Google Freshness I wonder sometimes.

I have been watching a site that was taken down

[bwnbwn]

In one of my sectors I have been watching a site that was taken down 2 weeks ago. By taken down the server was just cut off as the business just closed due to the low margins and stiff competition.

The url returns "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" for 2 weeks now and as of today it is still being served in the serps for many many searches.

One search I watch Google returns the site in 4th position out of 2,430,000 results

Sometimes I wonder on the freshness of the Google serps. It is not in the yahoo serps were it use to be and on the secound page of msn.

2 weeks seems a long time for a site to remain in the position it is in and be shut down.

[Brett_Tabke]

New 404's - especially on a sitewide basis, are special cases. G can return a 404 page for 60 to 90 days. However; most often with a full domain/site nuke - it will be gone in 3-4 weeks.

[g1smd]

Google likes to hold on to the data for a while so that even though the site has gone, Google can serve up a copy of it via their cache.

I have actually found that useful a few times!

[bwnbwn]

Going into week 4 on and the site is still showing in all the searches.

Showing a cache of a dead site I can see were it can be useful but that should be confined for a domain search not in the live serps were a dead site is taking a spot from a live site.

[pageoneresults]

G can return a 404 page for 60 to 90 days.

I've seen Google hold on to 404s for a bit longer than that.

But as Brett says, if the site is nuked, the length of time before it is gone is shortened.

When a site returns a 404, it could mean any number of things, that is why Google and the others will continue to request those URIs until such time it feels that the pages are really gone. It would be neat to know what percentage of the indice is 404 at any given time. 3%? 5%? More?

Ask will be serving that site 3 years from now, you watch. ;)