The Google Sandbox: Fact or Myth?

What is the Google Sandbox?

First of all, Google has never officially admitted the existence of the sandbox.

But then, Google has always played its cards pretty close to its chest.

My youngest son worked for Google for 7 years in their New York office. He was headhunted from Australia and had to sign a serious non-disclosure agreement before being allowed to walk through the door.

Not everyone agrees that the Google Sandbox exists as a separate filter from other alleged Google filters. Not everyone involved with search engine optimization even agrees that Google uses a system of filters at all. Skeptics believe that the phenomenon simply echoes already existing Google algorithm calculations, and the sandbox effect is an illusion.

So, the Google Sandbox is an alleged filter placed on new websites.

Let’s assume it’s a fact. The result is that a site does not receive good rankings for its most important keywords and keyword phrases. Even with good content, abundant incoming links and strong Google PageRank, a site is still adversely affected by being in the sandbox. The sandbox acts as a de facto probation for new sites.

It is thought that the reason Google created the Sandbox new site filter was to stop spam related sites from adding numerous purchased links (see my blog post https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/phil1944/blog/never-buy-backlinks) and ranking highly for their keywords from the date of launch. Google now regards a high number of backlinks pointing to a site from its inception as suspicious.

If It Exists, When Did the Google Sandbox First Appear?

The answer is just on 15 years ago! Website owners and SEO professionals began to notice the Google Sandbox effect, real or imagined, starting in March 2004. Websites launched after that date were not ranking well for their first few months. The rankings were poor despite good Google PageRanks, strong incoming links and good SEO optimization practices.

While all types of sites can be placed in the sandbox, the problem appears much more frequently for new websites seeking rankings for more competitive keyword phrases. All sites may spend some time in the sandbox, but those websites seeking rankings in competitive searches are probably in for a much longer duration.

How long is a site in the Sandbox?

Stays in the sandbox can vary from one to six months, with three to four months being the normal time frame. Less competitive searches will be given a shorter stay, while more competitive keywords will often spend six months in the sandbox. The most frequent length of stay is 3 to 4 months for most search terms.

The stay in the sandbox appears to be highly variable. The more competitive the keyword, the longer the site spends in the sandbox. The filter will be gradually decreased over time, and will lose most of its dampening effect in about 4 months. For the more competitive search terms, the sandbox filter might remain in full force for 6 months.

Sandbox or Google Penalty

If your site were suffering from a Google penalty, it wouldn’t appear in the Google search engine results pages (SERPs) for any searches. The site would also show no pagerank. Though new sites often show zero pagerank anyway.

[You can check your site’s pagerank using free tools. Just Google “google page rank” and some will come up. Interestingly, their results can differ, showing that pagerank isn’t an exact science.]

One of the most important characteristics, and indeed one of the marks of being in the sandbox, is the continuation of strong placements for less important keywords. The alleged sandbox filter is apparently designed to concern itself with the more competitive keywords since they are more likely to have spam sites, purchased and other links Google deems unnatural. New sites hunting competitive keywords may be more likely to be subject to manipulation. That is less likely with unimportant and non-competitive keywords, so they are generally left alone and out of the sandbox filter.

Do AdWords and AdSense Have Any Effect?

Some people believe that participation in Google advertising programs such as AdWords and AdSense will get you out of the sandbox faster. However, there is little hard evidence to support this belief.
The only real escape from the sandbox is time and that time can vary from one to six months, with three to four months being the normal duration.

The Good News

In the meantime, continue to improve your site, and be prepared to make a rapid rise once the sandbox probation ends.

While your site is in the sandbox, it’s an ideal time to continue to add fresh keyword rich content and new incoming links to your site. Adding incoming links will ensure that they also avoid any possible new link dampening filter that might be in effect. They would be well aged and ready to pass along their full value of pagerank and link popularity as the site escapes from the sandbox.

This is the ideal time to add more niche relevant content. Concentrate on adding more keyword rich pages, and don’t forget both on-page and off-page factors. On the page, make sure your title tags match the most important keywords for that page. If you don't have one, add a site map and make sure that all of your pages link properly to one another with appropriate link anchor text containing the keywords for that page. Off-page link anchor text should be set up to include keywords for the receiving page as well. Don’t waste any of your available site improvement time while in the Sandbox. When the filter is lifted, your improved site will rise rapidly to its proper place at or near the top of the search rankings.