Does Google bot check WhoIs data?

To see if people are inter-linking from own sites?

[1Lit]

Somebody told me today that Google checks WHOIS information and then, seeing who owns which domains, can work out if people are passing PR around their own network of sites.

I didn't think their bots were so sophisticated yet, but just thought I'd ask the experts here :)

Also, it is very easy to get around as anybody can present their WHOIS details such as name or address in a slightly different format for each domain...

[tenerifejim]

If you were google, would you check?

[matt21811]

Thinking about it, I dont think they would check. It would be a fair amount of work, it wouldnt improve the results very much at all and it is very easy to defeat the checking.

I'm much more concerned if they check if links are comming from the same IP address. Which for my sites would be a problem as I only have two web hosts. I own my PR sources and have a small few "PR feeder" sites for links positioned on these two IPs. To get around a problem like this I'm sure I could find a host that offers a seperate IPs for each site.

The old google might think that doing anything to encourage the pointless overuse of a scarce resource like IP addresses would be a bad idea. I'm a little concerned about the new publicly owned Google that cares more about its stockholders and less about the internet that made it great.

[div01]

As someone suggested in an earlier thread, if applicable, they could just check the adsense code to determine whether the same person owns the sites .

[matt21811]

Fortunately, I dont use Adsense for revenue.

For me, Adsense is the single biggest cause of web spam I can think of. There must now be tens of millions of pages stuffed with low searched and low competition key words whos only point is to show adsense adds.

[finer9]

I dont think Google would consider the WHOIS data reliable enough to really factor in.

[funandgames]

Having a network of sites isn't a bad thing. Assuming they are actually related to each other. Done right, Google does not ban them. Do a search on "Revenge of the Mininet".

My posts tend to get flamed. Fire away guys.

[DaveAtIFG]

If memory serves, GoogleGuy responded to a similar discussion some time ago. He indicated the cost of acquiring and maintaining a current whois database was prohibitive. He also said whois data was often used when a site was investigated, presumably as a result of a spam report.

[Small Website Guy]

It seems to be that if Google has the processing power to index 4+ billion pages, surely Google can also check the WhoIs data, especially for top ranked sites for popular search terms.

Maybe I should have registered that new domain name under a psuedonym...

[shri]

>> can work out if people are passing PR around their own network of sites.

Easier to do this using IP addresses. Sites on one IP address are frequenly run by the same person.

[figment88]

My inital application for AdSense was denied because my application data did not match my domain registration information. I has the impression that the checking was automatic.

While millions of website and ten's (hundreds?) of thousands of AdSense publishers are not the same thing, it is evidence that they use whois data for some purposes.

[MikeNoLastName]

I think the registrars (ALL of them would need to cooperate to make it of any use) would have a problem with such use of whois data by G as violating their terms of use conditions.

For instance Netsol's terms statement begins with "NOTICE AND TERMS OF USE: You are not authorized to access or query our WHOIS database through the use of high-volume, automated, electronic processes or for the purpose or purposes of using the data in any manner that violates these terms of use."

[AthlonInside]

To implement LocalRank, they need to check Whois.

If domain registrar has no problem saving Whois, do you think Google (a search engine) will?

[amznVibe]

As has been discussed on WW before, Google DOES seem to use the data you see in the WHOIS database but it's not like they are doing single queries one at a time. They download the entire zone databases for each available TLD just like the third party databases such as "Whois Source" does.

see here for more info:
[webmasterworld.com...]

Since the zone databases do NOT hold the individual's name and address (that's only stored on the seperate registrar database) I doubt Google can check this info in an automated way. They probably do check it on a case by case basis when something is reported.

However if a few dozen sites link to each other on the same IP, I am willing to bet there is a slight penalty.

[Patrick Taylor]

Having a network of sites isn't a bad thing. Assuming they are actually related to each other. Done right, Google does not ban them.

I hope you're right, though I don't quite know what "done right" would mean. In my case the service I provide results in one of my pages linking to a number of external homepages, and in some cases links back from those sites to my homepage. Many of those external sites are with the same host (for good reasons) which happens to be different to mine. That kind of interlinking is a perfectly natural thing to do irrespective of Google rankings but it may also be seen as a cynical plot with dire punishment in store. I'm unsure what, if anything, to do about it.

And I remember the "flaming" occasion, funandgames. I think you recovered!

[jmccormac]

I think the registrars (ALL of them would need to cooperate to make it of any use) would have a problem with such use of whois data by G as violating their terms of use conditions.

The registrars actually sell databases for their whois information. The cost varies but it can be expensive keeping up with all the new registrars.

Regards...jmcc