Can Google Get it Wrong?
Can Google Get it Wrong?
Well, Of Course, Yes. And Here’s an Example. But is it Really Google or My ISP?
By Perry Bernard – Organic SEO Specialist
So today I tried to do a search for businesses selling spa pools. I naturally expected to find quite a few listings in the local region, perhaps as far as 50km away from my location. Interestingly, my search result showed a number of websites that mention their location as being not just outside my intended area of interest, but even as far as the South Island, with locations 1000km away! Did Google somehow think that these were the businesses I was looking for and would just take the next flight down to Dunedin to take a look at a spa pool in case I might like to carry one home in my check-in luggage? Probably not.
Here’s what went wrong:
For some strange reason the search results today all had a South Island bias. In fact, looking at some other searches revealed that Google had somehow decided that I was located in Christchurch city. Had I moved without knowing? Was driving across the Auckland Harbour bridge this evening back to my North Shore home all a dream? Checking the Google location settings revealed that Google had indeed located me in Christchurch, and apparently blaming my computer for the mixup.