Google Now Shows Many Results from One Single Subdomain

[the_nerd]

maybe I missed something, but today I see
#1 subdomain.imnportantdomain.com with sitelinks
#2 subdomain.imnportantdomain.com/p1
#3 subdomain.imnportantdomain.com/p2
#4 subdomain.imnportantdomain.com/p3
#5 subdomain.imnportantdomain.com/p4

(+ spot 1 in paid links)

Everything above the fold belongs to this single big player. Is that a new Google SERP layout?

[tedster]

I've seen things like that, but only on relatively low competition results. I'm assuming that each "subdomain" is different, correct?

[Rlilly]

Im seeing this also happen for keywords related to the Brand Name. It is another example of Google intentionally boosting the brand names (multi-nationals) at the expense of small businesses.

I am not sure but it seems like this is flurting with un-fair competition, keeping business out of the market place and suppressing freedom of speach on the net.

[aristotle]

I thought Google had made a rule some time ago that no more than two results from the same domain could appear for a given search. Has this rule gone by the wayside? If so, bigger well-known sites will become even more dominant than they already are.

[tedster]

@the_nerd - you didn't miss anything. Instead it looks like you were one of the very first to spot a change that Google was rolling out.

Here's what seems to be going on. Google formally announced a big change today. For some query terms, more than two results can be shown from the same website. It depends on whether the query term lines up with user intention, as Google's data show it.

Today we've launched a change to our ranking algorithm that will make it much easier for users to find a large number of results from a single site. For queries that indicate a strong user interest in a particular domain, like [exhibitions at amnh], we'll now show more results from the relevant site

Showing more results from a domain [googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com]

For some interesting examples try these two searches:

apple ipod
microformat example

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Heh, who needs a search engine then if it's not sorting and ranking anymore. Why not just send visitors right to the site instead of forcing them to look at a page all about the site? It's too much like a site directory for my liking.

On a side note, CA-CHING. Any site displaying this behavior for a prime keyword just saw it's value increase exponentially. GREAT time to sell and cash in on the hefty premium it's sure to create.

[tedster]

It also lessens any reputation management issues significantly. Agreed, Google is evolving into something other than a search engine.

[netmeg]

I ran that "micoformat example" search this morning before I'd heard about the change and was convinced I'd broken Google.

[tedster]

Apologies for not giving credit where it's due - netmeg shared that search on Twitter and that's how I learned about it.

I found it particularly interesting because there's no brand name involved. So even though this SERP change will benefit brands, it's not specifically ABOUT brands. It is about user intention.

[drall]

So basically Google is becoming a big directory? I did a search this morning for a mysql related item and saw nothing but results for mysql itself. I was looking for a 3rd party app. I just cant see how this is going to be good for the user.

[Rlilly]

Tedster, with all due respect, I disagree, this is only about the Brand names and revenues they can derive from them.

If you looking for a "HP printer", you literally have to go to page 2 to start shopping. Amazon is on page 1, but they part of the Google brand name help big business squash small business agenda. How can this be good for users intentions?

We agree that Google is intentionally boosting brands in the index, this just adds to that. We dont know what will come next, decreasing the power of those who compete with brands? The general trend is not good.

I will admit, my site has been effected substantially by this update so I do have a major gripe. I am starting to prefer to say BING it -:)

[indyank]

exactly drall...the same thing happened to me...and google is calling this a change to support "User intention"? there cannot be a bigger joke than this....

[Nuttakorn]

It seems this new algorithms support enterprise and big brand to prevent reputation issue.

[tedster]

One of my clients has long had a critical "sucks-site" on page one of their brand name search. This change pushed it down from #7 to #10, but it didn't completely eliminate it. in fact, the "sucks-site" is now the only non-corporate organic result for the brand search.

[cwnet]

I did the 'apple ipod' search and to me the SERP just confirmes that Google has no idea of my intentions and because of that, shows me a bunch of apple pages to chose from - mixing in some Google properties like news and base plus the obligatory wikipedia link.

A long way from "I feel lucky" to 'I don't know'

[netmeg]

I don't necessarily think the way it looks now when we happen across one of these types of search results is the way it's going to stay. I wouldn't be surprised if there were refinements and tweaks along the way.

Google has all the click through data. If people don't click on those five to seven same-domain results, they'll adjust. Not every search can be served by an ad, and it would be the height of folly to deliberately trash their own first page results at a time when Bing is loaded for bear and starting to feed Yahoo results and ads.

[aristotle]

I just did a Google search for "Webmaster World" (without quotes), and it has the first five positions.

[true_INFP]

I just did a Google search for "Webmaster World" (without quotes), and it has the first five positions.

And each of the last three is about Google:

www.webmasterworld.com/google/
www.webmasterworld.com/google_archive/
www.webmasterworld.com/forum89/ (Google AdSense)

I think I see one thing in this search that I also noticed in their "exhibitions at amnh" example: They return URLs of pages about famous names and brands (Darwin, Einstein, Google) that are on the site of the less famous -- but still relatively well-known -- brand you searched for (WebmasterWorld, AMNH).

The SERPs for the "Webmaster World" search (without quotes) actually prove it's not really about any user intent, but about "sub-hosted" stronger brands.

[fabulousyarn]

OH no I saw 1 result on page 1 for an non-hp printer shop. :)

So far testing it in my niche it's not so worrisome, probably because our niche is so niche there are no Apples or Motorolas. Amazon does reap a huge benefit. Surprisingly, in my niche, I"m seeing less and less ebay results too - not sure why.

[tedster]

Discussion continues here: Google To Show More Results From a Domain [webmasterworld.com]