The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • My Q&A
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Q&A Forum
    2. Categories
    3. Search Engine Trends
    4. Very Strange Search Results!

    Very Strange Search Results!

    Search Engine Trends
    3 2 348
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • Webpresence
      Webpresence last edited by

      Having just done a search on Google.co.uk for 'payday loans' I am baffled as to why the top two organic results (image attached) are even associated to the keyword.

      The KW isn't present in the title, metas, or content. Nor do any backlinks use relevant anchor text.

      I'm guessing this is an algorithmic 'f*ck up', do you agree?

      uGdk7Cw92Rme

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • RyanKent
        RyanKent last edited by

        Google is fully capable of errors, but in my experience practically all the results people ask about are not an issue with the algorithm.

        In this case, look at the Google cache for the first result, KSKQ. It is likely the site was infected by malware and presented different content to Googlebot.

        The second site on your screenshot actually shows Google's warning the site may be compromised.

        In short, the content you are seeing on the site is not the same as what Google sees when it crawls the site. When this happens it is either an intentional act by the site in which case it will likely draw a quick penalty, or it is a site which was compromised and this is the result. Google will likely remove the site from search results until the malware is removed.

        google.co.uk-serps-payday-loans.png

        Webpresence 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • Webpresence
          Webpresence @RyanKent last edited by

          Many thanks Ryan, that explains a lot!

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • 1 / 1
          • First post
            Last post
          • Search Results Above Adwords
            SameerBhatia
            SameerBhatia
            0
            3
            63

          • Question: About Google's personalization of search results and its impact on monitoring ranking results
            RandallScrubs
            RandallScrubs
            0
            3
            160

          • Why are organic search results vastly different on Bing, Google and Yahoo Search
            jimmyzig
            jimmyzig
            1
            3
            1.5k

          • How to get global search results on Google ? Also, is it possible to get results based on some other geographic location?
            Netlogiq
            Netlogiq
            0
            5
            15.3k

          • Changing the # of results per page in Google search settings displays totally different results. Why is this?
            KeriMorgret
            KeriMorgret
            0
            2
            942

          • Help, I am in Local Search Results!
            JustDucky
            JustDucky
            3
            3
            397

          • Keyword search results
            Francisco_Meza
            Francisco_Meza
            0
            3
            477

          • Elaborate Search Results
            KS__
            KS__
            0
            10
            459

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Digital Marketers
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy