When Google carried out the brand update on Google.com in March we carried out a study to see where Britains most trusted brands ranked on Google. The idea being that if Google was boosting brands either on purpose or as a side effect of a change in the authority algorithm we would be able to see in the search results.
At the time we concluded that brands were ranking where we would expect based on normal SEO factors but in view of the recent Google.co.uk brand update I thought it would be interesting to see the changes.
The interesting thing about this study is that in most cases the keywords are things that we wouldn’t expect many brands to actively be targeting so it’s a great test of whether Google associates brands with keywords without looking at the normal SEO factors.
As you can see a few of the brands have moved up particularly for major keywords such as “chocolate”, “credit cards”, “airline”, “mortgage lender” and “opticians”.
A good case study of how the brand update has affected the search results is to search for “hotels” and look at the results for Travelodge and Hilton. Neither of those sites even has the word “hotel” in their homepage title tag and they also don’t appear to have been actively building links either.
Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Leeds based digital & SEO agency Branded3. Patrick also runs Blogstorm.You can get our blog posts delivered for free by email every day - simply add your email address to the box below or alternatively grab the RSS feed.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
An interesting set of data Patrick, I spose the only flaw is whether those that lost out we’re brands as well. Opticians for example if either of the other top three Vision Express or Boots were formerly number 1 it’s not especially brands that have won.
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Did all those changes happen on the same day?
More comments from David WhitehouseFind me on Twitter
Not sure, I just checked rankings this morning.
More comments from Patrick AltoftFind me on Facebook | Twitter
we increased 6 points to 6th on Sunday for the generic term “tickets” – something that I monitor about 3-5 times a week. Interestingly all the ’small’ brands that were above us have now dropped.
we have also noticed large increases in other generic keyword terms …
More comments from MOGmartinCheck out “laptops” Very interesting changes on that search term. Also mobiles.co.uk have been knocked off there seat for the search term “mobile phones.” Don’t really get this new change as surely the pay per click spend for these big brands are going to reduce..
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Interesting data Patrick, but as you say, they are not all search terms the brands are going to be targetting. Nokia did ought to rank for ‘mobile phone handset’ , but given hardly anybody is searching for it, it probably isn’t too important to G.
The latest update hasn’t seemed to do any better job at all with associating brands with thier products , but rather made sure brands appeared for high volume search terms.
Mobile Phones , and as Sam points out , Laptops, are all over the place. Both terms are the top generics for thier respective industries. I’d be interested to see any observations showing this has had a big impact on the long/mid tail.
More comments from Matthew OxleyBrands can name you in the business. It carries your whole income on the market. That’s why it should have the standing of a firm name. Let me teach you how to choose the best domain or brand name: http://www.internetbusinesspath.com/ecommerce/internet-business-domain-name
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Interesting information. I am eager to see how (if) these big brands continue to improve over time due to the algorithm shift.
More comments from consumerbaseI think this change is great for you guys with the top companies. You are the ones who would work with these clients. You can just sit back now and stop working, just tell them they are ranking well from the previous work you have done (oh and keep charging that retainer)!
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I am always interested in learning more about how Google works. They are such a powerful force in the universe.
More comments from notjohnchowI’d imagine as Google can track where visitors go and then visiting the brand sites these terms would then be associated with that brand. It makes sense seeing as this is how it works offline, just look at Hoover and vacuum cleaner.
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I’ve seen this come into play on the search for “tyres” with a inner page for http://www.kwik-fit.com poping into the rankings, this plus the foreign ranking is really giving smaller UK business a hard time.
More comments from aukseoI’m still in two minds on whether this possible recent change is for the better. For the big brands it’s great, but for those companies who aren’t a big brand but have worked hard on their SEO and offer end users good quality relevant content to then be pushed down the listings seems very unfair…..
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I feel that this update within Google is certainly a double-edged sword, although it may significantly benefit the average consumer in finding the biggest company that tends to represent that specific keyword, it leaves companies who are trying to build an online presence and specifically a brand out in the cold.
Is Google now going to get enquiries from companies demanding a certain ranking as they are ‘the’ brand for a certain keyword?
More comments from Creare-Website-DesignNot sure if anyone is still reading comments posted on this subject but i’ve just stumbled upon this interesting video produced by Matt Cutts from Google giving their response on this subject –
More comments from simoncolleyhttp://www.youtube.com/user/GoogleWebmasterHelp#play/all/841CB8F9F31BF5D5-all/0/LMfWPWUh5uU
I think it changes in time but the main important key is maintaining your ranking and much better increase.There are consideration to take on the list,competition,marketing strategies,economy and more.
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