Datacenter Watch:2006-06-05

[Komodo_Tale]

< continued from: [webmasterworld.com...] >

As we enter into a new datacenter thread, the new(er)Goog-licious results are showing on

64.233.167.104
64.233.167.147
64.233.167.99
64.233.179.104
64.233.179.107
64.233.179.99
64.233.187.99
64.233.187.104
64.233.187.107

These results are also being fed to select partners, such as Comcast, who show Google provided results.

[edited by: tedster at 1:16 am (utc) on June 15, 2006]

[stevexyz]

At least they are back. I think its coming on to 12 weeks that these results have been lurking.

[bobothecat]

As we enter into a new datacenter thread

Oh no... not again ;)

Though I guess this could be a 365-day-a-year thing... please let me know when someone actually makes an exact determination as to what the algo is doing... then it'll be newsworthy. :)

[stevexyz]

please let me know when someone actually makes an exact determination as to what the algo

Has this ever in the past reached a determination? All we can do is make observations. In the thread "Ranking is a complete roller-coaster" - it relates directly to this datacenter watch. The SERPS on:
64.233.167.104
64.233.167.147
64.233.167.99
64.233.179.104
64.233.179.107
64.233.179.99
64.233.187.99
64.233.187.104
64.233.187.107

are a direct result of this roller-coaster and have been for the last 12 weeks. This "watch" is what will change the SERPS over the next 2, 4, and 6 months. Feedback on these "datacenter watch" SERPS to G helps them with their elimination of SPAM.

This thread is probably one of the most important threads webmasterworld has to offer - even when there is nothing to report it is very significant.

[theblackjeep]

I have found these sites to be remarkable stable the last couple of weeks. When I am looking for something (not checking my ranking) I will use these specific dc's for my search and I can always find what I am looking for. With some of the others I get more expired ebay listing, and MFA sites. I have sites up on these dc's and 2 go down. But the key is, I know why they went down. If I look at the sites above me, I know why they beat me here. I have analyzed the crap out of my competition's sites and in my sector these dc's seem to more or less benefit sites that follow Google's webmasters guidelines.

[steveb]

Those results are not very close to the comcast ones, although they seem to be distant cousins.

Google puts much weaker results on most of its datacenters.
Google puts mildly stronger resuts on a few of its datacenters.
Google gives comcast its best results.

Strange workings down there at the 'plex.

[kneukm03]

Steveb I just checked Comcast and those results are the same as the "mystery results" I was talking about in the other DC watch thread that keep popping into regular Google for short periods.

[MLHmptn]

These results are also being fed to select partners, such as Comcast, who show Google provided results.

While they may be some part of the Comcast results they certainly are not the same results as the above posted DC's. Either comcast is applying their own filter and rearranging those DC results or Google has a completely "mysterious result" set that is on some unknown DC. We talked about this earlier and nobody can come up with where the comcast results are coming from as far as a Google DC IP. Honestly though those are the best results I've ever seen Google put out.

SteveB has been following this closely as well and in an earlier DC watch thread we talked about how those same results are hitting home.att.net/find_members.html(pretty solidly), netscape(at times), earthlink(at times) and business.com(at times) and most importantly Google(though very sparsely).

Now whether Google will release those results to the masses I dunno...We can only HOPE! :>~

As far as these being the results for the last 12 weeks....no they are not the same, they have been tweaked a few times in the last few weeks.

Cheers to you all with great wishes for the future!

P.S.

Funny now because all of a sudden I am getting those mysterious results served up from Google on the 64.233.167.104 DC but yet if I jump over to McDar's the same DC shows slightly different results!

[Komodo_Tale]

Note the date of my post as it was being held over the weekend for review. The SERPs may have changed since then, which could account for some of the minor differences being reported.

I agree that it is useless to observe datacenter fluctuations without trying to understand them. It's kind of like sitting on your surfboard and watching the swells roll in without ever surfing a wave.

That being said, I do like the results that these select datacenters are showing. I find them relevant. However, I am sure there are others who will not appreciate them. After a brief informal study the only thing I could discern was a greater emphasis placed on topical links. I'm sure there is much more to it if even that. In fact, it is more likely that Google has strengthened some of its filters and the greater emphasis on topical links is a symptom instead of a cause. Remember, at Google’s Press Day they announced that Google now uses over 200 ranking factors, more than double the 100 plus factors we have traditionally ruminated on.

The number of results that you display will affect the SERPs that Google displays. This affects McDar & SEOcritique. It also appears that Google is turning some datacenters on and off with greater frequency. These datacenters are not listed on McDar.

Finally, these results first appeared in early May. Shortly thereafter they began to propagate followed by an immediate retreat. While there has been some propagation and retreating amongst the datacenters it has not been widespread. This leaves me to believe that Google is still fine-tuning this algorithm. The fact that it has appeared publicly, both (at least) briefly on Google’s main pages and (more persistently) on services such as Comcast gives me hope that they will eventually replace the current SERPs.

[toothake]

Komodo_Tale to your information those dc's that yo love so much bet you is just another group of test dc's ,did you notice many sites have the ODP descriptions ;)

[Eazygoin]

Note the date of my post as it was being held over the weekend for review

This is the very reason I don't post new threads any more in this area of the forum, as unlike other WebmasterWorld forum subjects, this one can take a long time for new threads to appear, and the news is either old hat, or someone has posted a similar thread,and both get sent out at a similar time.

