It is widely speculated that Google has some form of filter known as the “sandbox” that keeps new sites from gaining in search engine placement for 6-8 months. A site may have a high Google PageRank, but won’t rank high in the results. Read Scottie Clairborne’s theory about Google’s “aging delay”.

Many site owners and SEOs are worried because their new sites that rank well in Yahoo and MSN, aren’t doing well in Google, and they’re blaming it on the “sandbox.” The current theory is that new sites are somehow being penalized for obtaining too many links, too quickly.

Is there some sort of link analysis going on; some sort of threshold that will get links to new sites discounted? It sounds like a logical possibility. However, many of us who don’t buy volume links or participate in linking networks are seeing the same ranking delays. New resource sites with a few good relevant links are taking just as long to climb Google’s ranks as the instant link pop sites. I think a lot of people are confusing the sandbox, with an “aging filter” that appeared earlier this year.

[Continue reading Google's Aging Delay for New Sites]