Google to Restrict Domain Parking: Rumor Watch

Here’s an update on Google’s domain parking program.

I usually don’t write regarding rumors, but Julia Mackenzie of IsItMeOrIsEveryoneElseStupid.com has never floated a rumor without it being true. She’s reporting that a reliable source informed her that Google is going to lay the hammer down on domain parking. Essentially, the firm will only serve parking ads to domains it believes have a chance of receiving type-in traffic and conversions:

This fresh algo will assess all domains calling their parking feed and immediately give domains either a “pass” or a “fail” score. Meaning that if Google decide your domain has little chance of type-in traffic or if it scores low on conversions, it won’t serve you a parking feed. Simple as that. The details on what percentage of parked domains this will negatively affect is sketchy at best, but you can bet your bottom dollar the numbers will be significant.

This jives with what I’ve been talking regarding for a while. Specifically, Google will decide the long tail isn’t worth the pain. I realize this algorithm won’t necessarily get rid of the long tail, but it certainly favors the higher level keyword domains.

But don’t cry just yet. As Julia points out, this could be good news for people with high quality domains — especially if advertiser’s start to realize value from parked domains and start advertising on them again. It doesn’t make sense for anyone to pay for ads on domains that don’t convert. But what regarding domains that won’t get type-in traffic but do get traffic from existing backlinks? It may be necessary to move them over to a Yahoo-based program.

Of course, I’ve by now had great success advertising on parked domains, and some of the domains that have sent me conversions may not qualify under Google’s fresh system. Let’s hope their algorithm is fine-tuned to test domains for conversions ahead of shunting them.