compound keywords on Google

[jacksondorado]

Does anyone know how Google treats compound words on webpages?
For my needs, the one word query brings up hits from sites that only have the 2-word variation. For example, if my business name is "hotmail printing" Google results come back with "hot's mail printing". I can't figure out why. They don't have the word "hotmail" anywhere on their site.

i.e.- "hotmail" vs. "hot mail" vs. "hot's mail"

i.e.- "stinkbomb" vs. "stink bomb" vs. "stink's bomb

 

[TamedTech]

I would only a hazard a guess that its due to Microsoft owning Hotmail and Google running thier own G-Mail system, only makes sense to not advertise the competition.

But i may be wrong on that

Rob

 

[ChrisHirst]

The word is probably in some anchor text pointing to the site

you are just misinterpreting cause and effect.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Woo Hoo! the cobblers kids get new shoes.
People Counting Systems

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

 

[feherke]

Hi

And that can be use for abuses too. See Google bombing.

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[jacksondorado]

Thanks. I would suspect Google bombing since the word does not appear on the competitor's page. I was only using the word "hotmail" as an example. My business name is different. It's not nearly as popular a word.

I wonder if they could buy keywords, too, to increase their ranking. Is it possible to know if someone has purchased keywords?

 

[jacksondorado]

nother FYI I just discovered is that Google seems to automatically search for the split up words, but MSN or Yahoo don't seem to do this.

If I enter the exact word into Google with quotes- i.e.,"stinkbomb" or "screwball" (I'm not using my true company name, these are just similar types of words) the result's come back with links to pages with "Stink's Bomb" or "Screw's Ball", even though those websites don't have the actual single word anywhere on their pages.

Google also suggests "Did you mean 'screw ball'?". And if I enter "screw ball into the serach" they suggest, "Did you mean 'screwball'?".

I just thought this was weird enought to mention.

 

[ChrisHunt]

It's called "stemming". You enter a word, the engine searches for related words too. For example, if you search for "mouse" it'll automatically search for "mice" at the same time. It makes for better search results.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd