Google position 4 testing – User data
For several weeks now Google results have been in a constant flux – or at least a lot more than usual. Most of the fluctuations have been too erratic to identify any common pattern. But there is something about position 4 reported by several webmaster and SEO forums which I’ve been able to confirm.
In the Financial services sector at least, I’m seeing Google placing different sites at position 4 for anything from a few hours to a day. These are usually sites that are normally outside the top ten, and in one case outside the top 30.
Position 4 is usually reserved for News results – almost like a place holder, and now it looks like Google may be using it to test user reaction for sites Google want to know more about.
It was inevitable that Google would increase reliance on user data – in areas like Financial services, especially car insurance, where it would be very difficult to differentiate based on the usual on-page and link factors – user data seem to be the only logical evolution.
I believe all this is not entirely new, the reason for the success of aggregators can be credited largely to how sticky they are. A Good aggregator can command a conversion rate of 30-50% which makes them very sticky, when you think how long it takes to fill out a insurance/mortgage quote form.
But position 4 testing is definitely something relatively new. The next few weeks should tell us how/if they use this test data.
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