3 replies to this topic

[kevs]

When I do poory in Google I notice my Yahoo ratings are pretty good.
When I do great in Google I notice my Yahoo ratings are quite low.

I see a pattern to this.

[iamlost]

Congratulations! you have (re)discovered that the G and Y algos are quite different.

You can test this yourself by opening two windows, one each for G and Y and running the same searches.

Or take the easy route and use ready-made tools: How To Compare Results on Different Search Engines is a nice roundup by Ann Smarty in Search Engine Journal.

Of course why let algo differences get in the way of a good conspiracy theory? :ph34r:

Whenever you 'over' emphasise the likes of one you will often be de-emphasising the likes of the other. Same with MSN/Live and Ask. However, it is possible to do well in more than one SE at a time.

I have given each SE a female persona. And then pretend I want to date each without the others finding out. Relationships are tough but a webdev's gotta do what a webdevs gotta do.

[EGOL]

I agree. My sites that rank superbly in Google do poorly in Yahoo.

I do see some pattern to this... when I have a site that makes it to the top of a difficult Google search it does not rank well for the root term at Yahoo but I do get a lot of long tail traffic from Yahoo.

I am very glad that MSN is not still trying to buy Yahoo... because if that happened and the Yahoo algo was used at MSN and live... I would lose a lot of money.

[kevs]

I agree Egol
Now that I'm finally rocking with Google, I hope it dominates.

When I'm doing poorly with Google, for some reason, Yahoo is ranking well and my respect for Yahoo goes up.