Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have changed.
I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers are from the UK.
And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
To qualify as "pages from the UK", your site must be: (a) hosted in the UK (have an IP address that resolves to the UK); and/or (b) have a UK TLD such as .co.uk.
If your site is a US-hosted .com, there is no way that it will be regarded as "pages from the UK" by google.co.uk.
However, if you are talking about google.co.uk "The Web" then your site should appear pretty much the same in google.co.uk and google.com.
If there is a big difference it is likely to be tiume-based - the google.co.uk will eventually (a few weeks?) catch up with google.com.
> Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > changed.
> I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > are from the UK.
> And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
My site has dropped down the .co.uk listings to around page 10 for "SMS Marketing", but is on page 2 on .com.. even though we are hosted in the UK, have UK IP address and target UK audience.
It is just crazy and very very very frustrating!!! :(
> Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > changed.
> I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > are from the UK.
> And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
And didn't realise there was such a time lag between google.com and google.co.uk - that might go some way to explaining why I saw two different results in the example I highlighted.
> To qualify as "pages from the UK", your site must be: > (a) hosted in the UK (have an IP address that resolves to the UK); > and/or > (b) have a UK TLD such as .co.uk.
> If your site is a US-hosted .com, there is no way that it will be > regarded as "pages from the UK" by google.co.uk.
> However, if you are talking about google.co.uk "The Web" then your > site should appear pretty much the same in google.co.uk and > google.com.
> If there is a big difference it is likely to be tiume-based - the > google.co.uk will eventually (a few weeks?) catch up with google.com.
> Robbo
> On Aug 5, 8:55 pm, craigmcginty wrote:
> > Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > > changed.
> > I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> > If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > > are from the UK.
> > And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> > If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
Hi Ravanol Many thanks for that, I hadn't seen that message thread, it looks like you might have more cause for concern than I, as I know I am on US- based servers with a .com address.
I suppose this highlights the importance of not relying solely on search engine traffic for your audience and that I need to give my newsletter a bit of a brush up.
> My site has dropped down the .co.uk listings to around page 10 for > "SMS Marketing", but is on page 2 on .com.. even though we are hosted > in the UK, have UK IP address and target UK audience.
> It is just crazy and very very very frustrating!!! :(
> Al.
> On Aug 5, 8:55 pm, craigmcginty wrote:
> > Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > > changed.
> > I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> > If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > > are from the UK.
> > And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> > If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
Little discussed factoid - the google (and msn and yahoo) indexes differ quite significantly between country EVEN WITHOUT restricting your search to a local search. Try it for yourself - if you're in the uk, conduct a google.co.uk search, then access a US based proxy service like www.zend2.com - you'll find that the UK results will be significantly biased toward UK content, and the US results will be biased toward US content.
It's the same case for google.co.in, google.co.jp, google.com.au - etc etc.. All the country specific versions of Google seem to do some localisation whether you ask for it or not.
> Hi Ravanol > Many thanks for that, I hadn't seen that message thread, it looks like > you might have more cause for concern than I, as I know I am on US- > based servers with a .com address.
> I suppose this highlights the importance of not relying solely on > search engine traffic for your audience and that I need to give my > newsletter a bit of a brush up.
> > My site has dropped down the .co.uk listings to around page 10 for > > "SMS Marketing", but is on page 2 on .com.. even though we are hosted > > in the UK, have UK IP address and target UK audience.
> > It is just crazy and very very very frustrating!!! :(
> > Al.
> > On Aug 5, 8:55 pm, craigmcginty wrote:
> > > Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > > > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > > > changed.
> > > I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > > > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> > > If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > > > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > > > are from the UK.
> > > And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > > > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > > > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> > > If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
> Little discussed factoid - the google (and msn and yahoo) indexes > differ quite significantly between country EVEN WITHOUT restricting > your search to a local search. Try it for yourself - if you're in the > uk, conduct a google.co.uk search, then access a US based proxy > service likewww.zend2.com- you'll find that the UK results will be > significantly biased toward UK content, and the US results will be > biased toward US content.
> It's the same case for google.co.in, google.co.jp, google.com.au - etc > etc.. All the country specific versions of Google seem to do some > localisation whether you ask for it or not.
> Cheers,
> doc
> On Aug 6, 8:03 am, craigmcginty wrote:
> > Hi Ravanol > > Many thanks for that, I hadn't seen that message thread, it looks like > > you might have more cause for concern than I, as I know I am on US- > > based servers with a .com address.
> > I suppose this highlights the importance of not relying solely on > > search engine traffic for your audience and that I need to give my > > newsletter a bit of a brush up.
