Datacenter Quick Check Tool updated!

Just a note to let folks know that I have updated the Datacenter Quick Check Tool.

I have added a check box so you can select to have it report the number of pages indexed for your site across the Google Datacenters.

ALSO: Now when using the tool's Backlink/PageRank look up, it will now will report the last Cache Date of your page.

I have added the Cache Date feature because I have found evidence within Google (and from my own experience) that it is very important to keep track of this Date.

Three times in the last six months Google seemed to "forget" our experiment page (see the "nice tool" thread in this forum). When this occurred, the page slipped dramtically in the serps.

This is what I have recently noted in Google...

Go to a Google search page and enter your url in the search box >hit enter.

This will take you to a result page with only that page listed and the following...

Google can show you the following information for this URL:

• Show Google's cache of www.mcdar.com

• Find web pages that are similar to www.mcdar.com

• Find web pages that link to www.mcdar.com

• Find web pages from the site www.mcdar.com

• Find web pages that contain the term "www.mcdar.com"

mouse over the words Googles Cache and look at the url it is pointing to in you IE windows "status bar". It will look something like this...

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache: ZmuFn7M2RqMJ:www.mcdar.com/camping1/sleeping-bags.htm+sleeping+bags&hl=en

now mouse over the words link to

You will see a url that looks something like this...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=link:ZmuFn7M2RqMJ:www.mcdar.com/camping1/sleeping-bags.htm

The 12 character code highlighted above seems to be a "check sum" for this pages cache AND link: results.

PLUS: Google makes this statement in the Google Help Center - Google Web Search Features:

For what it is worth... - DON'T let your cache dates get too old, Google has a way of forgeting or losing track of this every now and then and it can lead to serp problems. - Just My experience.

Caryl

 

I think the ZmuFn7M2RqMJ value is unique key for the URL to speed up and reduce overhead of database lookups. It's quicker to match ZmuFn7M2RqMJ than http://:www.mcdar.com/camping1/sleeping-bags.htm+sleeping+bags&hl=en

 

Maybe...

But if I enter this in a browser window: http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:ZmuFn7M2RqMJ

It returns this:

and the cache for that page returned is...

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:raupoKzqDQkJ:www.mcdar.net/about-google-datacenters.htm+cache:ZmuFn7M2RqMJ&hl=en

Which is an entirely different website! (mcdar.net vs mcdar.com)
mcdar.com (cache:ZmuFn7M2RqMJ) is a page with sleeping bags for sale.
mcdar.net (cache:raupoKzqDQkJ) is an article about Google Datacenters.

 

I get this, with the same query:

 

I tried it again and got the same error but when I hit refresh in the browser it brought up the original results I reported again.

Caryl

 

Caryl, great addition to a great tool. So, what is your suggestion for helping G not to "forget" a page?

 

nice updates to the tool mcdar thanks for all the hard work.

 

Great updates McDar!

 

chachi,

I am not sure

When it happened to the "experiment page" (three times in last six months), I went in and just opened and saved the page then uploaded it again to the server.

That did not alter content but updated the "time stamp" on the page.

It may have only been coincidence, but each time I did this Google began caching the page within a day or so.

Note: I have been recording daily the cache date "updates" of this page. Since the last time I had a problem and updated the "time stamp" as I mentioned above, Google has been updating the cache every day!

Google Cache Record for Experiment Page

If you see a page slipping and updating does not resolve it, I would recommend contacting Google.

Last summer this happened from early June until I caught it in late August. By then the page had slipped from a position in the 20's to NOT FOUND. It was NOT FOUND from 7/31/2004 until 8/20/2004.

Once I updated the "time stamp" it went from NOT FOUND to Position #22 in three days!

Position #Not Found allinanchor: #10 - 08/20/2004
Position #48 allinanchor: #5 - 08/21/2004
Position #22 allinanchor: #3 - 08/22/2004

See Complete Results

Caryl

 

I can't see the Google.co.uk datacentre 64.233.183.104 in the drop down... Any reason why this is not there?

 

Hello TOPS30,

There is no drop down menu on the Datacenter Quick Check Tool? Could you possibly be referring to the Keyword Analysis Tool?

Anyway, I have checked both tools and Datacenter 216.233.183.104 is represented in both now.

If you find a location I have neglected, please let me know and I will make sure it gets added in.

Thanks,
Caryl

 

I have a question, when using the D/P back link tracker tool it only shows 35 pages for my site (been the same for weeks) but when using the Datacenter quick check tool I get a minimum of 286 pages and a maximum of 720 depending on the datacenter.

I find this odd but important because I feel I am not getting the weight in the coop that my site deserves.

 

Yeah I see now it was the analysis tool. It was just that I saw this strange #2 world wide and wanted to investigate with your tool (I suspected the ranking was purely based on OBLs albeit very competitive) but your tool, on the datacentres I tried, couldn't reproduce the ranking. So I went about finding out whic datacentre I was looking at and found a hint frmo Leeds1 on another forum about finding it in the cache. Then I oculdn't find it in the drop-down... So I'll have a look again thanks!

 

I have no idea why Google is reporting such varied results right now. Historically, the difference across Datacenters usually is minimal (within a few pages) but lately I've seen the totals jump wildly from Datacenter to Datacenter and from day to day.

Sorry, I wish I could be of more help.

Caryl

 

I have also found that updating your page, if the cache is too old, can increase the relevance of the page. If I see that the cache is getting stale (60 days) I make a minor update and upload. It does get spidered and recached in a few days.

 

Watch your cache dates!!!!

I have been logging the cache date daily of a page I am watching and I have caught Google in the act!!!! This page has had it's cache updated daily but look closely at today's cache date...

Apr 1, 2005 03:54:57 GMT - (4/2/05)
Apr 2 2005 03:22:01 GMT - (4/3/05)
Apr 3 2005 03:29:13 GMT - (4/4/05)
Apr 4 2005 06:03:14 GMT - (4/5/05)
Apr 5 2005 02:46:49 GMT - (4/6/05)
Apr 6 2005 01:44:31 GMT - (4/7/05)
Apr 6 2005 01:44:31 GMT - (4/8/05)
Apr 8, 2005 02:44:53 GMT - (4/9/05)
Apr 9 2005 02:31:27 GMT - (4/10/05)
Apr 10, 2005 02:21:11 GMT - (4/11/05)
Apr 8, 2005 16:45:20 GMT - Today!

This isn't even the same time as the cache on Apr 8th.

I have thought I'd seen Google revert to older versions of a cached page but had no data to back it up. - now I do!

Caryl

 

Here's a new little tool to just check the cache date of a page...

Cache Date Tracker

Caryl

 

I've just posted about this:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=13462

Many of my pages showed cache dates from November and October 2004 earlier today, but now they are back to April 05 again..


Your tool is reporting 0 backlinks and 0 indexed pages for two different sites I've tried there now by the way.
One of them have 2600+ links and 1,000 indexed pages, and the other 180 links and 3600 indexed pages with a google site:/link: check.

 

Hello Redleg,

Please try closing your browser window and open a new one then re-sign on to the tool. You should be OK then.

The tool has been "timing out" in times of heavy usage.

Caryl

 

Working again now!!

Great tool you have made there McDar.

Strange results, but I guess it's nothing unusual..
It shows from 924 to 3420 indexed pages, and from 2530 to 3030 backlinks over the different DCs for one of my sites..