Google's definition of 'a site'

Do sub domains and member pages have 'flavor'?

[bpresent]

The new Google site flavored search [webmasterworld.com] has lead me to wondering what Google's definition of 'a site' is.

Is it always the tld; or
is it sub domain based; or
do they drawn the line at the first level sub directory; or
something more sophisticated (eg. a sub directory called 'members' means something too them)?

Are member 'sites' considered less important than tlds?

It would be a shame when it comes to non-commercial pages as there are an awful lot of very richly 'flavored' member pages out there.

[Marcia]

Member pages can do very well, it isn't a problem. When you think about it, it should be easy to tell by the site's linking structure and the pattern of the inbound links.

[bpresent]

True - generally they can do well in SERPs.

I just did a few tests re: 'flavored' searches.

A sanitised, real search (with names changed of course), www.example.com/members/blue-widgets.php rates #1 in SERP when searching for 'blue widgets' (non regional) but #49 when doing a 'widget' flavoured search (for 'blue widgets').

Mind you, this may have nothing to do with member's pages, it could just be that the site is specifically about 'blue widgets' and not 'widgets generally'.

To me, it highlights the very specific nature of flavored search though. If it's not specifically on the subject it does not rate.

Nice toy though - I'll leave it up for a little while to see what happens.