(7)
It is just about a year since we posted our poll on the Google Sandbox existing or not. The results back then had a lot of people saying it still existed on some level. Some said it no longer existed and some said it never existed.
I spotted a new WebmasterWorld thread with renewed discussion on the topic. The SEOs there are debating about if it exists now, did it ever, etc. I wanted to run a very short poll, the 2010 Google Sandbox poll. This poll has two answers, yes or no. If you think it never existed, answer no. If you think it doesn't exist now but did exist in the past, answer no. If you think it still exists on some level today, answer yes.
Please take the poll below:
As I said before, but just so some of you have some history. The Google Sandbox goes back to April 2004. We first spotted it when I wrote New Sites = Poor Results in Google, then it became known as the Sandbox effect and had controversial definitions. Matt Cutts confirmed the sandbox existed, somewhat, in his Coffee Talk with Brett Tabke. But since then, we really did not discuss it much.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Comments:
Anantha Narayanan
09/21/2010 08:09 pm
If there was something called Google sandbox, they would told us about it. Its not their business secret, they have never said anything about sandbox because it doesn't exist.
Brandon
09/21/2010 11:19 pm
In the past four months, I've launched 4 Web sites that rank well in their targeted niches in Google. I was able to quickly rank them. Bing & Yahoo were the exact opposite.
Amit Gupta
09/22/2010 08:06 am
Yes, it does exist....just in our minds.... Sandbox or no sandbox..if we do it well...it surely ranks well.
M.-J. Taylor
09/22/2010 05:26 pm
I voted yes, and I also started a couple of threads on other forums: it's a popular topic - controversy is good link bait, and the Sandbox question reels them in: http://www.v7n.com/forums/google-forum/211449-unwanted-dead-alive-does-sandbox-still-exist.html and http://www.webproworld.com/webmaster-forum/threads/103814-Still-Get-Sand-Kicked-In-Your-Face-The-Sandbox-Once-and-For-All-Does-It-Exist.
Rob abdul
09/22/2010 09:44 pm
There is no sandbox. The key is to be totally white hat in your approach.
Jason
09/23/2010 12:56 pm
Why make a poll? Most people are voting based on second hand advice or banter that they heard on some forum. A lot of people haven't done testing and don't know what they are talking about. The sandbox does exist. Google will penalize brand new sites that receive a rapid amount of suspicious inbound links. Your site will drop down to 600+ in the rankings and it will take 30+ days to see it partially recover.
Wesley Atkins
11/01/2010 11:23 pm
I've built a ton of niche sites in the last few years and can say with certainty that the Sandbox period exists for new sites..