For many sites it might make no difference at all. For some sites it may just combine with something else to match a profile that pushes a button or pulls a trigger. If you can leave WHOIS unchanged (or make gradual changes) why not just go with that?

[gpmgroup]

Domain History on any major domain - you will be surprised to learn that their WHOIS info changes EVERY DAY

it does? not seen this

What the engines are trying to detect is when a domain is sold and a totally different new site perhaps a PPC page takes over. There are likely to still be sites linking to the domain not reaslising the old site/content has gone.

And from a engines point of view why should a new site on a sold domain be any different from a new site on a new domain?

With regards WHOIS privacy it has to be bad because the engines can not see who is behind the site therefore trust can not be established. If they don't weight for it at the moment its a logical step.