> > > My site has dropped down the .co.uk listings to around page 10 for > > > "SMS Marketing", but is on page 2 on .com.. even though we are hosted > > > in the UK, have UK IP address and target UK audience.
> > > It is just crazy and very very very frustrating!!! :(
> > > Al.
> > > On Aug 5, 8:55 pm, craigmcginty wrote:
> > > > Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > > > > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > > > > changed.
> > > > I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > > > > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> > > > If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > > > > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > > > > are from the UK.
> > > > And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > > > > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > > > > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> > > > If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
All of the major search engines give a great deal of weight to geo- location, even when the user does not request a country-specific search, as noted in this thread. So, if you don't have a Country Code Top Level Domain Name and your site is not hosted on a server that's physically located within your target country, you are working with a significant handicap. I would think that even if it costs several pounds more per month to use a UK-based hosting service, the ranking benefits would make it worthwhile to make the change.
> I hadn't realised that, think I'm just resigned to that fact that it > ain't going to change, so it's not worth fretting over.
> All the best
> Craig
> On Aug 6, 12:45 am, dockarl wrote:
> > Little discussed factoid - the google (and msn and yahoo) indexes > > differ quite significantly between country EVEN WITHOUT restricting > > your search to a local search. Try it for yourself - if you're in the > > uk, conduct a google.co.uk search, then access a US based proxy > > service likewww.zend2.com-you'll find that the UK results will be > > significantly biased toward UK content, and the US results will be > > biased toward US content.
> > It's the same case for google.co.in, google.co.jp, google.com.au - etc > > etc.. All the country specific versions of Google seem to do some > > localisation whether you ask for it or not.
> > Cheers,
> > doc
> > On Aug 6, 8:03 am, craigmcginty wrote:
> > > Hi Ravanol > > > Many thanks for that, I hadn't seen that message thread, it looks like > > > you might have more cause for concern than I, as I know I am on US- > > > based servers with a .com address.
> > > I suppose this highlights the importance of not relying solely on > > > search engine traffic for your audience and that I need to give my > > > newsletter a bit of a brush up.
> > > > My site has dropped down the .co.uk listings to around page 10 for > > > > "SMS Marketing", but is on page 2 on .com.. even though we are hosted > > > > in the UK, have UK IP address and target UK audience.
> > > > It is just crazy and very very very frustrating!!! :(
> > > > Al.
> > > > On Aug 5, 8:55 pm, craigmcginty wrote:
> > > > > Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > > > > > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > > > > > changed.
> > > > > I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > > > > > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> > > > > If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > > > > > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > > > > > are from the UK.
> > > > > And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > > > > > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > > > > > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> > > > > If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
I was thinking of that as a possible route, but it would involve leaving TypePad and shifting the best part of 3,000 pages with all the attendant images and files attached to stories.
I even thought of moving it to the TypePad service in the UK, but again the servers are based in the US.
It's strange to think that Google's sole aim is to send users to the best search result, yet in this global world we live in it is incapable of seeing across national borders and so produces a poorer service for the user.
> All of the major search engines give a great deal of weight to geo- > location, even when the user does not request a country-specific > search, as noted in this thread. So, if you don't have a Country Code > Top Level Domain Name and your site is not hosted on a server that's > physically located within your target country, you are working with a > significant handicap. I would think that even if it costs several > pounds more per month to use a UK-based hosting service, the ranking > benefits would make it worthwhile to make the change.
> On Aug 6, 2:47 am, craigmcginty wrote:
> > Hi doc
> > I hadn't realised that, think I'm just resigned to that fact that it > > ain't going to change, so it's not worth fretting over.
> > All the best
> > Craig
> > On Aug 6, 12:45 am, dockarl wrote:
> > > Little discussed factoid - the google (and msn and yahoo) indexes > > > differ quite significantly between country EVEN WITHOUT restricting > > > your search to a local search. Try it for yourself - if you're in the > > > uk, conduct a google.co.uk search, then access a US based proxy > > > service likewww.zend2.com-you'llfind that the UK results will be > > > significantly biased toward UK content, and the US results will be > > > biased toward US content.
> > > It's the same case for google.co.in, google.co.jp, google.com.au - etc > > > etc.. All the country specific versions of Google seem to do some > > > localisation whether you ask for it or not.
> > > Cheers,
> > > doc
> > > On Aug 6, 8:03 am, craigmcginty wrote:
> > > > Hi Ravanol > > > > Many thanks for that, I hadn't seen that message thread, it looks like > > > > you might have more cause for concern than I, as I know I am on US- > > > > based servers with a .com address.
> > > > I suppose this highlights the importance of not relying solely on > > > > search engine traffic for your audience and that I need to give my > > > > newsletter a bit of a brush up.
