Google: We Know When Domain Names Change Ownership

Aaseesh from the Google Webmaster Trends Analysts team said in a Google Webmaster Help thread that Google understands when a domain name changes ownership. He said if you are buying the domain name to pick up on their rankings, don't bother.

"Google understands when domains change ownership so it won't necessarily rank for the queries it used to rank pre change of ownership," Aaseesh said. He added "so if the sole purpose of buying a domain is to get search traffic from the old domain, I would suggest against doing so since there's no benefit."

This somewhat can go against other posts we wrote including these:

• Google Penalties Might Follow You To A New Domain Name
• Reminder: When Buying A New Domain, Check Its History
• Buying a Used Domain? Submit a Reconsideration Request to Google
• Google's Matt Cutts On How To Buy Domain Names
• Submit a Reconsideration Request to Google if You Buy a Banned Domain

Aaseesh did add "but if you simply want the direct traffic, I don't see any issue from Google's side but you may want to think from a user's perspective i.e are they getting what they came for?"

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.