The Google Sandbox is theorized to be a deterrent to SEO’s, Webmasters and others who wish to manipulate search results and put up multiple fly-by-night websites in order to gain top positions in the rankings. Thus new websites are penalized in the SERP’s and the waiting time is approximately 8 months now to get out of the sandbox and into the top results if warranted.
Of course Google will not confirm or deny the existence of a “sandbox” or new website filter as is typical of Google, but there is too much anecdotal evidence based on the observations of SEO’s and Webmasters to say that one does not exist.
Now, this begs the question, that if a new highly relevant website has to wait 8 months for searches to find it in the Google searches, how relevant are the Google searches? Excluding new websites does deter unwanted SEO and Webmaster activity but it is also the “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” syndrome that is worrisome.
Case in point, a new author has their first book coming out in the next 4 – 5 months and puts up a website to promote this book. For most new books on the market, 90 percent of the buzz will be created 1 month before and after the book’s release. Most new authors do not know anything about SEO or the Google Sandbox effect. So, the timeframe to promote this book and for searches to find the new author’s website in the Google rankings has come and gone at the 8 month mark.
When this book is released at the 5 month mark and searchers do a Google search for more information on this author, they will not find the author’s extremely relevant website in the top of Google’s rankings. So, how relevant are the Google rankings if they exclude highly relevant websites based on the age of a site? Ageism has come to the Internet, I suppose, and its not a pretty sight.
There are many other examples also of hot product, service and informational websites that will be well-cooled by the 8 month waiting period and the searchers will be just as frustrated as the website owners.
Perhaps the Google Sandbox was, once upon a time, a good temporary solution until a real solution could be implemented to deter search engine manipulation while not deterring legitimate relevant websites from ranking well.
But, the temporary seems to have become a permanent fixture at Google and with the new MSM Search now in place that doesn’t have such exclusions, Google may to start worrying about its own relevancy in the eyes of the searcher.
Google is starting to become the new Microsoft. Full of announcements and then apologies. Maybe its hard to actually accomplish something when you have to walk around all those bags of cash in the office. I’ll not hold my breath waiting to see a Google van doing internet installation in my neighborhood so I can get 100 Meg per second. Maybe they learned from Obama, always talk about what your going to do.
Google Buzz added 1 more social networks in the world.
Do you have copy writer for so good articles? If so please give me contacts, because this really rocks! 🙂
Thanks for the compliment as I am the copywriter.