> > > > > My site has dropped down the .co.uk listings to around page 10 for > > > > > "SMS Marketing", but is on page 2 on .com.. even though we are hosted > > > > > in the UK, have UK IP address and target UK audience.
> > > > > It is just crazy and very very very frustrating!!! :(
> > > > > Al.
> > > > > On Aug 5, 8:55 pm, craigmcginty wrote:
> > > > > > Hope someone can help with this, looked over past discussions from a > > > > > > few months ago and didn't produce any results, I wonder if things have > > > > > > changed.
> > > > > > I have a site hosted with TypePad, so that's in the US, and the > > > > > > results from a google.com search are all there neat and tidy.
> > > > > > If I switch across to the google.co.uk search the site seems to > > > > > > disappear, although I live in the UK and the majority of my readers > > > > > > are from the UK.
> > > > > > And despite Google Analytics showing my audience is 50% UK based, when > > > > > > I do a search for example on "Le Relais de Flavigny" I come in at > > > > > > number two on the .com search, but no where on the .co.uk
> > > > > > If people have any pointers or ideas it would be most appreciated.
> > > > > > All the best, Craig- Hide quoted text -
What Google is saying is that users can choose results drawn from anywhere on the "Web" or if users prefer they can restrict the pages to "pages from the UK".
As far as moving your site to UK hosting goes, assuming that you have copies of all your pages and images on your local PC or can download them to your PC from your US hosting, you can fairly easily upload them to a new (UK) hosting site, test out all the links. You can transfer thisfrenchlife.co.uk and www.thisfrenchlife.com domain names to UK hosting and use either the .com or the .co.uk as your main site with the other 301 redirected t the main one.
craigmcginty wrote: > It's strange to think that Google's sole aim is to send users to the > best search result, yet in this global world we live in it is > incapable of seeing across national borders and so produces a poorer > service for the user.
I have a .com site that is hosted on US servers that will not show up on google UK search. Problem is, the site content is all aimed at UK market. The .com has existed for years and has lots of UK links. I have the .co.uk domain set up as a 301 redirect to the .com site. I don't want to switch to UK server and domain because the massive majority of UK users do not bother using google UK search. BUT, some do. Google seems to be missing a trick by assuming a .com hosted on a US server won't be of interest to UK surfers. Surely they must realise that the internet doesn't have the same country borders as the real world!? I have read that some people have seen this issue suddenly fixed for them, why not for everyone?
The major search engines all believe that geo-location is an important relevance factor. Whether or not that seems reasonable for any particular search query or website, this is the situation you face. If your site is primarily focused on a particular country, you can either do what is necessary to get your site recognized as being located within that country or carry on knowing you're operating with a significant handicap in the rankings. Its not that 'foreign' sites are of no interest, but they are saying those sites are of less interest overall. Google normally redirects users to the country- specific Google based on the user's IP address, so I think you'll find that the majority of UK users are in fact using Google.co.uk. I'm not sure if Yahoo! and MSN have a similar practice.
The major search engines use two common factors in determining geo- location: (1) the presence of a Country Code Top Level Domain Name ("CC TLD" as in "somesite.co.uk") or (2) the physical location of the server that hosts the site, based on its IP address. Google says it will sometimes refer to the domain name registration data, but they don't say when they do, so its unreliable. Backlinks have no effect in any of the major search engines in determining geo-location. <meta> tags have no effect in any of the major search engines in determining geo-location. Language settings of any kind have no effect in any of the major search engines in determining geo- location. A very few UK-based sites were being improperly identified as being non-UK by Google because of a few blocks of IP addresses being mis-identified. The vast majority of users who have had this issue fixed have taken the steps necessary to resolve the issue by either changing their domain names or moving to a server located in the target country. The choice is yours. Good luck!
> I have a .com site that is hosted on US servers that will not show up > on google UK search. > Problem is, the site content is all aimed at UK market. > The .com has existed for years and has lots of UK links. > I have the .co.uk domain set up as a 301 redirect to the .com site. > I don't want to switch to UK server and domain because the massive > majority of UK users do not bother using google UK search. > BUT, some do. > Google seems to be missing a trick by assuming a .com hosted on a US > server won't be of interest to UK surfers. > Surely they must realise that the internet doesn't have the same > country borders as the real world!? > I have read that some people have seen this issue suddenly fixed for > them, why not for everyone?
> Google seems to be missing a trick by assuming a .com hosted on a US > server won't be of interest to UK surfers.
"When searching for pages from a specific country, keep in mind that our crawlers identify the country that corresponds to a site by factors such as the physical location at which the site is hosted, the site's IP address, and its domain restrict."
