Google: .gov Domain Names Do Not Get A Ranking Boost

Jan 22, 2020 - 7:32 am 3 by

The White House Google

John Mueller of Google said again, .gov TLDs, top level domain names, do not get a ranking boost or preference in Google search. Having a .gov, just because it is a .gov, does not directly help you rank better.

However, a lot of .gov domain names have a lot of good quality links. That is probably why you would think .gov TLDs rank well.

But Google doesn't have a ranking signal that says, if .gov then increase the ranking of this page by X.

Here is John Mueller of Google on Twitter saying no to the .gov ranking benefit question:

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: February 12, 2026

Feb 12, 2026 - 10:00 am
Other Search Engines

OpenAI Wants Advertisers To Prompt To Create Ads & Skip Agencies

Feb 12, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google AI Mode Launches UCP-Powered Checkout

Feb 12, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google AdSense

Google AdSense Adds New Triggers For Vignette Ads

Feb 12, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Ads

Google Ads New AI Mode Shopping Ad & Veo 3 Is In Asset Studio

Feb 12, 2026 - 7:21 am
Misc Google

Google Releases Early Preview Of WebMCP

Feb 12, 2026 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Google Still Does Support Microformats; At Least For Now