Google introduces an Exact Match Domain filter

In another addition to Google’s enhancements of its ranking algorithm filters – Panda and Penguin – it recently introduced a new “EMD” filter. This should be of interest to SEO marketers and webmasters, as it can also affect the way in which their website may rank.

The ‘Panda’ update filtered sites that are deemed to have too much poor or duplicate quality, while the ‘Penguin’ update was designed to catch those that are thought to be spamming its search results, particularly through links or ‘over-optimisation’. “EMD” stands for “Exact Match Domains”, which are domains that exactly match the search terms for which they hope to be found and are generally bought and developed by businesses that are focused on rankings for a particular term. This filter tries to ensure that low-quality sites don’t rise high in Google’s search results simply because they have search terms in their domain names.

Google emphasises that all EMD domains aren’t being targeted, just EMD domains with ‘bad content’. Similar to those other filters, Google says EMD will be updated on a periodic basis. Those hit by it may escape the next EMD update, while others not hit this time could get caught up in the future.

If a website hasn’t had its rankings reduced by Panda or Penguin before and the domain name was bought just in the hope of an “exact match” ranking success, then its rankings will probably be affected by the EMD filter, so its potential effects are well-worth being aware about.

Google admits that there’s a small degree of boost to sites for having search terms in their domains with Google, but in general, it’s just a very small degree. So the potential benefits of gaining increased rankings through this type of exact match domain-naming strategy are out-weighed by potential decreases, particularly if the site’s content is bad quality.

Contact us now for more information about these Google filters and how they can affect the rankings for your website.

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