Thanks for the info. I am indeed redirected by default to google UK, but, the default on google UK is always "search the web" rather than "pages from the UK". I am fairly confident that most people in the UK do not change to "pages from the UK". If you disagree I would value input as to why, as this is the only reason I do not intend to change to a UK based server.
I understand that a non UK based site may ranked lower than a UK one, but how much lower? While our site does not sit in the UK pages search top 100 for its own brand name, where it is number one in the non UK search, it is surely still more relevant than the vast majority of the sites that appear in the top 100 places. Most of which have very tenuous links - some in the top ten pages are even swedish websites. Also, we are listed in a UK page in DMOZ - I thought google trusted DMOZ? Clearly not enough to intelligently work out that our site is UK based. I also tried two online tools that are designed to 'guess' where a domain/site is based. Both correctly said UK. OK so that's not perfect, but it's better than google, whose search seems badly flawed in this respect. I can understand what they are trying to do. But they are clearly failing.
All of the major search engines give a great deal of weight to geo- location, even when the user does not select a country-specific search. This is why it is especially important to have your geo- location properly recognized.
> Thanks for the info. > I am indeed redirected by default to google UK, but, the default on > google UK is always "search the web" rather than "pages from the UK". > I am fairly confident that most people in the UK do not change to > "pages from the UK". If you disagree I would value input as to why, > as this is the only reason I do not intend to change to a UK based > server.
> I understand that a non UK based site may ranked lower than a UK one, > but how much lower? While our site does not sit in the UK pages > search top 100 for its own brand name, where it is number one in the > non UK search, it is surely still more relevant than the vast majority > of the sites that appear in the top 100 places. Most of which have > very tenuous links - some in the top ten pages are even swedish > websites. Also, we are listed in a UK page in DMOZ - I thought google > trusted DMOZ? Clearly not enough to intelligently work out that our > site is UK based. I also tried two online tools that are designed to > 'guess' where a domain/site is based. Both correctly said UK. OK so > that's not perfect, but it's better than google, whose search seems > badly flawed in this respect. I can understand what they are trying > to do. But they are clearly failing.
> All of the major search engines give a great deal of weight to geo- > location, even when the user does not select a country-specific > search. This is why it is especially important to have your geo- > location properly recognized.
I've been wondering. For truly geolocated businesses - plumbers, restaurants - does it help to add a map to Google?
I've done it experimentally, but you know how long it takes to see a reaction in the SERPs.
How Google Maps data might be used is an interesting issue, but Google hasn't said anything or done anything about it that I've seen. At the moment, it seems limited to 'local search' displaying maps and locations of businesses for queries that include a city name. It would certainly be a natural extension to that service to refer to it for geo-location.
> > All of the major search engines give a great deal of weight to geo- > > location, even when the user does not select a country-specific > > search. This is why it is especially important to have your geo- > > location properly recognized.
> I've been wondering. For truly geolocated businesses - plumbers, > restaurants - does it help to add a map to Google?
> I've done it experimentally, but you know how long it takes to see a > reaction in the SERPs.
I don't understand your point Phil Payne, if I am on google.com or google.co.uk when I search my site is No.1 for my brand name. But if I change the search option on google.co.uk to search only UK pages then I am nowhere to be seen on my brand name.
I understand what you are saying RainboRick, but it appears that the only thing stopping me being recognised as UK based (because every other fact including all the content on my website - which I know isn't taken into account, but should be!) is the fact that my site is hosted on a US server. Well that's ridiculous. Makes google look foolish. Can they not write a better algorythm than that!?
I accept my situation, I am just saying it is bonkers and google need to have a rethink. Thank you both for discussing though. Regards
If the user specifies "pages from the UK" that is what they should get.
If your pages are hosted outside UK (and therefore not subject to UK consumer law, UK credit card responsibility, UK small-claims court procedures, UK-hosting custom & practice, UK police powers, etc etc) you cannot expect to be offered by Google as "Pages from the UK".
It does not say "Pages about the UK" or "Pages for the UK" or "Pages just as good/better than the UK" - it says "Pages from the UK".
Lots of UK searchers do NOT specify ("Pages from the UK") but when they do, it needs to be respected.
Similarly, if I use google.fr and specify that I want pages from France - that is what I should get. Not pages from Uzbekistan or the UK.
I think it is important that you also take into account that ccTLD registration procedures vary enormously between different parts of the world. In the UK any Tom, Dick, or Harriet can register a .co.uk without any evidence of residence/business/official connection with the UK.
many other countries are different and have strict control and vetting procedures before issuing one of their ccTLDs.
