Google Search Results Differ Based on Location

Occasionally, Dinkum Interactive is contacted by a client that is upset that their ranking for a particular keyword has dropped. Usually the change is fairly insignificant, but occasionally it warrants further investigation. Of course, the Dinkum staff drops what we’re doing to investigate and we normally finding nothing out of the ordinary. Needless to say, our client is left scratching their heads when we say “Sorry, it’s the nature of the web. That’s how it works.”

I was reminded of this common occurrence when I recently stumbled across Five More Search Tools You May Not Know… But Should, which featured Search Muffin , a tool that allows the user to see Google Search Results from 262 cities across the United States.

Generally, you’d think that search results should be consistent regardless of location, but they aren’t. There are a number of reasons search results can differ, and I’ll touch on just two here:

Different Google Data Centers

To better understand this effect, it may be helpful to think of a traditional, hardwired telephone exchange. Like the telephone exchanges of yore, Google search traffic is routed through different data centers. These centers are continually upgrading equipment and software, as well as performing tests. Therefore the Google infrastructure is constantly in a state of flux. The result: different search results.

Google Personalized Search

Millions of people use Google for a variety of purposes (email, calendar, etc…) which all require the user to log in to their Google User Account. Once logged in, Google will reorder the search results based on the history of past searches, giving more weight to topics of interest. According to a post on SearchEngineWatch.com:

This means that if you search for “fly fishing” your future results for a search on “bass” will be more heavily weighted toward fishing than the musical instrument, according to Avni Shah, Google product manager.

These are just two examples of how Google search results can differ; I’m sure there are many more. The point is that even with the use of cutting-edge technology, the web is in a constant state of flux; those that continually pursue a black or white answer will be disappointed and probably drive themselves crazy in the process. Therefore, we pursue time tested strategies and tactics that have proven to be successful. Sometimes it may not be all that sexy, but it works. And that’s what counts.

Bill Rowland