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In a recent thread on WebmasterWorld, people observed that there is a change in Google's ranking algorithm. It looks as if more pages are added to Google's supplemental results and that Google might re-rank the results based on new quality criteria.

What's new in Google's ranking algorithm?

It seems that Google internally returns a first set of results that is then re-ranked according to multipliers determined in testing just this set of results.

If your web site is not included in the first set of results then the re-ranking step cannot help you because no new results are added.

If your website is included in the first set of results then the re-ranking can either help you or hurt your rankings. If your web site fails one of the re-ranking tests, then your rankings scores (relevance score, trust score, website age score, etc.) might be lowered and your rankings will drop.

Such a new ranking method would explain the yo-yo effect that can be observed for some URLs: a web page goes from search result page one to the end of the results and comes back again. The same web site is always part of the first result set but re-ranked differently.

Are more pages going supplemental?

Google might use the new system to quickly get the first set of results (probably cached sets of results). To make the primary index less unwieldy, more pages might be moved to the supplemental results.

The supplemental index would only be accessed if the total number of sites in the primary index fell below a threshold.

What can you do to benefit from the new algorithm?

If you want to get high rankings with Google's new algorithm then you must create a trustworthy web site with good content:

• Get good inbound links from trusted websites to raise the TrustRank value of your own web site.
  
  
• Get links from websites that have many backlinks (these pages usually have a high TrustRank).
  
  
• Improve the co-citation of your website by getting link from web pages that link to other sites that are related to yours.
  
  
• Try to get links from pages that link to other trusted pages next to the link to your site.
  
  
• Optimize the content of your web pages to show Google that your web pages are relevant to a special topic.

High Google rankings are still the result of two important factors: optimized web page content and the right inbound links.

The problem is to find out exactly how the web page content should be optimized and exactly how the inbound links now should look like. That's why we developed IBP's Top 10 Optimizer tools.

IBP's Top 10 Web Page Optimizer analyzes the content of the top 10 ranked pages to find out how to optimize the content of your web pages. IBP's Top 10 Inbound Link Optimizer analyzes the inbound link structure of the top ranked pages to find out which links are important for high Google rankings.

IBP's Top 10 Optimizers will tell you in plain English what you have to do to optimize your pages. In addition, IBP offers all the tools that you need to quickly adjust your web page content and to get the right inbound links so that your own web site can get top 10 rankings.

Weather Report: Yahoo! search index update

"We are in the process of rolling out some changes to our search results. As usual, you may see some changes in ranking as well as some shuffling of the pages that are included in the index throughout this process."

"Google Voice Local Search is Google’s experimental service to make local-business search accessible over the phone. [...] Search for a local business by name or category.You can say 'Giovanni's Pizzeria' or just 'pizza'."

AdWords Website Optimizer now available to all

"We're happy to offer the latest version to everyone who signs up through the Website Optimizer homepage. If you're not quite ready to sign up right away, don't worry - Website Optimizer will be available in all AdWords accounts within the next few weeks."

Search engine newslets

• Yahoo tests Alpha, a customizable search engine.
• Bring search results everywhere - on your mobile phone.
• Technorati breaking away, leaving Google behind in the dust.
• A batch of Gmail accounts, accidentally disabled.
• What will become of A9?
• Google's revolution may not be televised.
• Search for Google on Google Video and get nonsense.
• Google personalized search - Don't become a Google traffic addict.
• Google Desktop is now available for Macs.
• AOL Search releases now allows webmasters to buy AdWords just for display on AOL Search.
• Yahoo redesigns site with eye to foreclosures.
• Brazil: Google steps up oversight.
• A fresh, new look for AdSense ads.
• Yahoo 'faced' in social network indecision?

"Faced with mounting questions over similarities with a rival's software, Google Sunday acknowledged that a dictionary of Chinese words used with one of its recently released software tools came from a third party."

Google powers its way up

"The huge Mountain View Internet company has branched out into a number of businesses, sometimes working with others and sometimes going it alone."

Diagnosing search traffic drops

"In the unfortunate event that your traffic declines, you'll be able to determine the factors that may be affecting traffic.[...]

Bear in mind it's often hard to determine the exact reason traffic is dropping and harder to pin down precise way to fix it. Time is nearly always a factor."

Download the latest IBP version now!

IBP can help you to get top 10 rankings on Google, Yahoo and other major search engines. Download the latest version now.

• Get top 10 rankings on Google & Yahoo!
• Get more visitors and more sales.
• Optimize your web pages for high search engine rankings.
• Optimize your inbound link structure.
• Get more high quality links.

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