The consequence is that although we in the UK may generally not see any great significance in .com/.co.uk ccTLD or between US/UK/EU hosting, if you take a global view, as I suppose Google has to do, it can be extremely indicative to know where your pages are coming from.
I also think that some people might take the view that the rules need to be tightened rather than relaxed.
Should someone who has no recognized connection with the UK and resides entirely outside UK jurisdiction be able to register a .co.uk and claim that these are "Pages from the UK" even though they are hosted on the other side of the world? (I'm using UK just as an example; the same argument could be applied anywhere.)
I think it is well-known that some UK-based operators target the North American market, making their sites look every bit American. I don't know if US/Canadian customers are sometimes surprised or feel misled when the discover the truth.
Anyway, regarding the original question, if you want to get listed by Google as "Pages from X", why not host in country X or take an X ccTLD?
As i understand it, search engines use the physical location of your server as a safe and quick method of allowing them to tailor the search. It also allows them to double-check that backlinks are not all coming from the same c class block or that a site which claims to be US based is in fact a phising site based in India. I read a survey that found approximately 25% of buyers use the 'uk pages only' when making a purchase as they want to ensure the site is genuinely based in the Uk thereby reducing the risk of delivery delays, refund problems etc. Our own surveys of customers suggest a much higher percentage however it would be nice to find some official statistics. There are also the legal implications i.e the physical location of the server can play an important part in determining which jurisdiction should apply e.g. copyright infringement cases i.e the place where the material was first published - even though the business may be based in the UK it is possible to argue that since the server is based in the US then the images or whatever were first published in the US and not the UK. In criminal based charges the UK police have powers to seize servers but only those in the UK etc. As for google maps our experience showed it made no difference. i.e. we had a site listed locally in google maps but not in the regional search index itself because at the time it was hosted in the US.
Robbo, read my posts. My site has 100% UK content. It is all about a place in the UK. It is a .co.uk domain name. It is registered to a UK owner. It is linked from exclusively UK sites. It is in the UK section of DMOZ. It doesn't sell anything, but every last little part of the site screams UK But because the physical code is sitting on a US based machine google decides that there is no possibility that this site will appeal to users in the UK. I stand by my statement, that is indeed bonkers and is of no benefit to UK users.
> But because the physical code is sitting on a US based machine google > decides that there is no possibility that this site will appeal to > users in the UK. > I stand by my statement, that is indeed bonkers and is of no benefit > to UK users.
Then you should reread Silerstall's explanation of the legal position. It is not bonkers at all.
(Though discriminating between EU countries may be illegal in itself.)
"But because the physical code is sitting on a US based machine google decides that there is no possibility that this site will appeal to users in the UK."
That's completely untrue - in fact it is so ridiculous it hardly deserves any response.
You know very well that the site IS offered by google.co.uk to anyone that searchs the web.
But if you don't like the current situation, why don't you simply use UK hosting?
I read your post very carefully - and it's clear that as a US- hosted .com your site does not qualify as "pages from the UK".
Are you suggesting that any pages hosted anywhere should be treated as "pages from the UK"?
When anyone decides the location of their hosting, they are supposed to take all the implications into account - if necessary they should seek advice before making a decision.
You took the decision to host your .com in the US so I cannot for the life of me understand why you think it unreasonable that your site is not recognized as "pages from the UK".
If you were Search Algorithm Designer & Chief of Applied Systems Engineering, how would you ascertain (simply and reliably) that a domain was or was not "from the UK" (or whatever country)?
Your protestations about content cut no ice. Are you suggesting that Google should have to police the content of pages and issue warnings like "Ooh! Your site content is becoming a bit too foreign! If you don't make it 5% more British with 14 days we will have move you to another index!" I don't think so!
Incidentally, I don't know the percentages, but bbc.co.uk is definitely UK-based but much of its content and its readership are global not only UK.
You say this Google feature "is of no benefit to UK users".
Don't you think that it is good that Google let's the consumer choose?
The bottom line is that when you make decisions, you also take responsibility for them and if you get them wrong you take corrective action without blaming everyone else for it.
The fortunate thing is that the necessary corrective active is simple and straight-forward. But I guess you perhaps have another agenda?
> Robbo, read my posts. > My site has 100% UK content. > It is all about a place in the UK. > It is a .co.uk domain name. > It is registered to a UK owner. > It is linked from exclusively UK sites. > It is in the UK section of DMOZ. > It doesn't sell anything, but every last little part of the site > screams UK > But because the physical code is sitting on a US based machine google > decides that there is no possibility that this site will appeal to > users in the UK. > I stand by my statement, that is indeed bonkers and is of no benefit > to UK users.
