Google Sandbox: Myth or Reality?

Posted by Marios Alexandrou, SEO Resume.

On one of the search engine marketing digests I subscribe to there's a debate raging on whether the Google Sandbox exists or not. In case you haven't heard of it, the Google Sandbox is what people use to explain why new web sites fail to rank highly in Google's search results for even the least competitive search terms. The idea is that Google puts new web sites in to a "sandbox" for some unknown length of time before it gives the web site its due.

I'm going to start off with two quotes from Shari Thurow, a well-known white-hat SEO.

"There is no such thing as a Google Sandbox. It's one of those terms that self-proclaimed search engine experts came up with to explain why their methodologies don't work.
Shari Thurow, LED 2177

"I probably won't listen unless you have a high-level graduate degree and/or considerable experience in information retrieval systems. I don't consider anecdotal evidence as proof."
- Shari Thurow, LED 2177

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that Shari doesn't seem to be having a good day. The first statement comes across as being delivered by someone who is very set in her ways and not open to possibilities that differ from what she currently knows. The second statement is almost insulting. Apparently the thoughts of anyone without a PhD are not worth listening too. Both statements do little, in my mind, to advance the Google sandbox debate.

"It makes perfect sense to me that Google would treat new sites differently than sites that have a history and I think the sandbox effect is the result of testing and observation."
- Chris Nielsen, LED 2178

I like Chris' way of thinking. He doesn't have proof of his beliefs, but at least positions his comments as being logical. Steve Pronger, another professional SEO, does even better by providing a fairly good list of what's needed to get a new site ranked. The list is, however, too long to reproduce in its entirety here.

And what do I think? The Google Sandbox in my opinion is just the perceived result of one or more variables that Google uses in its algorithm. I suspect there's no specific rule that says a site must be live for 90 before it will rank. Instead, when Google compares site A to site B, it looks at various factors including the time each site has been in existence. A site that has been around for years gets a bit of a credibility boost over the one that just launched. As time progresses, the boost decreases until the point where other factors play a much bigger role.

It would seem that I'm good company. Here's a comment from Jennifer Laycock, Search Engine Guide editor.

"The thing that people need to understand about the sandbox is that it's not a place that all sites go to grow up. It's a concept that people have jumped on to explain what's actually the development of a higher level of judgment on Google's part. In theory, it provides an easy explanation for the trouble that people have suddenly had in getting new sites ranked."

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