GoogleGuy Says - Google Ranking Info: June 27, 2003

Domains and dashes

Importance: Medium

A member asks if a file can start with a hyphen (ie. -index.html) GG says he thinks thats okay. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
I think domain names can't start with a dash, but don't see any reason why paths on the url can't. Kinda weird, but that's your call. :)

said at 05:15 PM (utc-5) | Discussion (1) | TrackBack (0)

Reverse DNS and Google

Importance: Medium

GG explains that reverse DNS does not affect Googlebot's ability to crawl a page. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
Reverse DNS not working won't cause problems for Googlebot--if it did, then we couldn't crawl lots of the web, because many people don't configure this, or do it incorrectly.

We only need to be able to map hostname->IP address.

Hope that helps,

said at 10:47 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

Underscores are not word seperators in Google

Importance: Low

It is often debated in the forums whether Google words in file names should be seperated by hyphen or underscores. GoogleGuy confirms here that underscores are not treated as word seperators, rather they are treated as part of the word. (Note: this is not something new, but since I have read many experienced webmasters claim that underscores do count as word seperators, I have given this quote a 'high' importance level, to help get the word out) Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
I don't consider that a bug--I think underscores are often useful for phrase matches, and I used one in a product search the other day. Dang'ed if I can't recall it now. So I would stay away from both %20 (ugly) and underscore (treated as part of the word) if you want the url to have separate words parsed out from it.

said at 10:27 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (10) | TrackBack (2)

SEMPO hurt by new lobby group?

Importance: Medium

In the thread about the new search engine lobby group, GG wonders whether SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization) will be the organization most hurt by the new lobby group's actions. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
I slept on this one and woke up with a thought about it. Is it me, or will the organization that's the most hurt by this action be SEMPO?

said at 10:24 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

Yahoo Watch

Importance: Medium

In a thread about the potential for Yahoo! to become a major player in the search market -- if they drop Google and start using their newly-acquired Inktomi search engine, another member points out that the people who run Google Watch have registered and parked yahoo-watch.org. GG laughs and responds. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
Kackle, I fell down laughing at that. Glad it isn't personal. :) I still want google-watch-watch.org though (kidding!). :)

GoogleGuy looks around and realizes how off-topic he is, and scoots toward the door..

said at 10:21 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

SERPs improving?

Importance: Medium

A member note the "coincidence" of GG returning to the forums after an improvement in SERPs. GoogleGuy says nah. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
Nah, steveb, I was just getting work done and didn't stop by for a while. It happens. :)

said at 01:08 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

Hyphens, underscores, or spaces for Google?

Importance: Low

A member starts a thread asking what is the best format for filename in Google's index, whether the seperate words with-hyphens, with_underscores, or with%20spaces. Other member note that in the past, GoogleGuy has suggested or hinted that hyphens are best. He now says is doesn't matter much. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
Shouldn't matter much. %20 is just ugly though. :)

said at 01:00 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (1)

Google has been slow

Importance: Low

In a thread about reported slowness of Google, GG replies to a specific report, advising that spyware might be the problem in that particular case. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
TheDave, you might want to do a scumware check on that one..

said at 12:58 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

Google time to index new site

Importance: Medium

A member launched a new site on Monday and has received some good links, and is wondering how fast Google will index the site. Others reply that Google seems to be indexing new sites faster. GG replies, asking the member to report back when the site gets listed. (Later in the thread, the member reports that Googlebot hasn't indexed the site yet, but All The Web and AltaVista have) Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
Let us know how it works out, birdstuff..

said at 12:57 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (1) | TrackBack (0)

Newer site take time to build up PR

Importance: Low

A member is concerned that there may be a penalty on a site, due to seeing PR0 on the toolbar. GG inquires about the age of the site. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
How old is the site? Newer sites take time to build up PR sometimes (not always).

said at 12:56 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

Automated queries and data center comparison

Importance: High

In a thread about automated queries, GG repeats his advice to avoid them. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
Depends, bigace. 10 seconds between queries would still allow 8640 queries a day, which starts to add up if everyone does it. :)

Personally, I don't recommend following queries down to comparing data center by data center. See my "knob" post for the reasons why. :)

said at 12:54 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

URL case sensitivity for Google?

Importance: High

GoogleGuy says case sensitivity should not be an issue for Google, but recommends all lower case for users and other reasons. Link to quote

GoogleGuy Says:
Case sensitivity shouldn't be a problem for Googlebot, but if people link to your page with the wrong url (because the case is wrong), that can cause problems. It's easy for people to make mistakes like that. Personally, I recommend using all lower-case urls if you can. That's a tradition that has endured pretty well on the web.

Hope that helps, GoogleGuy

said at 12:51 AM (utc-5) | Discussion (0) | TrackBack (0)

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