Double links in search result, but separated on same page

Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi

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Double links in search result, but separated on same page

ogletree

1:51 am on Feb 24, 2009 (gmt 0)

I just checked a search that I do all the time. Wikipedia is always number one with an indented result below it and my client is three with an indented result at 4. Today the same links were there but Wikipedia was first and I was second and then Wikipedia then me. We still had the same top spots they just switched 2 and 3 and there were no longer indented results. I would be so happy if this is what they might do in the future. I'm so tired of Wikipedia getting 1 and 2 for stuff.

tedster

4:25 am on Feb 24, 2009 (gmt 0)

I've seen this a couple times and sort of thought it was a bug. Now I'm thinking it may be a test. I'm not sure that clustered results always make sense. Other filters are known to be triggered by the query - freshness and diversity, for example. So clustering may also be turned on or off for certain search terms.

Thanks for the report, ogletree - let us know if things change.

ogletree

7:02 am on Feb 25, 2009 (gmt 0)

It went back to normal. I know google likes to do A/B testing. They even test tiny amounts of white space and more than 10 links. Marissa Mayer of Google spoke about this at some conference. They are testing all kinds of different things and seeing what works best.

bouncybunny

2:19 pm on Feb 25, 2009 (gmt 0)

I've seen results with the indented listing and then a third regular link to thesane site. It's happening a lot recently.

tedster

7:57 pm on Feb 25, 2009 (gmt 0)

I've also seen the same exact url appear on page 1 and also on a deeper page -- a perfect match, character for character. I'd say that kind of doubling is a bug, but it does show up once in a while for me, so I thought it was worth mentioning.