Keywords and the Google 'Sandbox'

The Google Sandbox is said to be a filter placed by Google on new websites so that the site does not receive good search engine rankings for its most important keywords and key phrases. Even if the site has good content, many incoming links and a strong Google PageRank, the site is still badly affected by the Sandbox effect.

The Sandbox appears to effectively act as a probation for sites, the possible aim being to discourage spammy sites from rising in the search engine rankings quickly, then getting banned, and repeating the process with a fresh web site. Some experts believe that the reason Google created the Sandbox filter was to stop spam related sites from adding many purchased links and thus ranking high for their keywords from the date of the site launch.

Because Google considers a large number of links pointing to a web site from its launch to be suspicious, Google considers the links to be not natural. Another possibility is that spam sites use a variety of tactics to rise to the top of the search results and so gain many sales before being banned for violating Google's terms of service and then repeating the process again and again. As a result of these fears, new web sites appear to be put into a form of probation, referred to as the Google Sandbox.

How long does a site remain in the Sandbox? The sandbox period can vary from one up to six months. 3 to 4 months is not uncommon. Less competitive searches will often be given a much shorter stay in the sandbox, while very competitive keywords will often spend up to 6 months in the box. A frequent sandbox stay is about three months for most search terms.

Are lengths of stay in the Sandbox variable? The sandbox stay can be very variable. The more competitive the keyword, the longer the site usually spends in the Sandbox. The effect of the filter is often reduced gradually over time and will lose most of its dampening effect after about 3 months. For the most competitive search keywords the Sandbox filter might even remain in full force for 6 months.

How do I know if my site is in the Sandbox? Here's how you can look for evidence of Sandbox activity. Does your web site have a high Google PageRank as well as good incoming links? Does it get very good search engine rankings for some secondary search phrases? If yes, then, if your web site is nowhere in the rankings for the most important searches, it is quite likely that your site has been placed into the Sandbox. One of the characteristics, and in fact one of the indicators of being in the Sandbox, is the continuation of strong rankings for your less important keywords and key phrases.

The so-called Sandbox filter is designed to deal with the generally more competitive keywords because they are more likely to have spam sites, purchased and other links which Google has judged to be unnatural. The Sandbox phenomenon is much less likely to occur for unimportant and non-competitive keywords, so they are usually omitted from the Sandbox filter. If your site land in the Google Sandbox, and it's likely for the top keywords, just keep working on your search strategies. Keep on link building, adding good content and do not worry - you will not be there for very long.