UPDATE - 1/15/09: I believe Google has made changes since I posted this. I am trying to see how deep the changes are... but what I see on the surface is encouraging.
Why is the .US country code domain extension so undeveloped in comparison with other country's cc tlds? Until recently I assumed it was a natural bias resulting from America being the pioneer in .com. But, I've discovered that Google's search algorithms also cripple the .us domain.
Here's what I have found. Launch six websites about six different topics with generic descriptive domains like this: applepie.com, blueberrypie.net, peachpie.org, pecanpie.info, pumpkinpie.biz, strawberrypie.us. Assume that each variety of pie is an equally competitive search term. You will find out very quickly that all of your pie websites get ranked by Google for their respective 'exact match' keywords EXCEPT for your strawberrypie.us website. Your .us will not show up in the top 200 rankings even when the other websites are ranking in positions between 10 and 30.
Google wisely grants a ranking boost to an exact match domain. If you search for 'apple pie', it's reasonable to assume applepie.com is likely to have what you want. So why won't a search for 'strawberry pie' help you find strawberrypie.us?
Most likely the .us handicap is an unintended consequence of some overly clever thinking. Here's another way Google cripples .us websites. Imagine you visited strawberrypie.us and a week later wanted to go back but couldn't remember the exact domain... so you search google for 'strawberry pie .us'. Guess what? Google still won't show you strawberrypie.us in the first page rankings as it normally will for any other extension. Maybe because it considers '.us' to be the pronoun 'us' or the abbreviation 'US' and misinterprets your intention. Overly clever?
The way things stand now, you don't want to take a chance developing a .us website. That's a shame because the extension conveys important information that none of the other extensions do. An example: newcastlerestaurants.com - is that New Castle, USA or is it Newcastle UK? No confusion with newcastlerestaurants.us.
I'd love to see Google get behind the USA's country code by putting in on equal footing with .net, .info and .biz. But, if it were me and my Christmas wish could be granted for 2009, I'd even give .us a little boost over the others because I believe it conveys more useful information... and maybe I'm also envious of the Brits, French, and Germans who all have a useful country code extension!
Finally, am I really the only one to have noticed this? My research on WebmasterWorld turned up nothing on this subject. The prevailing wisdom seems to be that a .us domain is as good as any other non .com extension. WRONG. And how about the .us registry NeuStar, do they know or care?
Will Google engineers have a change of heart if they look at this? I think they will. Although few have realized it at this point, .us domains are special and they will one day play a more important role in our online experience.
Here in Boulder, I get asked if I work for Google everywhere I go because I never leave the house without a Google baseball cap! My answer - "Nope, I'm just a fan!".
Happy New Year friends!!
-eric
Hi Eric This is an awesome post. Thanks for taking the time to research this. I've been researching it myself for quite a while and yours is really the first informative piece I've found. I'm a G fan, too, but couldn't find out the differences between .com .biz, and .us. I think you should keep at it. Glad you've tested it. I was about to buy a .us domain, but now i'm not so sure... Bummer.
**es** the risk is definitely there - there just aren't enough developers using the .US to ensure that Google keeps an eye on a level playing field. But, one thing you can bank on is that Google's algorithms will keep changing continuously - and it looks like user interaction and engagement is growing in importance. If your website will have this, it may overshadow any extension effect.
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