Google has agreed to be flexible over the way .co websites appear in its search results, allaying concerns that it would continue to rank the domain more highly in its home country, Colombia.
Domain registrars are touting the domain as an alternative to heavily subscribed .com. But Google traditionally ranks pages with country-level domains more highly in their home country, leaving companies that have invested in the .co domains with an overpriced chunk of internet real estate.
But Google has now said it will make an exception for .co, as it has with Tuvalu’s .tv or Montenegro’s .me.
“We will rank .co domains appropriately if the content is globally targeted,” a spokesperson said. “Webmasters will soon have the functionality to be able to specify this by using the geotargeting options in Google Webmaster Tools.”
Joe Williams, of SEO Training UK, said Google’s statement should “make for plain sailing soon”, though he criticised registrars for the way the domain was marketed.
“It’s still disappointing how the domain has been advertised without it actually being ‘fit for purpose’ from the go,” he said.
Additional reporting by Nicole Kobie, PC Pro