[Optimus]

Can't say I am in agreement that the list of "Goog-licious" DC's are great results. I would prefer to label them "Susp-icious". In my sector for a major keyword1-keyword2 search is a site at position 5 that has 195 hidden keywords on its index page. If this is the kind of result google wants to put out, then we must assume that they now condone this type of devious SEO, as I had reported this site to google some weeks ago and they were removed from the results...until now.

[foolsgold]

''These results are also being fed to select partners, such as Comcast''. Can someone show me where these results are, we are in the UK.

[petehall]

I am seeing the good results here in the UK.

216.239.59.103
www.google.co.uk

Wahooooooo!

[Seowatch_uk]

Hi Pete
Same here also showing on 216.239.59.104 thats what i am getting hope they stick they have been showing for a good few hours today.

[Keypoint]

Well in Denmark I now get listnings from DC: 216.239.59.104

[Seowatch_uk]

Keypoint

What are the serps like?

[Keypoint]

The title whas from ODP, I cant tell you about SERPs now - I am looking at DC: 64.233.183.104 now

[Essex_boy]

My traffic has halved since the 2nd June.

[petehall]

Erm.. mine have vanished again.

Still see them on the same DCs as the last week or so though.

[petehall]

I take it back, they have returned!

This looks promising in my opinion...

[Eazygoin]

I just did a keyword search [first time in weeks] and notice that my main keywords have climbed significantly. Those that were at the top have remained there, and others that were, for example, listed at 30 or 40 out of 300 million results, are now at positions 2 and 3.

I can only assume from this, that the SERP's are continuing to be constantly updated, even though we don't see a PR or TBPR update. Now, we know this happens, so it's not news as such, but in Google's defence, they are at least doing things positively for me.

I checked the keywords today, by the way, because of a steady increase in traffic, followed by an upward bump.

default IP is 216.239.59.104

[cristinita]

In France the new serps are also on (216.239.59.104) and off but at mcdar's dc checker they do not show on this dc (just because of the ie parameter at mcdar?)

i hope these new serps do not stick - not good for me, not terrible either - although to be hones my opinion is exclusively based on subjective factors... ;-)

in any case i believe these serps already hit a large number of dcs (including many default local googles) around may 5-7th (if i recall correctly) and then vanished away, being only visible in some few obscure dcs...does anyone have any (founded) reason/idea of why these new serps may propagate now?

[SpanishWeb]

The May DCs update and this one, are not the same.
In May i was first for some keywords, now i am second (i am happy anyway!).
In other keywords i found more differences.

[Essex_boy]

Its very weird half teh traffic same position in the SERPS.

[Komodo_Tale]

The May DCs update and this one, are not the same.

Minor differences should not be construed as a completely different update or test.

• Google’s listings are always in flux based on the most recent data their robots have cached and sharded. Websites are continuously rising and falling in the rankings.

• As exemplified by Big Daddy, during the testing of a new algorithm or infrastructure Google will place results on various datacenters to see how they react in the real world. They will then tweak them and repeat the process. (Visit Matt Cutts’s blog and read all the posts about Big Daddy. This will give you first hand insight into how Google crafts and rolls out their updates.)
  

Do not confuse this update or test with Big Daddy, which was a new infrastructure.
Perhaps it will be useful for some readers to explore the different levels of Google updates that have been observed:

• An infrastructure change such as Big Daddy could be compared with trading in your three year old Lexus for a brand new Lexus. There may be a lot of similarities, but it is really a whole new car.

• An algorithm change could be compared with putting a new engine into an automobile. These are the named storms of the Googlesphere such as Jagger, Burbon, Florida and Boston.

• Modifying an algorithm by adding new factors or variables is akin to adding a super-charger or some other performance enhancing part to a car. (Do you think Google suddenly went from 100 factors and variables to over 200 in one sitting? It’s possible; this could have been a part of Big Daddy, but it is unlikely.)

• Tweaking the algorithm, also known as turning the knobs, is like adjusting the idle. This happens most frequently and is accompanied by affected web site managers wondering what has happened while the rest of ask, “What do you mean?” More often than not Google just turns the knobs to give variables more influence and others less influence.

[Tigrou]

Komodo_Tale, that's a really good summary. One to be noted.

I agree with you that the May 1st will likely roll out again. They almost always put out a new algo, test it, retreat, tweak, test on some DCs, then roll out weeks later. Not saying it will happen this time, but it's a pattern.

And neutrally, the results look better although there are definitely variants (as SteveB noted). The 200 factors makes sense. Sites that seems less obviously SEO'd are ranking higher (or so I see), which might mean those mean those extra factors are better at mimicing "better sites" rathern than "better SEO'd sites". In other words a better algo, although there will always be crappy/spam sites slipping through filter.

Also see more smaller themed sites, rather than pages from massive sites. Maybe the various factors associated with large sites are diluted in the new 200 factors?

[Tomseys]

these are much better serps

[DerekH]

these are much better serps

To misquote a well-known saying, "Better is the eye of the beholder"

No SERPS can, be definition be better. It can only be better for those going up...

It won't be long before someone on the way down will beg to differ with you!
DerekH

[ulysee]

I have yet to see the massive amount of data that was lost reimplemented within Google.
Lost pages = links that are lost, lost links = lost ranks, lost ranks, less links, less pages = irrelevance & more spam in my area.
**The new and improved Google**