DMoz description used for snippet for some search terms

Discussion in 'Google' started by t2dman, Feb 11, 2005.

  1. LaCabra

    LaCabra Goats R Us

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    #41
    Bingo Dominic ... you are absolutely correct! I am seeing the results I talked about on http://64.233.167.99/ .. Interesting! ....
     
    LaCabra, Apr 24, 2006 IP
  2. Jim_Westergren

    Jim_Westergren Notable Member

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    #42
    Nothing new.

    I noticed that earlier.

    Yes, DMOZ uses the title in "certain circumstances".

    Check this for example for seologik.se:

    Search for SEO on Google.se and you get this.

    Search for sökmotoroptimering on Google.se and you get this.

    Same URL has two different titles depending on the query. One of them is taken from DMOZ.
     
    Jim_Westergren, Apr 24, 2006 IP
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  3. KathyHS

    KathyHS Peon

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    #43
    I'm late to the DMOZ party in Google titles....

    But I have to agree. My listings in Google are showing my website with the title and description used in DMOZ which is ancient and I've been trying to update in DMOZ for years. The editor never responds to me...as the title and description isn't what it should be, very vague and is over 4+ years old.

    But to find the DMOZ title and description of my website in Google's index under site: command instead of the normal title and description that Google had in the index....was driving me buggy.

    I'm glad to know that I'm not alone.

    Its sorta like being sent to Google purgatory.....
     
    KathyHS, Apr 29, 2006 IP
  4. wrmineo

    wrmineo Peon

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    #44
    This has been happening on and off for the past two years - some of the descriptions are even verbatim of the ODP/Goolge directory's.

    Not too surprising, it seems to vary on keyword searches, geography, etc.

    Now here's the anomally that I've noticed - having javascript in the top of your code tends to seem to be a factor in this; if there's js in the top of the code, Goolge doesn't have enough initial content for their bot to determine a description - it then appears that it will pick up a Google Directory (ODP feed) description or if none, actually use the sites meta description tag if it's present.
     
    wrmineo, Apr 29, 2006 IP
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  5. LaCabra

    LaCabra Goats R Us

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    #45
    Interesting concepts and theories!
     
    LaCabra, Apr 30, 2006 IP
  6. dilipsam

    dilipsam Well-Known Member

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    #46
    Couldnt believe it but it is confirmed now. Google uses the Anchor text in DMOZ listings as the preferred display-title of a website for its SERPs.

    Strange.

    What next?

    Regards,
    Dilip Samuel
     
    dilipsam, May 1, 2006 IP
  7. minstrel

    minstrel Illustrious Member

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    #47
    Sometimes. Not necessarily "preferred", though. Even for the same page, it depends on what search terms are used to find the page. Google will try to find those search terms wherever it can - snippet, title, URL, etc. - and display the best snippet for that query.
     
    minstrel, May 1, 2006 IP