Why google.co is so different from google?

[wavedancing]

Here is the static of referrals for one of my sites:

Google.co 323.00
Yahoo 134.00
Google 31.00
Google.ca 26.00
Ask.com 3.00
MSN 1.00
Altavista.com 1.00

So Google.co send me traffic 10 times more than Google.

Anyone can explain why this happens? My site is hosted in a location of USA. Do they apply different algorithms?

I actually observed this for a long time. Can anybody help me to figure out why?

[krooga]

Google.co 323.00


When you say Google.co do you mean google UK (www.google.co.uk) ?

[drods]

ive noticed the same kinda thing too....but i think google uses geo location....my guess is that your from the uk, so you will get slightly different results from google.co.uk as opposed to google.com

[wavedancing]

I actually don't know if google.co is google.co.uk.

What confuses me is both me and my hosting company is located in the US. The hosting company is storesonline, a company at Utah.

[MathsIsFun]

Well, there is no "google.co" - so either the ".uk" is missing or something else is going on.

If you tell us the name of the stats program, one of us may recognise what is going on.

[adbart]

I'm pretty sure he means ".co.uk"...

[Conficio]

What is your statistic package?

Also, you should be able to see all references specifically in your logs. Can you get to your raw logs? Can you filter on all referrers from Google?

There you might find which keywords are search for on the two branches of Google? Use Google yourself with these keywords and see where you are positioned.

By the way why does it say 320.00 instead of 320 referrals? What constitutes a fraction of a referral?

K<o>

[ctabuk]

I did a full IBP on my keywords today - In Google.co.uk I am on page 11
On Google.com page 2
Google NZ page 1 (I'll get loads of enquiries from New Zealand I don't think) So I am a UK Mortgage Broker who is bigger in the States than I am on my home turf 1 and I don't write USA business.
Yet for about another 70 odd keywords I'm Number 1 on all Googles. Lovely Jubbly

[wednesday]

I am on my home turf 1 and I don't write USA business.

In order to monetarise your US traffic, you can awlays get partners in US or join an affiliate program . And have something like this "US customers click here" or "For mortgages in US we recommend our partners..."

Best wishes,
Martin

[Conficio]

I did a full IBP on my keywords today - In Google.co.uk I am on page 11
On Google.com page 2
Google NZ page 1 (I'll get loads of enquiries from New Zealand I don't think) So I am a UK Mortgage Broker who is bigger in the States than I am on my home turf 1 and I don't write USA business.
Yet for about another 70 odd keywords I'm Number 1 on all Googles. Lovely Jubbly
In this case I would do
have my *.com domain point with a 301 (permanent) redirect to my *.co.uk domain
figure out why I am (so) low on google.co.uk and try to improve it
find out why I am so high on google.com and use what I learn. I suspect I am either looking for GB specific (non competitive) keywords or I have found a goldmine and need to replicate it.
find me some partners that pay for my traffic to their US/NZ/worldwide lending sites and make some extra money

K<o>

[adbart]

I did a full IBP on my keywords today - In Google.co.uk I am on page 11
On Google.com page 2
I don't get this. I was under the impression that Google.com included all sites from all territories? If this is the case, then how can you have a lower rank in a specific countries' Google site?

I'd be interested to know if anyone has any ideas on this.

[Conficio]

I did a full IBP on my keywords today - In Google.co.uk I am on page 11
On Google.com page 2
I don't get this. I was under the impression that Google.com included all sites from all territories? If this is the case, then how can you have a lower rank in a specific countries' Google site?

I'd be interested to know if anyone has any ideas on this.
Hi Adbart,
I think all Googles contain all sites. They just prioritize things in a different way. I believe the index is the same, but the page rank and the SERP algorithm is different. The UK Google ranks sites that indicate UK content and UK relevance higher and the DE-Google does the same for German sites.

I'd say a co.uk domain should be a strong indication of relevance. I'm somewhat puzzled as well. I would love to know the keywords he is looking up.

K<o>

[adbart]

Perhaps. That seems the most logical explanation. Good thinking!

[wavedancing]

What is your statistic package?

Also, you should be able to see all references specifically in your logs. Can you get to your raw logs? Can you filter on all referrers from Google?

There you might find which keywords are search for on the two branches of Google? Use Google yourself with these keywords and see where you are positioned.

By the way why does it say 320.00 instead of 320 referrals? What constitutes a fraction of a referral?

