Sandbox Theory

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by mdvaldosta, Apr 19, 2006.

  1. #1
    My Sandbox Theory
    I believe the sandbox doesn't apply directly to just the domain age, but with a variety of factors including incoming links etc. As a matter of fact, I don't think their is really a "sandbox" per say (what G maintains), just a linking penalty. Let me explain...

    Let's start with your credit rating (this is you personally)
    Without getting too far off track or in too much detail, the purpose of your credit rating is inform lenders the likely hood that you will default on a loan sometime in the next 90 days. Acquiring new credit puts a new burden on you, thus increasing the likelyhood that you will default. The longer your credit history, the more stable and thus better your credit rating. Also, the older your credit history, the smaller the hit your credit score takes when getting a new loan. All new loans hurt you initially, and with time and a good payment history in a few months you've broken even (got your original score back) and the older the account (assuming good pay history), the more your score increases.

    Google's algorithm, I think, works similar
    Acquring a new link will hurt your rankings slightly, until those links age. As those links age and remain on the page, the more weight they have. The newer your domain the more those links hurt you, and the older the domain the less negative impact you recieve.

    What I think about the sandbox
    I believe new sites recieving a large amount of fast backlinks will get pushed further and further back from the initial cost of acquiring them, giving the illusion that the site was penalized. As those links and the site age, the penalties begin to fade and thus appears to come out of the sandbox. This would also explain why older domains can obtain backlinks fast and rank fast for new terms.

    Why would G do this?
    It makes perfect sense really. An experienced webmaster knows that links play a crucial role in ranking, and in most cases a rapid influx in backlinks to a new website would mean a webmaster is trying to artificially increase that site's rankings. Another thing would be coop type linking schemes and link farms... this link age filter would limit the effectiveness of new links, and would also penalize the newer domains.

    At any rate, this is just speculation. What's your thoughts?
     
    mdvaldosta, Apr 19, 2006 IP
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  2. mjewel

    mjewel Prominent Member

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    #2
    Matt Cutt's confirmed google DOES have a filter which could be considered the sandbox - although google does not call it that and Cutt's claims it does not apply to all sites (imo, any competive keyword). The sandbox means your backlinks are not counted for purposes of SERPS (although they are shown, and pass PR). The sandbox was created to try and deal with problem sites that would use "throwaway" domains - and this time period is a proving period. That's why google applies the sandbox to older "domain names only" when there is a change in the registrar - i.e. to prevent someone from just buying a domain name that was registered by someone else. The sandbox does not affect developed sites with a change in ownership. Google has always maintained that incoming links cannot hurt your site - and this makes sense because a competitor could do harm to your rankings by adding links for you. The sandbox does not mean you cannot rank well - as backlinks are only one part of the algorithm - although it makes it extremely difficult on any competitive keyword.
     
    mjewel, Apr 19, 2006 IP
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  3. Ade355

    Ade355 Peon

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    #3
    I once created a site, submitted it to google, I then did not do ANY marketing, zero backlinks created etc. (I was using this site as a support site for a product being sold in the 'real' world, and therefore SE positioning did not matter to me).

    The site was sandboxed for 10 weeks, after that time, it magicaly appeared in google. I promise I did NOTHING at all, the sandbox came and it went.
     
    Ade355, Apr 20, 2006 IP
  4. redhits

    redhits Notable Member

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    #4

    I really think that this is also apply to Yahoo/MSN .

    Every time I am dropping around 200-1000 backlinks to one website, I see it out of SERPS (or in top #400-500 :)) for a week or to :) After that it's magically coming back to #1
     
    redhits, Apr 30, 2006 IP
  5. maldives

    maldives Prominent Member

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    #5
    Nice post mdv ;) Google has been punishing more for a year and half now.
     
    maldives, Apr 30, 2006 IP
  6. westhaven

    westhaven Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Recently i have made a new site and i guess it has been now 30 days. My main targeted keyword has 467500 overture. I exchanged links with some relevant sites and pointed some coop, i guess just 4k. Now its ranking in First 10 in G.

    Same thing i applied to my other new sites that didn't work for me ;)
    Its realy Hard to understand G.
     
    westhaven, May 1, 2006 IP
  7. Pootwan

    Pootwan Active Member

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    #7
    Is 30 days enough time for the sandbox to kick in?
     
