Sandbox Theory

This page was originally written by Bill Marshall on 20 Oct 2006 as an article for Oyster Web.

Search engine optimisation forums and webmaster forums have been buzzing over the last few months trying to prove whether the Google Sandbox Theory is fact or just another Google conspiracy theory. On one side of the fence there are seo's and webmasters that dismiss the idea, on the other side, seo's and webmasters convinced that the Sandbox Theory makes absolute sense.

Firstly we should give some explanation of the Sandbox Theory. The term Sandbox was initially coined by Barry Schwarz of SEORoundTable, it describes how new sites are placed in a sandbox for a probationary period where they can play safely away from more mature or real sites.

Original definition of Sandbox Theory and Google

Sandbox is an alleged Google phenomenon in which new sites rank well for a short time, two to three weeks, and then drop completely out of sight. Some dropped sites have high page rank but don't rank for even the least competitive of terms regardless of how well the pages are optimised. When this happens a site is classed as 'Sandboxed'. The Sandbox effect appears to be limited to sites that went online after the Florida update. (November 2003)

Updated information on Sandbox Theory and Google

This Original description of the Sandbox and Google is not entirely accurate in light of current data. It appears that Google rather than sandboxing the site sandboxes the links. So the links when indexed by Google are placed to one side and these will not be counted for a period of time. The rationale for this is two fold: Link Buying Effect and transitional links. Link buying has meant that links can be manipulated easily and in vast quantities. Sandboxing means that the effectiveness of this is minimal. You would need to buy links and continue paying for them over a long period of time for these to be counted and for your site to see the Rankings boost in Google. Transitional links, links which appear in the Google Link Database and then vanish, have the same effect that they can boost and deprecate results. As Google endeavours to create an Index which is stable this is problematic. By choosing to Sand Box the Links Google in effect minimises this problem also.

It should be noted that Google does not operate Sandboxing as the sole way of preventing link spamming or quick manipulation. Google now appears to have filters in place to notice links which do not fall within a natural distribution of links also. That is to say Google knows that it is unnatural for a site with low PR to have a link from a PR 9 page. So this also aids in Google's campaign to prevent external forces affecting sites positions for keyterms in Google.

Technologies used in development made no difference, html, asp, php, jsp, brochure sites and dynamic sites were all being sandboxed. The level of on-page optimisation or Back-links is not factored either. The only pattern that emerges is that these are new sites that were launched after the Florida update.

If you feel that your site might be Sandboxed try adding exclusion parameters to your search term. Some of you who experienced the Florida update may already be familiar with exclusion parameters to see post-Florida results. For those who have never used exclusion parameters before here is how to do it;

Take your term and add '-dfsdgsdsd -sdfgsdgsdfg -sdfgsdgsdg -sdfgsdfgsdfg -dsfgsdgsdg -sdfgsdfgsdfg -sdgsdfgdsfg" (without quotes)

So if your search term was 'Gas Widgets' (without quotes) this would become;
'Gas Widgets -dfsdgsdsd -sdfgsdgsdfg -sdfgsdgsdg -sdfgsdfgsdfg -dsfgsdgsdg -sdfgsdfgsdfg -sdgsdfgdsfg' (without quotes)

If searching for your term using exclusion parameters returns your site to its former rankings and your site falls into description above, you are most probably sandboxed. However, it should be noted that including exclusion parameters will bypass many filters and there is no absolute guarantee that your site is sandboxed.

Long term links are harder to get than short term links, therefore links that come and go quickly wont effect rankings overly much.

If sites that use PageRank manipulation to artificially boost rankings won't rank for three months it makes setting up a scam eCommerce store harder. (will the site last 3 months)

Well that is the Sandbox Theory, so what side of the fence does Oyster Web stand? Well we think Sandboxing is credible and explainable but its only one explanation for why your site may not be ranking. Sandboxing when combined with link spiking filters, semanticism lack of on page Content relevant to the target link page and/or links being unreadable may all be in action and affecting the effectiveness of the links your site currently has in place.

This article on Google and Sandboxing was first published 01/06/2004