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There is a really long thread at Google Webmaster Help on the topic of the .GB.COM TLD. Some are of the belief that Google is penalizing or banning these domains.
Of course, to you and me, that sounds ridiculous. There are thousands of .gb.com domains indexed in Google. But these webmasters are complaining that they are not ranking well.
One said:
I have tested over 100 gb.com domains I found in the DMOZ directory (one of the webs oldest directories), and could not find a single one on the first page of Google for EVEN their own company names. EVEN their own domain name, so I can assure you I know what I am talking about. Here are an example of some .gb.com domains in DMOZ: http://search.dmoz.org/cgi-bin/search?search=gb.comPick any one you find at random.
The thread is pretty heated right now. No Google response has been made as of yet. Of course, when it comes to topics like this, you have to be very skeptical.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
Update: Read the thread, it appears that gb.com are not real TLDs or even ccTLDs, which might be the reason behind this.
Comments:
Christopher Hofman
10/19/2009 01:38 pm
as any gb.com is merely a sub domain why is that a surprise? In all fairness Google should only rank the 300 official top level domains, and ignore these dodgy ones like com.gb, com.de, co.dk etc
Michael Martinez
10/19/2009 04:59 pm
Phil Payne and Lysis have to be two of the worst possible respondents in those discussions.
Daniel
10/23/2009 10:05 am
@ christopher : There's a big distinction between .GB.COM & .COM.GB The first type is released by a private party and is a sub domain of .COM - which is the bone of contention The second is a TLD by itself sanctioned by the Registry. For instance, org.uk OR com.mx are released by the Registry for that TLD.