Search for CompanyURl.com Brings Up Other Domains I Own?

[internetheaven]

I search for "mycompanywebsite.com" (in quotes) sometimes to check up on who is talking about us. Just did a search today and two of my other websites in completely different industries were in the search results.

These sites do not link to each other. They never have. They don't even have the same IP address. Again - never have. The only things they have in common are:

- matching WhoIs data.
- listed in the same GWT account.

This is not a related sites search, this is a domain search in quotes. So, why would totallydifferentsite.com show up in search results for "mycompanywebsite.com"?

Mike

[netmeg]

Personalization? What could be more personalized than that?

[internetheaven]

Personalization? What could be more personalized than that?

Hah! So if I'm searching for information on a website I own ... Google will show me other websites I own?

That is quite scary really ... of course, not as scary as typing in a search on your own name and your stalker's name showing in the search results.

[netmeg]

I dunno, it was just a thought. I have a bunch of websites, and I've never had that happen myself.

[lucy24]

Have you done the same thing recently while signed in? The full-blown personalization thing is pretty new.

Hm, speaking of "pretty new", did I miss this one? I just went over to g### search and deliberately signed in to make sure I'm not talking through my hat, and there are two new icons. One says "show personal results" and the other says "hide personal results". You can set the default in your prefs.

This is a limited preview. Upgrade to Google+ to control your experience.

Upgrade?! We're talking about a ### search engine, not a paid service! I don't know what happens if you click Upgrade. I was afraid to try.

Oops. I think I'm wandering into Thread Hijack territory.

[Habtom]

Personalization? What could be more personalized than that?

Lots of people are unaware Google is personalizing search results. I see people on twitter posting how they managed to rank for important keywords without doing much, or that Google is suddenly in love with their websites.

Personalization has failed many people and have given them hope that they are now ranking better for something they don't really deserve. I don't have the heart to tell them, that they are not really ranking for the keywords, and it is just Google thinks that specific site is important to them.