I spend a lot of time on Google and I also advertise my business using AdWords. I was put on to this tip in an email newsletter. After doing some more reading it I decided its pretty reasonable and easy to do if you don’t already.

Google has a patent application (20050071741) which states in section [099]:

Certain signals may be used to distinguish between illegitimate and legitimate domains. For example, domains can be renewed up to a period of 10 years. Valuable (legitimate) domains are often paid for several years in advance, while doorway (illegitimate) domains rarely are used for more than a year. Therefore, the date when a domain expires in the future can be used as a factor in predicting the legitimacy of a domain and, thus, the documents associated therewith.

With a lot of domains this is the case. Most companies don’t want to deal with registering the domain every year. Not to mention that you often get a discount for purchasing a domain for a longer term. Registering your domain for more than a year a time can add some legitimacy to it.

The application for this patent was filed back in 2003 so I imagine that Google has been ranking sites this way for some time.

Post by NullVariable, © 2005. Original post on nullvariable.com