For many years now, I only access our Wordcraft through Google. I suppose I do it so that it will get hits, even though a few hits a day probably don't mean much. For awhile now, the Wordcraft Home page is on top when I have put "Wordcraft" into Google. However, today it was nowhere to be found! The Wordcraft forums appeared on page 2, but I couldn't even find the Home page. This happened a few times. However, now it is in its correct place...the first site when you search for "Wordcraft."

Why does this stuff vary so much?

Why does this stuff vary so much?

Google ranking is done with an algorithm that weights pages depending on how many incoming links there are to them, not by how often people search. Also, Google changes the algorithm from time to time.

I usually search for wordcraft ubb which gives it as the top hit

quote:

Google ranking is done with an algorithm that weights pages depending on how many incoming links there are to them, not by how often people search. Also, Google changes the algorithm from time to time.

I suppose that means that all my machinations to put us on top have been for naught. Oh well. I am used to doing it that way now.

I understand what you're saying z, but doesn't it seem strange that I clicked a few times and each time I couldn't even bring up the Wordcraft Home page at all. Then...after a few minutes...there it was on top again. That didn't seem logical to me.

I understand what you're saying z, but doesn't it seem strange that I clicked a few times and each time I couldn't even bring up the Wordcraft Home page at all.

Google keeps tweaking their PageRank™ algorithm as spammers and others try to get their web pages to the top (link and link). (See the article on PageRank (link).)

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
..but doesn't it seem strange that I clicked a few times and each time I couldn't even bring up the Wordcraft Home page at all. Then...after a few minutes...there it was on top again. That didn't seem logical to me.

when I google 'worthless' from home, wwftd is numero uno; ah, but when I do this from a *foreign locale, it gets relegated to page 2 or 3.

cookies, or summat, no? (actually, I cleaned out my cache, etc. once just to prove the case.)

It's on the top of the second page when I Google it.

It sounds strange to me, but z might have an idea.

yes, right now, with two different browsers, I'm at the very top (using firefox) and at the top of page 2 (with chrome, after 'clearing browsing data') - the former is influenced by my own browsing, the latter is my 'true' current rank.

It sounds strange to me, but z might have an idea.

I'm not really sure, but it's something they're doing on their end. Here's some musings: Google's spider are crawling the web and updating their database of pages 24/7. (There's a huge amount of data that they are crunching on in the Google server farms, and the task is like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, it's never finished.) So there's never really a static snapshot of the Web from second to second. Google might never give reproducible search results from different identical searches, because they may use previous results using the same search criteria, that are being cached. In fact, you may notice that the search field on the Google toolbar is Ajax enabled and shows you a dropdown with the possible search criteria based on searches that other people have done. Part of the criteria that Google uses to return a search result set has nothing to do with words you type into the search textbox, but more to do with your IP address or physical location in the world. Also, You will get different results when the computer you're on is using different locales (e.g., German or British English). Another thing that annoys people a lot is the ghits counter. It's not very accurate. To return you a quick search result, they make an educated guess, and oftentimes it's wrong. Language Log had a thread going on about all the problems with Google Books, especially around the metadata that gets returned. Things like dates and authors. If you use Google Maps long enough, you'll notice that sometimes their instructions cannot be followed. Turning left where it is illegal, not the shortest or best route. Again, it's usually the metadata. They have teams of interns basically testing and tweaking. Most people are looking for new information, not trying to see how old searches pages are ranked. Most folks bookmark pages they frequently visit. Sometimes, they use the cached data in the URL search bar. On my office machine, I can type wordc and the top URL in the dropdown is the one that leads to the main forum pages.

Well, I am going to try an experiment. For the next month, I am going to search for "worthless" every day to see if it changes position for me (I use Firefox). Right now it is on the top of my page 2.

One thing that I've always wanted is my name to appear on top of Google. However, there is some stupid "Nancy Spector" at the Guggenheim Museum in NY who hogs all the ghits. I wish she'd retire!

Interestingly, I just searched for my name, which I didn't find until the LinkedIn Directory on page 4. The very next site (Spoke) with my name had a title similar to mine. It had me working at a company with a name similar to my company's, though with the correct address. Further, it had 3 "co-workers" listed whom I do know. It's very strange because I didn't sign up for the site, and it has wrong information.

I just wish I were more famous.

Well, my experiment isn't working too well. The Worthless Word of the Day Website has now sunk since I've been Googling it!

And...tonight WWFTD is #11 on my first page.