What is the Google Sandbox??

[dj bill]

a spin off from the other post in this forum...

someone please define What is the Google Sandbox??

Why is it bad?

Why do I not want to be in there?

How does one get there?

Can I use my pail and shovel to dig my website out?

Just curious!

DJ Bill

[dragonian]

When you have a new site and it is discovered by Google,
it is first placed in the Google Sandbox. This is like a
purgatory where your site have to prove in the eyes of
Google that your site is a trustworthy site. If Google
thinks your site is trustworthy your site will be out of
the sandbox and go to heaven and increase its search
engine position but if Google thinks your site is not
trustworthy, full of crap, junk and spam like DG, TE
and similar sites, your site will go down to hell and be
banned by Google forever.

If your site is in the sandbox, it will have less opportunity
of ranking high in the Search Engine and it can have an
adverse effect on your Adsense income. You have to gain
credibility and trust in the eyes of Google so that your
site will come out of the sandbox.

One suggestion of getting out of the Google Sandbox fast
is not to create Software generated sites like DG, TE and
others. Those types of sites are already flagged down
by Google as spam sites thus you are better creating sites
with full valuable content.

[ensode]

I have a question about that as well. My site is new (about three weeks in operation). It has been indexed in Google, and it does show up on searches for certain keywords, however, when I do a search for link:ensode.net, I get no results back, even though I am sure some sites are linking to mine. Just to make sure, I've done a link:ensode.net, followed by some specific pages in my site that I know are linked to from other sites (for example: link:ensode.net/zv6015uslinux.html), and it still comes back blank.

Does this mean my site is still in the sandbox?

It also has a page rank of zero, even though some of the pages in the site have been linked to by PR7 sites.

Specifically, my site is a "techie" site, and some of the articles I've written have been linked to by high profile technology sites like javalobby.org, theserverside.com and osnews.com, all PR 7 sites.

This is my first web site so if anyone out there with more experience cares to explain I'll appreciate it.

Thanks.

[kjcdude]

Well if you took just two seconds and used GOOGLE to define google sandbox you would come across these sites.
http://www.answers.com/google%20sandbox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_sandbox

[ensode]

Well if you took just two seconds and used GOOGLE to define google sandbox you would come across these sites.
http://www.answers.com/google%20sandbox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_sandbox

I googled for google sandbox, and all I found was some articles that assumed you already knew what it was. Granted, I only looked at a couple of results, but still...

[Luke]

Source Adsense Planet Forums (http://www.adsenseplanet.com/forums)

The Google Sandbox is a metaphorical term to explain why most new websites have very poor rankings in Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). Very few people know for sure if the 'sandbox' actually exists, but it seems to be a filter added to the Google algorithms sometime around March 2004.

What is the function of the Google Sandbox?

The generally accepted principle behind the Google Sandbox is that it enables Google to filter out 'Flash-in-the-Pan' websites from those that offer good quality, up-to-date content. It is within Googles interest to ensure that the results it displays to its users within the SERPS lead to highly relevant, up-to-date, useful websites Relevancy is key to the search engines success so it will take all steps it can to ensure the relevancy of its search results. Filtering out new websites and monitoring them may allow them to provide more accurate results within the real SERPS.

Indentifying the Sandbox?

How do you know if your website in in the sandbox? Most new websites under newly registered domains will get relegated to the sandbox once Google knows about the site. Google will find the site by following an Inbound Link (IBL) from another site that the Googlebot crawls. You will then see the website in the normal Google SERPS if you search for the actual domain name, but the website is unlikely to be listed for any of its keywords. Google also won't show signs of any other websites linking to your website, nor will it display pages related to yours. In addition Google won't list any pages other than your Home (index) page.

If you track your websites visitor stats whilst it is in the Google Sandbox, you will see that the Googlebot comes crawling fairly regularly and that it does crawl, and therefore catalogue, all of your pages. Google does know that your pages exist and knows what they contain, but doesn't list them in the main SERPS. In other words, because your website is new, it is under probation in the 'sandbox'.

How Long Will My website Stay in the Google Sandbox?

It is difficult to say how long a website will stay in the Google sandbox as this seems to depend on the types of keywords it will be completing for in the real SERPS It can be up to 6-8 months and the only way to get out of the sandbox is to wait.

The Google Sandbox isn't all bad news. If your site contains good quality relevant material it will find its way out of the sandbox and will get the rankings it deserves in the Google SERPS. I even have some theories that may mean that your time in the sandbox can be used wisely to actually improve your final rankings.

You also shouldn't forget that Google isn't the only search engine out there. MSN is widely used and with the might of Microsoft behind it is likely to become a bigger player in the search engine world in the new future. At the time of writing, MSN or other search engines such as Yahoo! and Alta Vista don't have a 'sandbox' filter and your new websites will be listed in the quickly and should start driving traffic to your site.

[thamisgith]

Luke,

That's an excellent descriptin of the Google sandbox.

I have one of my sites stuck in there - but I still get traffic from MSN and Yahoo. Curiously enough I also get traffic from some regional Google engines,
.NL and .ZA in particular.

[chucknews]

Here is a great articles on the Google Sandbox (http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/searchinsider/wpn-49-20040506GoogleSandBoxEffectRevealed.html)

[Flashni]

Ensode

however, when I do a search for link:ensode.net, I get no results back, even though I am sure some sites are linking to mine. Just to make sure, I've done a link:ensode.net, followed by some specific pages in my site that I know are linked to from other sites (for example: link:ensode.net/zv6015uslinux.html), and it still comes back blank

Google only displays links with PR4 or more.

The others show them all.

JON

[ensode]

Ensode



Google only displays links with PR4 or more.

The others show them all.

JON

Yep, found that one out after I posted on this thread. I also learned another trick, on Yahoo or Altavista linkdomain:mydomain.com will list all the sites linking to any of the pages in the domain, not necessarily the home page.

Altavista lists 577 links to my domain, ensode.net, Yahoo lists 573.

Even though this is my first public site, I don't think this is too bad for a site that is just over two months old.

Unfortunately it is still PR 0, any idea when Google will recalculate PR's? I hope that with over 500 inbound links ths site should get a PR > 0.

Thanks,
Ensode

[izzybrewer]

Does every site go into the sandbox?

[livelynet]

Yep, found that one out after I posted on this thread. I also learned another trick, on Yahoo or Altavista linkdomain:mydomain.com will list all the sites linking to any of the pages in the domain, not necessarily the home page.

Altavista lists 577 links to my domain, ensode.net, Yahoo lists 573.

Even though this is my first public site, I don't think this is too bad for a site that is just over two months old.

Unfortunately it is still PR 0, any idea when Google will recalculate PR's? I hope that with over 500 inbound links ths site should get a PR > 0.

Thanks,
Ensode


I read your Page Rank as PR5..... not to bad!

Jack

[ensode]

I read your Page Rank as PR5..... not to bad!

Jack

Yep, got my PR during the recent PR update. Can't complain.

Ensode

[MikeDammann]

The sandbox can be avoid. If you have a brandnew site, don't link to it until authority sites do. That's how Google needs to find you. But be careful, you can avoid the sandbox and still get back in there if you overdo it in the beginning.