Does Google weight sites by TLD?

[johnblack]

Hi, what's the general opinion regarding .info tlds?

If all other SEO factors are equal would Google prefer a .com over its twin .info site? I'm ignoring the issue of dup content for the purposes of this question.

All opinions appreciated

JB

[tedster]

Google has repeatedly answered "No" to this question. The TLD is not part of the algorithm.

However, since there are age and historical factors in the algo, sites with a .com would probably average out as longer established. Also, businesses with a long term game plan for the web usually prefer a .com domain, rather than a .info. Those two factors alone probably account for the sight of so many highly ranked .com domains and so many fewer well-ranked .info domains.

[new_seo]

I don't think so.TLD only comes to the party when you are thinking about country specific search.

If all other SEO factors are equal

My friend this is theoretically possible,practically I don't think it is possible. :)

[johnblack]

Thanks for the prompt replies guys.

tedster

I appreciate the age factor. Just recently I've seen a couple of sites for sale that had .info tlds and I have always shied (sp?) away from buying .info sites preferring the .com tld. I just wanted to make sure that by buying myself a .info site I wasn't picking up an automatic ranking penalty for the .tld alone.

new_seo

Yeah, it was a hypothetical question!

Thanks again guys

[Robert Charlton]

In my experience, TLDs do not affect ranking. I think tedster has it nailed regarding historical factors and what you see in the serps.

...I have always shied (sp?) away from buying .info sites preferring the .com tld. I just wanted to make sure that by buying myself a .info site I wasn't picking up an automatic ranking penalty for the .tld alone.

Dot coms have some advantages with regard to browser defaults and some user expectations.

For a discussion of the pros and cons of .info domains apart from ranking questions, see this excellent discussion....

Who would buy or build a website on a .info domain these days?
Do .info domains have a bad reputation? Can a .info website become popular?
[webmasterworld.com...]