Google recognises 'w i d g e t' as 'widget'

[plasma]

I just searched my brand and google found our 0700 number, which we write with spaces: '0700 w i d g e t'.

Ain't that cool?

[edited by: plasma at 12:27 am (utc) on Mar. 20, 2003]

[heini]

Plasma, how do you mean found? Did Google highlight it in the cache view? Or did it pull up a page where the only mention in the text is this spelling?
If that latter, it might be the link txt?

[plasma]

I searched for 'ewidget'.
It found us on an imprint page where the only occurences were

e-widget
and
e w i d g e t

It also displays '0700 ewidget' in bold on the SERP.

And yes, it was highlighted too, whereas the e-widget wasn't highlighted.

[plasma]

Shall I give you the link via sticky mail?

[ciml]

plasma, I think you're right. Did Google always do this I wonder?

[jimbeetle]

Noticed this a few months ago when looking into one of those "How did this page rank so high in the SERPs" questions.

The page in question had the keyword only in the title:

The * w i d g e t i n g * thing

and google listed it in the SERPs as:

The * widgeting * thing

Have not noticed other SEs handling it this way.

<edited>After I went back and found the page in question to get exact title<edited>

[duckhunter]

This seems a likely programming enhancement that reduces the number of words in a search and hence improves performance. If there are more than 'n' single letter words in a row, then remove the spaces.

Try searching for wi dg e ts. Doesn't work so well.

[WebWalla]

Also two spaces together will produce different results, so word proximity is still an issue.

[ciml]

duckhunter, you can search "widgets" or "w i d g e t s", both seem to match w i d g e t s in the page.

Jim's description of how it works looks right to me.