I'm having a problem with Google's American interpretation of the word "holidays". In American-speak, the word seems to be associated with prescribed, commemorative days such as Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day, Independence Day etc. Use a search involving "country name holidays" and the SERP's will favour sites that have a listing/compilation of these single day events… ie. an American-speak interpretation.
However, in my part of the world, and much of the English speaking world, a "holiday" is that annual break from the workplace that is typically 2 or 3 weeks long when you load up the family and head of on "holidays". Websites that service that market are typically destination guides and/or travel sites.
The problem arises when you try to reach a local audience using the word they connect with.. ie.. holidays. The searcher is expecting to find a travel resource but Google insists on applying the American-speak interpretation and pushes sites that list those commemorative days.
So from a web masters perspective, how would you try to reach the intended audience, using terms they connect with, but which Google interprets differently?
I've considered using "vacation" to try and steer Google in the right direction, but as the intended audience is hardly ever going to use that word, I see no point in optimising for it.
