Different google refresh results?

[Northstar]

I have noticed that a couple of my top keywords don't show up when I first do the search but when I refresh the results page they show up. Say for example I type "widgets" on google.com and click search my page is no where to be found on the first page. I then refresh the page and there it is five down. I have noticed this for two of my top keywords. Anyone know what would cause this? Does google pull from different datacenters with each refresh?

[tedster]

I'd suggest using Firefox and installing the ShowIP extension to see if the refresh pulls from a different IP address. What you describe is not something I've commonly seen at all.

[Northstar]

I did as you suggested and the IP doesn't seem to change in Foxfire but I don't get the different results in Foxfire ever time I refresh the page like I do in IE7. But the google results are slightly different in Foxfire then they are in IE. I don't know if IE is pulling from a different IP then Foxfire since I can't view the google IP in IE7.

[g1smd]

Google has hundreds of thousands of servers spread over hundreds of IP addresses grouped over at least 44 Class-C blocks.

They have at least three versions of their index in play at the present time. Additionally, the counts seem to have massive variations between the different blocks, and even within a block see massive variations over the course of a few days.

It may well take several more weeks for things to become clear.