I was checking my rankings in FF, Opera and IE and on all of them my rankings are different, one example is a keyword in opera is top of page 3, in FF its mid page 2 and on IE it's on bottom of page 3. Not a massive difference but never thought browser played a part but I tested it out on other keywords (not just my own sites) and it's the same. Anyone else noticed this? Or is this old and I am just catching up, and if so why are the results different?
Google uses IP Tracking and Cookies. Google is now in the business of returning different results. The days of expecting the same result with each search are over. The variation is not due to browser, its due to behavior.
Correct, if you log in to your Google account and search then it sometimes shows your previously visited site as a top result.
The issue is most likely the personalized search. Note that now you don't have to be logged in to your Google Account to receive the personalized results. Learn how to turn it off: http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=54048
If you really want to know the rank of your site and don't want to be confused, delete those cookies that is being stored in your browser and then search for the word again and you will see it will give the same rank result for those different browsers used.
Done that but the results are still the same as before, if browser doesn't play a part then why is this still happening? All cookies have been deleted too
I think we need the exact details to say more. URL, keywords and maybe the shots from different browsers. Browser cannot be the issue, as Google doesn't spider websites via whatsoever browser.