8 replies to this topic

[HJB]

Hi,

I was very happy to see the number of pages indexed for my site jump from 400 odd pages up to over 17,000 today. I didn't check out what new content had been indexed, but I assumed it must be forum pages. I checked out a competitor, and the number of pages linked for his site jumped from 600 add to 12,000. However, a little later, I refreshed the results and both his and my site had returned to the usual number of returned results. I searched Google using the syntax site:www.mysite.com.

I assume this must be some kind of blip within Google, but I cannot find any mention of it. I wish I had checked out the results at the time. Unless the spike results returned included many duplicates, it would suggest that google indexes very many more pages than are generally returned. Perhaps this is old news to most people here, but it was news to me.

[Randy]

First, your refresh may have simply connected you to a different datacenter. So that it changed doesn't tell you much.

Second, I assume you were looking at the little number reported towards the upper right of the page when you conducted your search. Is that correct?

If so, that number has been known to get really funky from time to time. Sometimes reporting one number of results on the first page, but a different number of results as you drill down into page 2, page 3, etc of the returned results.

I wouldn't let it concern me at this point. Watch it every new and then over the next couple of weeks and you'll probably see it move around again, depending upon what datacenter you're connecting to.

[HJB]

Hi Randy,

No, I'm not concerned, which is why I posted the thread to this board.

I've just looked again, and my count is up to 17,000. I skipped through the pages, and they run out at nearly 700 results (though, still up from the usual number of 400 odd). I clicked the omitted results link, but it did not show any more listed pages. Of course, I've noticed that the number of indicated results very often varies from the true nember, but I've never seen such a large disparity in the figures before.

Thanks.

[Randy]

It almost sounds like you're getting an index version that includes supplemental index pages sometimes HJB. It happens from time to time, and sometimes indicates an index rebuild on Google's part.

[HJB]

Hi Randy,

The indexing seems to have settled down to consistently returning 17,000 pages. But the competetor I was monitoiring is consistently returning the 12,000 pages I mentioned before too.

I wonder what was behind these changes to Google indexing of both our sites?

[Michael Martinez]

Randy's guess that a rebuild may have occurred is probably the best you'll get on something like that.

[Randy]

Google is probably getting ready to announce that they now have 20 trazillion pages in their index.

Then a few weeks after they do the numbers will return to their previous norm.

And no I'm not cynical.

[HJB]

Hi Randy,

Just to report that the high number of pages being returned with Google continues (but with thue number being around 700). If this had not accurred with the returns of a competitor at the same time, I would have thought this was just to do with my site. Has anyone heard of any kind of announcement from Google that might explain this? Just curious - not at all concerned.

[Michael Martinez]

Google normally tells people to ignore the estimated document counts on search results. No one in the SEO industry has figured out why they continue to show those numbers.

Google has, by the way, probably introduced 20-30 changes in its algorithm since this thread began.

It may also have rebuilt its index since then as well.

It's an interesting situation but there is no payoff in trying to track all the changes at Google at this granular a level.