Ranked 75 one day, the next day 900+

Someone please help me figure this out...

[wizdom]

One day our site is ranked #75, the next day it isn't in the first 9 pages of 100 links each. This has happened more than once, going back and forth for a couple weeks now.

We have proper Titles, meta everything, site maps, etc. Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know why this might be happening?

[g1smd]

Some datacentres have a different version of the index on them. Check which datacentre you are using if you see a change.

You might just be seeing a different datacentre that time. Compare, for example, gfe-gv and gfe-eh and see what I mean.

[tedster]

Sounds like some factor about your site might be very close to a filter boundary - so in one Google data set the filter is tripped, but not in another. Different data sets can have different "dial settings" for various filters - so your question becomes "in what area is my site pushing the boundaries".

[wizdom]

I looked up the site on various datacenters and found the results to vary. Also, on most of them, my meta description isn't getting picked up but instead some old one from dmoz.org is getting used. Will that change when I get the dmoz description updated?

As far as possibly tripping the filters, would having almost identical home and default pages likely get the red flag? It's for "sign-in" purposes, but I imagine we'll be getting rid of it in order to sustain a consistantly high-ranking pr.

[danbot]

I'm having a similar phenomenon. Where in some data centres my site is ranked within the first 100 then in another it isn't even on the map.

If there is different versions of the index on different datacentres. Then will they all eventually be updated with the latest version?

Can someone explain why there would be multiple versions of the index?

[soapystar]

yeah they seem to end up blended

[quiet_man]

Will that change when I get the dmoz description updated?

Good luck getting your DMOZ description changed. Instead of waiting for the unknown, why not exclude Google from using your ('outdated') DMOZ data by using the NOODP tag:

Google Supports NOODP Tag [webmasterworld.com]

For help with your more general problem, have a read through these threads:

A Checklist for Sudden Drops in Rank [webmasterworld.com]

A Dropped Site Checklist [webmasterworld.com]

[Killer_Bee]

Our site is ranked #1 bounces back and forth throughout the day between #87/#90 /#91/ depending of which google data center is being switched, we are #1 at MSN, with Yahoo who knows what they are up to with your site!

[wizdom]

Thanks for the NOODP info.

[g1smd]

>> Can someone explain why there would be multiple versions of the index? <<

Why not?

When the index is replicated on hundreds of thousands of individual servers, there is no way that they could ever be totally synchronised anyway.

Additionally, Google likes to try several things out at a time and gauge the results. So, they nearly always have two versions of their index in play.

Finally, several datacentres are often in use testing things out, sometims on current data and sometimes on older data. That is what appears to be happening over at gfe-eh right now for example.

See also: [webmasterworld.com...]

[danbot]

So does this mean that just because my site is listed well in gfe-eh it doesn't mean it is going to end up listed well when the datacentres blend their results?

Is there any way to determine what data centre you are viewing at any given time?

[g1smd]

Use the Mozilla, SeaMonkey, or Firefox web browser and install the ShowIP extension.

I believe that data based on what is now happening at gfe-eh will spread to the rest, next month.

[piatkow]

I am seeing very wild fluctuations too. I just hope they settle down soon.

[main hoon na]

I have been observing a website promoted by us for last 60 days. The site is around 8 months old and on the verge to get off from the sandbox. For the main keyword this site ranks nowhere in top 700 results. Google stops displaying the results after that.

<Using an online tool>, I find that site ranking No.1 for most of the keywords that we targeted, but on others we are nowhere.

When we check the stats it shows that visitors are coming from googles first search page while when we search it, it doesnt show the same to us.

I think we when the major update will be done, either we will be on top or again go off to no where. Most probably we should be on top as its a pure case of sandbox.

So may be thats the case for you too. Do post the good news soon once the results are more stable for you.

[edited by: tedster at 4:52 pm (utc) on Sep. 14, 2006]

[jrs_66]

I'm seeing what appears to be a de-sandboxing happen as well. About 1/3 of the datacenters are showing us near the top... others we've been buried for 10 months.

[Aforum]

I see it as well.

[twebdonny]

>>>> so your question becomes "in what area is my site pushing the boundaries<<<<<

and the answer from Google is :

You shall never know....