MSN COMPLETELY changes ALGOs & Look

[! search-engines-web]

THE NEW MSN has Begun

COMPLETE CHANGE OF ALGOS - SOME SITES DROPPED - and many re rankings

A new look on the SERPs very clean

[gabs]

Yep major update for me..

Looking like a algo update in regards to link quality or link age..

I'm seeing big drops in minor k/w and major boasts on the big boys..

A few small links for low comp arn't enough for msn .. ummm..

[gabs]

Just had a quick look and seems that onpage factor are counting and how pure your anchors are..

Anyone else seeing similar ?

[ScottFish]

Im seeing some dramatic changes as well.

It looks like title tags are discounted now and anchor text is a little more relevant.

[ScottFish]

Many of the sites that are ranking well are ROOT domain names.

For instance, search for "web hosting" - The first page of results show domains that are webhosting.net webhosting.info, etc...

[gabs]

Many of the sites that are ranking well are ROOT domain names.

Good to see you here ScottFish.. Been while since last chatting with you!

Anyway.. Have to agree in some areas i'm seeing root domain bonuses..

Some areas the bl seem to be counting me and other the on page.. Its like a tier system from what i'm seeing so far..

[kid disco]

Hey all!

From what I've seen so far... the new MSN SERPs are terrible!

It appears as though MSN is placing less value on actual on-page content and more value on the title tag, keywords in URL, and anchor text of backlinks...

To elaborate on the keywords in the URL, I am seeing many top results that have the keyword in the root domain name (like ScottFish mentioned), BUT I also see a lot of top results with the keyword in the file name (right term?)...

i.e. http://www.domain.com/keyword.html

Most of these type of pages that I have seen do not have good content on it - or barely any content at all!

[ScottFish]

Gabs, its good to be back....

Kid disco- I agree! I think a lot of subdomains are counting well also.

It's really weird that MSN has done what they have done. I have a spam site ranking #3 out of 40mill for a very competitive word, the domain is simply Key-word.info - I don't understand how this will help MSN in the long run.

[EGOL]

No real complaints as my sites are still in most of the same positions... but those SERPs are crap. Big gorilla .govs that deserve respect have been trashed in favor of six page hotdog stands with KW-KW.net as the domain. I've seen this in SERP after SERP.

[seo-ireland]

An aesthetic improvement that's for sure but I have seen no substantial algo improvements. By the way did anyone notice that the new MSN Search was one year old on Feb 1st?