9 replies to this topic

[USCRugbyNo1]

Hey Guys,

I'm a hack SEO and I can't figure out this problem. My friend told me this was a great place to get answers!

When I google a word I'm coming up 4th. In reality I show up like on page 7!

I have cleared out history, cache, cookies and made sure I logged OUT of gmail.

I even rebooted my computer.

When I'm logged in g mail it shows me natural results. When I'm logged out it shows me not natural results. Weird eh?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Jill]

Not weird at all since  rankings are a poor measure of success[/hr]. We've discussed this lots here.

[USCRugbyNo1]

Not weird at all since  rankings are a poor measure of success[/hr]. We've discussed this lots here.

Hey Jill,

Maybe a poor measure of success but a lot of business is a numbers game. With poor rankings you don't have any traffic. With no traffic you can't convert leads into business.

At any rate, I'm looking for some type of setting I'm missing. It's obvious google knows that I like to click my website, thus it's ranking it in 4th position when it should be on page 7+!

Edited by USCRugbyNo1, 14 May 2010 - 05:58 PM.

[PatrickGer]

As for your original post, I'm not quite sure if I understood you right..and in case my guess is wrong, I hope someone can point that out...but it sounds to me as if personalization might be the reason. Everyone doesn't get to see the same search results anymore, as Google tries to deliver more relevant results to the user on an individual level.

Thus if youre logged into g-mail and searching, you might get different search results than if you searched without being logged in.

I am in Germany and get different results if I search for the exact same thing that a friend of mine in Utah searches for. I tend to see more UK pages (which makes sense, as Google tries to give me the most relevant/best results - and companies in the UK would be able to ship goods to me more quickly and at a lower cost than US companies).

If I got this right, then you see a personalized version of Google's search results when you're logged into G-Mail.

Maybe you could tell again what exactly happens when you're logged into g-mail in comparison to when you're not? Not trying to be a detail-freak, but when you say you show up at #4, when in reality you should show up on page 7 (or something along those lines), I didn't understand exactly what happened when you were logged out vs. when you were logged into G-Mail. I read it twice, but couldn't really distinguish what exactly happened when you did A vs. when you did B. (really not trying to be an ass, just trying to understand what happened).

How do you know that the results oyu see when you're logged in are natural results, but when you're logged out they're not natural results? I'm not sure if natural results (as in results that everyone sees) still exist, but..I would have assumed that youd be more likely to see extremely different results from other people when you search while you're logged in (not the other way around).

Does anyone have an idea if Google's personalized search is implemented enough to show such a difference?

[Michael Martinez]

When I'm logged in g mail it shows me natural results. When I'm logged out it shows me not natural results. Weird eh?

Any help would be appreciated.

Do you disable Web history when you log out of Google? They rigged it so that anyone who is logged out automatically records Web history and you have to disable it.

Seems counterintuitive, but I think that was the whole point.

[USCRugbyNo1]

I'll be as specific as possible and I appreciate your help!

I'm logged OUT of gmail.

I google keyword.

I am in 4th position, 1st page.

I then log into gmail and I google keyword.

I am on 10th page.

(Normally this is opposite right?)

Since I've clicked on my website so many times I think google is pushing my site higher bc. it knows I like to click it.

When I go to another computer in my house and google the same keyword, it shows up on page 10 as it should be.

I've cleared my history, temp files and cache and it's still doing it. Whenever this happens, I just simply logout of gmail and it fixes the problems, but now I'm logged OUT and it's doing the opposite effect!

[PatrickGer]

Admittedly, I still don't get it :-(.

I'm logged OUT of gmail.

I google keyword.

I am in 4th position, 1st page.

I then log into gmail and I google keyword.

I am on 10th page.

(Normally this is opposite right?)

Since I've clicked on my website so many times I think google is pushing my site higher bc. it knows I like to click it.

The last phrase does seem to make sense to me...but in that case what you typed above would have to be exactly the other way around? And I assume this might have something to do with why you put "Normally this is opposite right?"..but admittedly I just dont get it.

Anyway, I think what Jill said about rankings being a poor measure of success does apply here.

If you know what's going on, what would it change about your web strategy?

I think what matters is where you are listed when a variety of other people (that make up your target audience) google your name (okay what really matters is how many sales you can make from that, but you get thei dea).

[Jill]

Since I've clicked on my website so many times I think google is pushing my site higher bc. it knows I like to click it.

Exactly. It's called personalized search and it's one of the main reasons why nobody ever knows exactly where their site ranks for other people.

Randy's Rank Extractor tool is a nice way to see where your page was ranking for different people who clicked on it tho. And Google Webmaster Tools is also providing similar information.

[rustybrick]

To turn off personalized search while you are logged in, just add &pws=0 to the end of the search string. Such as this:

http://www.google.co...word here&pws=0

[BBCoach]

You can always use www.scroogle.org to see a fairly descent SERP listing.