Mommy, I'm tired of playing in the sandbox

[Kyle]

Mommy... I've been playing in the sandbox for days. Please, can we do something else?

Ok, lame joke.. but I thought it was very important to show this result of the "sandbox effect".

A friend of mine is doing a website on agoraphobia, the URL is www.anxietyinsight.com. It has a DMOZ listing, and Google has had the site imported into their directory for quite a while. The site has been online for many months and has quite a good amount of targetted backward links.

Here is what makes this so crazy. The site is ranking NO WHERE on the term agoraphobia in Google. Yet IT'S THE TOP AGORAPHOBIA SITE IN THE GOOGLE DIRECTORY!!! LOLOLOL! WELCOME TO THE TWILIGHT ZONE!
http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Mental_Health/Disorders/Anxiety/Phobias/Agoraphobia/

[intelliot]

Looks like it's competing with encyclopedias and medical dictionaries, which Google thinks is more relevant to that search term than your site. The forums: "We have 2 registered users" might turn people away. It's *very* difficult to get a decent rank for a 1 word term like this.

Note for example that the site is #1 for the phrase "Agoraphobia Insight", without the quotes.

[Kyle]

And note i'm referring to the sandbox theory here, and that the site isn't ranking in the top 1000 on the term agoraphobia.

Yet when you do allinanchor:agoraphobia, it's #17 I believe. And it's been like this for many months.. We're not talking 2 or 3 here.. We're talking 4+.

Explain that one intelliot.

[intelliot]

Sure, it could be the sandbox effect. And I'm no expert, but doesn't that mean the site drops out of the rankings? As you can see, it does rank #1 for the phrase "Agoraphobia Insight"

[cameron]

Sounds very similar to the problem I'm having with my skateboarding site getting listed for the term "skateboarding". It really hurts my brain, and I've found no definite answers.

[ozgression]

What exactly is the "sandbox" theory?
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[r2d2]

Apparently Google dampen your SERP performance for the first few months your site is up, to try to deter spammers. Apparently honest owners will just stick it out, but spammers will not wait, so wont bother. Apparently.

Seems a bit dodgy to me, but my own experience suggests there may be some truth in it. Could just be coincidence though. No real evidence, guess there never will be.

[Kyle]

The reason this is unique is because of the Google directory listing (from DMOZ). It adds to the craziness. Agoraphobia is not a competitive term compared to skateboarding. That adds to the craziness of this example also.

[Chris]

Could it be explained with local rank? Do the other sites have more on topic incoming links than you?

[Kyle]

Chris, that would be the only explanation that makes sense. It does have links from DMOZ, and the Google directory which would calculate into localrank. I would think that this would be enough to push it into the top 1000.

I'll post status updates in this thread in the future.

[Shawn]

Kyle, on average my sites take around 6-12 months to appear in Google under good placement (this is true for 10+ sites). Just give it time.

How long has your site been in Google?

[ozgression]

OK. Thanks for the explanation.


Apparently Google dampen your SERP performance for the first few months your site is up, to try to deter spammers. Apparently honest owners will just stick it out, but spammers will not wait, so wont bother.
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