Google Using Multiple Databases?

[steve_g]

Can any one explain how two people can simultaneously enter a search key word in Google and the page view is substantially different?
I am not referring to sponsored links which obviosly can be regionally targeted.
I am in the US and my partner in the Caribbean. My default access is the US site, as is his--not .UK or .FR etc yet the number of hits varies as does the order on the first (and subsequent) pages.
This is important to us since we are exporters to many countries and need to understand what our potential clients will see when searching on Google.
Any ideas?

[ambellina]

Run a search for "Google datacenters". That will probably bring up a good explanation.

[tedster]

Hello steve_g and welcome to the forums.

Just to expand - there's a lot more than data center variation going on today. Google intentionally creates different results depending on where the user is located. Using google.com from different countries can give you different results, and sometimes even different cities within the US.

You may find this thread informative:
How to search for US results from outside [webmasterworld.com]

In your situation, I'd consider some of the options mentioned in that thread:

1. Using the "gl=" parameter
2. Using a proxy server or VPN
3. The Adwords Preview Tool at [adwords.google.com...]

[Hissingsid]

Search for data centre watch tool and you will find tools that reveal the results from some of the different data centers through a proxy.

If you search this morning for certain commercial terms you will probably see a pattern of two or more different sets of results. It may well be that no one actually sees these actual results anywhere in the World using Google.com or there own country specific Google. My objective is to get to the top on as many of these DCs as I can, then assuming I have not managed this by skewing backlinks away from my own .co.uk geo target I should also get the top slot in my market.

If I wake up in a good mood, feeling confident and positive a quick look at the data centers has a way of ruining the day. So don't get addicted to it or you might go mad.

Cheers

Sid