K<o>

It is part of the package called storesonline. It's a software of the storesonline company, who provide the hosting. It is different from the cpanel. I can not access the raw log. 320.00 is the same as 320. That's just the way it's displayed by the software.

I think google.co means either google.co.uk or google.com.co. Are these two the same thing?

Both me and the hosting is in US. And the domain is animalbirdfigurine.com, no indication of anything related to uk.

The software does not display the keywords very good. See for the keyword "animal figurine", it display "animal" and "figurine" separately. And it does not display how many visitor searched the keywords.

[ctabuk]

Hi, some excellent, and measured replies. My main keyword is 'Right to Buy'I don't want to do USA business, we are busy enough. Google UK has alway's historically picked what we call .gov sites before those of a humble Mortgage Broker with his .co.uk. We are on page 1 or 2 on every SE on the planet and are getting 600 new hits per month, and believe me that keeps the phones ringing!We now all know that G is using three databases,(4 if you include images) one day the results will be the same, but until then it will keep our forums busy with big G questions.

[adbart]

.com.co is Columbia, yeah? Does this have anything to do with your site either?!

[ctabuk]

I doubt it!

[wavedancing]

.com.co is Columbia, yeah? Does this have anything to do with your site either?!

Is Columbia a country?

[adbart]

Is Columbia a country?
Er............ yes. Lol.

[drods]

i have a 1 word (competitive) .it domain... now when i search for this keyword on google.com/.co.uk its not even in the top 100....i then search it from google.it same results as .com/uk


Now, with that in mind i then look at my logs from statcounter, i have hits from google.it, i click on the link in statcounter & volia, im at #4....

this leaves me to beleive that because i live in uk, i get the .com/uk results..... regardless of which dot google i use to search.


thats some kinda proof that backs up my earlier post in this thread.....about geo location.....

comments n e 1 ????

[Conficio]

i have a 1 word (competitive) .it domain... now when i search for this keyword on google.com/.co.uk its not even in the top 100....i then search it from google.it same results as .com/uk


Now, with that in mind i then look at my logs from statcounter, i have hits from google.it, i click on the link in statcounter & volia, im at #4....

this leaves me to beleive that because i live in uk, i get the .com/uk results..... regardless of which dot google i use to search.


thats some kinda proof that backs up my earlier post in this thread.....about geo location.....

comments n e 1 ????
Interesting observation! But, this should not be a general rule.

Try "fair trade" in google.com, google.de and google.it.

.com and .it looks quite similar but google.de brings up a lot of local content, likely because the phrase is used in Germany/Austria/Switzerland for TransFair Coffee (http://www.transfair.org/), etc.

Also, I can't make any sense of it. If or example I work in a VPN, because of corporate security, Google always sees the IP that is the public firewall for my company and that is not representative of where I am. Also, why should Google show me different results, just because I'm looking for something from my hotel room in Hong Kong as compared to I look it up at home in Boston? Third, does that not make conversation quite awkward, if I tell someone to Google something and the person gets a totally different result set the very same minute, just because she is half way around the globe?

I would be very suspicious of this theory and try to look for other explanations. Yes, Google does geo-targeting, but based on hints in the query, not in the position where the query comes from. I don't even believe that the alleged server geo-targeting is true, because it heavily fails with large websites, that have round robin DNS schemata for load balancing etc. Country domains is something more legitimate.

Just my weird logic.

K<o>

[drods]

hmmm....i think youre right Conficio, about based on hints in the query.....i feel a bit silly now.....

its that click button for pages "in" the uk/it/ etc etc.... when i looked at the stats in statcounter....i diddnt even think about the search "in" .it ...OOPS! it dosent help not being able to read italian either...lol

sorry.....& yes, i realise im an idiot! he he.

[Conficio]

sorry.....& yes, i realise im an idiot! he he.

I don't think so. We all try to form theories and test them with others, it called science. Having the flexibility to learn from new arguments and other insights is the oposite of being an idiot. :D

K<o>

[zoreli]

From the posts above and from my experience I can make a conclusion that google give a small priority on local sites when the search is performed on "Local" Google. (in my case google.com.gr)

My rankings on Google.com.gr is always 5-10 positions better than ranking on Google.com for same keywords.

Regards, Zoreli

[wavedancing]

The algorithm must be different.

Surprisingly just after I post this topic, google started to send me more traffic than google.co (whatever it is). I didn't do anything to the site. I don't know what change google's mind about my region.