Losing Trust in Google?

Jun 10, 2008 - 8:55 am 0 by

Of course we would never lose trust in Google. This topic has to do with sites seemingly losing the trust of Google from an algorithmic perspective, and if there is any sort of SEO analysis that could be used to offset the apparent losses.

Whitey over at WebmasterWorld Forums explains:

"Two sites in our network have been behaving strangely recently, and I'm wondering if they signify how Google handles "Trust Rank" where entire sites fall into different minus levels."
He goes on later in the thread to offer a theory:
"Google was much more random in it's application of "penalties" or "trust filters" in the past. A site could go anywhere in the SERP's or indeed not appear. But now it falls [ or rises ] into different levels [ minus penalties ] site wide. And sometimes for keywords from what I can see."
This is an interesting theory and it is very possible that Google could apply more consistent penalties across sites based on a single factor causing the loss of trust. This ties into both the previous "Google Minus X" discussions and the idea that if one negative factor can hurt an entire site, perhaps it is possible for competitors to damage your organic rankings.

Join the discussion and share your experiences at WebmasterWorld Forums.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Google

Google Sued SerpApi Over Scraping Search Results

Dec 19, 2025 - 3:50 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: December 19, 2025

Dec 19, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Status, Gemini 3 Flash In AI Mode, Optimizing For AI Search & Bug Fixes Galore

Dec 19, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google

Google Product Reviews Bug On Product Detail Pages

Dec 19, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Search Testing New Sports Features

Dec 19, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests Video Assets From Merchant Center

Dec 19, 2025 - 7:31 am
 
Previous Story: Google Updates SEO Documentation