Different titles in SERPs for same URL

[skipfactor]

Google SERPs show a competitor's root URL w/ different titles for different keyword searches but the Google link always points to his same root URL.

Anyone know how this is done, and whether this is ethical, Google-acceptable SEO?

[nipear]

I've seen this many times when the title tag is changed mid-cycle and picked up by freshbot. It can go back and forth before deepbot comes around again.

[skipfactor]

Well it's consistent for the different keywords, and he hasn't updated his site in months:

keyword1 + keyword2 search...
returns title "keyword1 blah keyword2 blah blah" pointing to his root URL

keyword3 + keyword4 search...
returns title "keyword3 blah keyword4 blah blah" pointing to his root URL

Gotta be something fishy going on...

[Powdork]

Check and see if either instance displays fresh tags. Is it possible to cloak based on query string?
I am far from an expert on this but I would think that if there is something that shows up in your logs (Googles search query string) the you could change your page based on the value of it.

[gsx]

Is one a title and the other his DMOZ title?

[Yidaki]

>I would think that if there is something that shows up in your
>logs (Googles search query string) the you could change your
>page based on the value of it.

Powdork, that's a pretty popular seo practice. However, cloaking based on query string has not directly something to do with doublicate listings.

skipfactor, did you compare the urls of both listings at the google results page? Are they exactly the same? Or do they redirect to the same landing url?