What Parts Of Domain Registration Change Affect Rank

[94501]

Could changing one's physical address for a domain or going from public to private registration have a negative affect on rank? Other factors? Thanks!

[SebastianDyer]

No I don't think so. Making your domain private just keeps your data out of sites like WHOIS. I'll double check that and let you know if I'm wrong.

[AdamThompson]

Matt Cutts has indicated that they use whois info to try to know when sites have been sold and 301'd for link juice. Other than that, I would not expect your whois data to affect your ranking.

[SebastianDyer]

Makes sense, though I didn't know he said that. When did he say this?

[SteveOllington]

Yeah it's to try to stop people buying and selling domains based on their PR. It doesn't seem to happen all of the time but an ownership change can (apparently) mean the trust that the domain got for its age gets reset, or at least reduced.

You can't have private unless you're an individual and not a company can you?

[vforvinnie]

What about for link farms?  If someone were to buy up a couple hundred websites and then use them to promote a select few websites you don't think that whois data is looked at?

[94501]

So nobody seems to think going from public to private or changing an address matters?

Of the two, I can see how one could reason that going from public to private is kind of a trust-decreasing step.

An address change seems to me to be normal business.

[ThomasHgenhaven]

I think the context is hugely influential on how much registration change matters.

Let's say i buy Site X from M Johnson, and I don't change anything on the website. In this case I am sure that nothing will happen.

Let's say i buy Site X from M Johnson, and changes all the content on the website. In fact, I turn an old NGO website into a pharmaceutical website selling all sorts of pills. In this case, I am sure the registration data matters as it helps Google understand something shady is going on.

[94501]

Understood. I'm not talking about buying and selling websites. Just owning it and making changes to the registration... private from public and street address. Thanks!