    Pootwan, May 3, 2006 IP
  8. redhits

    redhits Notable Member

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    #8
    No, please try with 300 , not with 30 !:rolleyes:
     
    redhits, Jun 3, 2006 IP
  9. malcolm1

    malcolm1 Prominent Member

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    #9
    Hi everybody......
    Im really a newbie when it comes to building sites and so forth. i have been working on my site on and off for almost 3 months now and still am not being indexed by google. i just recently changed my keywords and added more content and links. My prior alexa ranking was horrible well over 4,500,000 but after some changes its ranking in at 1,631,497. I have just added a sitemap in hopes that something positive happens with google.

    Question: How long does it take till google gets me into the rankings?
     
    malcolm1, Jun 6, 2006 IP
  10. mad4

    mad4 Peon

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    #10
    It takes a few days to get indexed and longer to get ranked for your keywords.

    What is the site and what keywords are you wanting to rank for?
     
    mad4, Jun 6, 2006 IP
  11. belledumonde

    belledumonde Peon

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    #11
    i think i have been a victim of this too... i dont have a registered domain and am currently using a subdomain on awardspace.com

    i was wondering... is google not listing me because of this? some seem to think so. is a paid domain and paid hosting plan part of getting out of the sandbox? or should i focus on my content, structure and backlinks instead to get in the google ranks?
     
    belledumonde, Jun 9, 2006 IP
  12. mad4

    mad4 Peon

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    #12
    Getting indexed is a seperate thing to getting ranked for your keywords. Google can index a site within days but the site won't rank for its keywords for months.
     
    mad4, Jun 9, 2006 IP
  13. belledumonde

    belledumonde Peon

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    #13
    hi there mad4! i dont want to bring my thread into this one. can you visit forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=93746 ? i'd like to know what you think. thank you! -- wait, i cant post live links yet... so um, could you please answer this?

    the sandbox is when your new site doesnt rank highly for a while right? so the thing to focus on while being in the sandbox is your linking campaign.

    ok, what about my situation of being indexed and rankly highly for competitive keywords, and now not being indexed at all? is that about having a paid domain name and hosting plan? or what?
     
    belledumonde, Jun 9, 2006 IP
  14. stringerbell

    stringerbell Peon

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    #14
    Just a quick question for you guys:

    The sandbox applies to new websites - does it also apply to new sections of existing web sites?

    Cheers,

    Bob
     
    stringerbell, Jun 23, 2006 IP
  15. seopti

    seopti Active Member

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    #15
    Sandbox is "domain-wide".
     
    seopti, Jun 24, 2006 IP
  16. maldives

    maldives Prominent Member

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    #16
    Subdomain usually escapes the sandbox.
     
    maldives, Jun 24, 2006 IP
  17. masood

    masood Peon

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    #17
    hi my name is masood and i am new in SEO field i want to know What is Sandbox? can any body explain it to me.
     
    masood, Jun 27, 2006 IP
  18. aaron_nimocks

    aaron_nimocks Im kind of a big deal Staff

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    #18
    aaron_nimocks, Jun 27, 2006 IP
  19. kentuckyslone

    kentuckyslone Notable Member

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    #19
    A lot of people will say that you cant do very well with a free website. However, I have seen geocities or tripod type pages rank well. As far as your visitors are concerned you will have a much higher level of confidence and "perceived" professionalism if you have your own domain name.

    I think you should consider getting your domain. You can register a name for less than ten bucks and you can get hosting fairly cheaply too.

    Also I strongly recommend that you concentrate on good content first of all. Work at getting inbound links and learn about your 'on page' SEO. In the meantime dont worry too much about Google PR. If you take care of the first two things I mentioned in this paragraph the PR will come.
     
    kentuckyslone, Jul 14, 2006 IP
  20. UmbrellaTechnologies

    UmbrellaTechnologies Active Member

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    #20
    The google sandbox is a theory, just that. For me it is not real. I have had many brand new domains go pr6 less than 2 months after purchase. I would say the google sandbox is only reality based upon the optimization of the site and if it is not up to par your site will seem to not be anywhere...
     
    UmbrellaTechnologies, Jul 20, 2006 IP