I have just discovered this. When checking google backlinks normally I used this command. Enter in google search bar link:www.excellentguide.com gives me 1,850 but when you add a " " between the ":" and "w" link: www.excellentguide.com gives me 109,000 Whats the real difference or is this something new to show all backlinks on google.
even when i put in the popular directories link: www.alivedirectory.com and link:www.alivedirectory.com you will see the difference.
Look at the blue status bar and you'll see the difference. One search returns results for actual hyperlinks and the other is a simple text search.
Without space: Results 1 - 10 of about 998 linking to www.excellentguide.com. (0.56 seconds) With space: Results 1 - 10 of about 108,000 for link: www.excellentguide.com. (0.10 seconds)
As CReed said, it's just a text search. Actually look at the results that are coming up with the space included and you will see this as the second result: http://www.seocompany.ca/directory/web-directory-submission-service.html Do you see your link on that page or do you see the name of your web site in plain text.
If you're trying to get a better representation of your links in Google, try searching for just your domain name. While it will return both hyperlinks and text, it can give you a better picture than the link: command.
Actually with the space you are telling Google to search for pages containing the words "link" OR "www.excellentguide.com" Use site:www.excellentguide.com to find the pages from your site Use "www.excellentguide.com" to find any pages containing your domain name (without quotes takes you to the page) Use link:www.excellentguide.com for a SAMPLE of the links to your site
it's normal for google search . when you try the first option, it gives you the number of your backlinks but if you try the second option , google gives you the pages which contain "link:" and directory url
That's right ... get so used to using the toolbar I forget some of the searches react differently. Thanks for reminding me.