Is there a list of similar words for Google?

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

In looking up an article of mine I noticed a competing article using similar words but Google didn't differentiate any difference.

A search for "widget ideas" (my article) yielded other entries such as "widget tips" (competitor) but the word tips is highlighted even if ideas is searched for and not tips.

In short Google believes tips to be like ideas in the context I asked for. In some contexts they would not be similar at all, I don't think waiters appreciate ideas instead of tips anyway.

So is there a know list anywhere of which words Google considers the same as others? Surely some research has been done on this by now?

[Marshall]

Maybe they are using some form of synonym algorithm, though using an online thesaurus, tip and idea were not synonymous. Though in a vague sense, I can see it.

Marshall

[buckworks]

There's no list that I know of, but you can get some interesting insights into some of the associations the algo is making if you do some tilde searches like this

~keyword -keyword -keywords

and see what words are bolded.

Keep notes on what words are bolded, then repeat the search with the bolded words added as new negatives, and see what comes up. Repeat and keep adding the new bolded words as negatives until your searches stop working.

~keyword -keyword -keywords -keyword2 -keyword3

The bolded words that you discover in this exercise can sometimes be useful to weave into existing product copy, to reinforce the theme of your page.

Sometimes the opposite is true ... your search series will find the algo making associations that go in a different direction than what you'd want. It's harder to know what to do about that but at least it will alert you about the need for additional supportive vocabulary to strengthen your pages' themes.

[FranticFish]

Brilliant tip, buckworks, thanks!

[Planet13]

There's no list that I know of, but you can get some interesting insights into some of the associations the algo is making if you do some tilde searches like this

~keyword -keyword -keywords

wow! That is a great tip, buckworks!

Quick Question: How would you apply that to a two-word keyword phrase?

Would it be:

~keyword1 ~keyword2 -keyword1 -keyword2

or would it be

~"keyword1 keyword2" -keyword1 -keyword2

Or would you just do the above tilde search on each keyword separately?

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One other thing: I noticed that after you eliminate enough of the synonyms by using an - in front of them when you search, google starts returning results with similar SPELLINGS but completely different MEANINGS.

I wonder if maybe this means it is a GOOD idea to have misspellings of your keywords in your text?

[Marshall]

I wonder if maybe this means it is a GOOD idea to have misspellings of your keywords in your text?

I have done this with obvious known misspellings, e.g. website versus web site, but you do have to be a little cautious so it does not appear as if you cannot spell.

Marshall

[tedster]

I would first check the dropdown spellings in Google Suggest to see if the misspellings that interest you get auto-corrected there.

The idea of putting misspellings in your own content is kind of from the old days. Google even penalized usability guru Jakob Nielsen a few years back for cramming the common misspellings of his own name onto his own home page. I've also seen penalties for adding every possible semantically related word or phrase to the copy.

One of the areas it's good to read about is Google's fleet of phrase-based indexing patents [webmasterworld.com] Those patents form a kind of foundation for Google's evolution away from strict keyword matching. This method does create lists of words and phrases, and those lists are apparently tweaked periodically, based on web usage.

One of those patents talks about detecting spam using phrase-based indexing [appft1.uspto.gov] - very applicable to this discussion, I'd say.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Did I really write "differentiate any difference"? I meant that Google didn't differentiate, period, oi.

Anyway, I've tested misspellings and Google seems to avoid producing them, which is a good thing because I really would hate to have to make mistakes in order to get traffic.

Thanks for the tip on "the need for additional supportive vocabulary" Buckworks though I suspect Google is wise to this as well, and probably why Google is moving away from giving lower quality sites much longtail traffic based solely on exact match text.

Google seems to want to rate websites based on as few things a webmaster can control as possible, including text now? Someone once said that if you give enough monkeys a typewriter that they would eventually come up with a novel (see "infinite monkey theorem"). Now if it happens we'll never know!

[Zivush]

The Google Wonder Wheel Is Gone - This tool could give you good ideas on any search term.
You can try using Google insights for search.

[lucy24]

So is there a known list anywhere of which words Google considers the same as others?

Yes, but it's only available to the very topmost echelon of g### management.