Yandex vs. Google

[riahc]

I own an e-commerce website and my primary keyword ranks on page one of Yandex, but page 12 of Google. I have had some (likely less than optimal) links built to my website over the years. Considering Yandex doesn't take links into account, which is more likely?

a. My high ranking on Yandex is indicative of where I COULD be ranking on Google if the unnatural links weren't being held against me.

b. My page 12 ranking on Google is indicative that because links are still of value in Google, all of the sites above me have more and/or better quality of them. For example, A LOT more big name sites rank highly in Google as opposed to Yandex... presumably because they have a ton of good links that I (and other smaller sites) can't naturally get.

Thoughts?

[Kingof5]

Basing it on just these 2 factors is an oversimplification - a lot more goes into it. But of the 2 you listed, it's more likely A than B.

[JaneCopland]

Hi there,

Google and Yandex operate in very different ways, so comparing rankings between the two is not a very accurate practice. David is correct that point B is much more relevant / likely than point A though. I would try to avoid drawing comparisons between your rankings on both search engines however.