Google Searches Now Focus on Your Actual Location, Not the ccTLD in Your Search

[dog]

Last week Google made another update to the way their search engine works with searches no longer indicated by the domain but rather search results will be served the country service that corresponds to your location. Typing the preferred ccTLD into a search will no longer bring you to the various country services. It’s a change that could make ccTLD domain names less relevant for marketers and businesses.

http://www.domainpulse.com/2017/10/29/google-searches-focus-location-not-cctld/

https://www.blog.google/products/search/making-search-results-more-local-and-relevant/

 

[Admin]

This is such a retrograde action from Google, I almost cannot believe it. It's like some graduate in his first week at Google came up with this and it got passed through. They are taking away options. The 'settings' change thing doesn't work, least not for me. If people are going to a specific ccTld of Google's whilst in another country, its usually for a reason, because they actually don't want local results. It makes no sense. Rationale, 1 in 5 searches is location focused, so you change it for the other 80% as well? Let people have the results they want, let people add a location at the end of the search term like they already do to get the results they want.

 

[RobM]

It's a shame but people have now ingrained appalling browsing habits. I see people browsing to a site you give them by first going to google, typing in the entire address (example.com), waiting for google to list it, then clicking on it. Now if that site doesn't appear in google they will assume it's gone rather than actually just typing into the browser bar. Be interesting to see what these things come up with for me in Malta. Hopefully people will move away from google as they don't find the results they want - unfortunately a lot of them won't realise that and I can see certain *big* businesses doing very well out of any potential confusion.

 

[dee]

Anyone already noticed any traffic differences on any sites ?

 

[dog]

All Google's decisions show the search engineers never built a site in their life. Or tried to get traffic to it.

This is such a retrograde action from Google, I almost cannot believe it.

Doubtful this will happen anytime soon.

It's a shame but people have now ingrained appalling browsing habits. ...Hopefully people will move away from google as they don't find the results they want

 

[dazc]

The 'settings' change thing doesn't work, least not for me. .

Still works incognito but for normal results I am getting Spain even via VPN with location set to London.

 

[martin-s]

It might not be a deliberate change. Or it might be something they're testing.

Probably it'll get reverted if it works that badly. Or at least the settings workaround will be fixed.

Edit: on the plus side, maybe we'll get less useless US-based ecommerce sites in UK search results

 

[Admin]

It might not be a deliberate change. Or it might be something they're testing.

Probably it'll get reverted if it works that badly. Or at least the settings workaround will be fixed.

Edit: on the plus side, maybe we'll get less useless US-based ecommerce sites in UK search results

No mate, its very much deliberate, they blog announced it https://www.blog.google/products/search/making-search-results-more-local-and-relevant/

 

[Edwin]

I think Google feeds the search results of various portals behind the scenes via partnerships. What happens if you do a search on one such portal for your location (if one exists)?

For example, if I want to see Google Japan search results, I can still use Yahoo Japan ( https://search.yahoo.co.jp/ ) even though Google.co.jp no longer shows them to me as I'm in the UK.

 

[Edwin]

Or alternatively you can go into Search Settings (bottom right of the Google homepage, choose "Settings" then click "Search settings" from the pull-up menu) and change away from "Current Region" and instead pick the country whose results you want to see.

 

[scottmccloud]

Or alternatively you can go into Search Settings (bottom right of the Google homepage, choose "Settings" then click "Search settings" from the pull-up menu) and change away from "Current Region" and instead pick the country whose results you want to see.

Never knew you could do that, thanks Edwin.

 

[Edwin]

Never knew you could do that, thanks Edwin.

I believe that's a new addition, to compensate for the changed behaviour of each Google country's homepage. At least, I don't recall seeing the option when I've customised search settings in the past (though I've not done so for months).

 

[dog]

Didn't know this was possible as well.

I'll use this when doing SEO work.

Or alternatively you can go into Search Settings (bottom right of the Google homepage, choose "Settings" then click "Search settings" from the pull-up menu) and change away from "Current Region" and instead pick the country whose results you want to see.