Major Google UK Search Changes? 'Dewey' Crosses The Pond

Apr 16, 2008 - 7:44 am 1 by
Filed Under Google Updates

I'll be honest, I keep watching the WebmasterWorld thread discussing the April 2008 Google update, code named Update Dewey.

The latest thing that I noticed were recent reports from very senior members saying that Google is shuffling around the results, in a major way, at Google UK. Here are two posts I isolated from the past 24 hours specific to Google UK and this update:

Oooo! (too effeminate?) Big changes on Google.co.uk ... big, awful changes ... if you've got a bunch of paid links looks like their about to pay off. Top spots in lots of industries have been overtaken by paid link buyers, and not subtle paid link buying either! 2,000 backlinks from just 2 sites with a paid sponsored links section in the bottom right for example.

There's a significant change in the UK algo today. For our top target term the site that recently bought it's way to the top and was rewarded with a site link listing because it has links out to sites that pay it affiliate fees has dropped to #2 and of course lost it's site links. The new #1 has dropped in from nowhere but probably should really be at #1 if it had someone doing at least basic SEO.

In fact, there is a stand alone thread named No.3 in every Google tld except our own - .co.uk at WebmasterWorld, that digs into one issue. The senior WebmasterWorld member says that his UK based site ranks number three in all Google sites except for Google UK, where it ranks 256. Weird, don't you think?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

 

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