The search engines are a natural extension of how we’ve developed, but with the massive reach of Google and the Internet at large, it’s not always easy to know what to do. Many companies have started to offer their services in the hope that we will use more of their services when we are searching for something specific.
This is great, but it’s not as much of a step as it seems. Google is a global company and just about every country in the world has a different search engine. To make things worse: some of these search engines are based in the exact same country, while others are completely different. There are several legitimate reasons why companies might be offering services in different countries (and the ones that aren’t can be quite shady), but it is also an interesting problem.
This is a bit of a grey area because many of the search engines that appear to be based in one country may be international, but when Google looks at those websites, it simply sees a different domain. Google is very good at recognizing foreign domains, so I would imagine that it would be able to identify which country the search engine is based in.
Not to be a douchebag, but if I wanted people to come to my website and buy my software, I would have to pay for it in the country I want to use the software in. There may be other reasons that I may want to buy from a company in a different country that I am unaware of, but if I can’t do something easily, then I am screwed.
Google has a policy called “zero-rated”. This means that Google will not rank your website in certain countries, but it will still show up in the search results for other countries. If you have a website in a country where Google is banned from ranking you, you may have to buy a new website and pay the penalty for this.
The reason I put this is because the search engine that Google uses is called Bing. Google also has a policy called one-click. This means that all that you have to do for your website to show up in Google search results is click a link to your website’s home page. If you don’t click the link, then Google will not rank your website. If you do click it, you will have your website show up in the search results for other countries.
Bing’s one-click policy has made some SEOs very worried. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with buying a website, paying the penalty for having a bad SEO strategy is more than a little scary.
Google allows people to buy websites by default, but they do not allow them to sell them. There are some exceptions, like when a website gets bought by a company that has a very specific agenda. If you do buy a website and it gets purchased by someone who has an agenda, then you might want to check with the seller to make sure that he or she has not agreed to sell your website to someone else. Remember to check with the seller before you buy.
I’ve seen this happen a lot — not always in good faith, mind you — but it really stinks when people buy websites who are just not up to their job. If people are working for these companies, then they are not likely to sell your website, and you should definitely ask them if they intend to do so. This can lead to a nasty situation, but it is a good idea to at least ask.
I have seen the same thing happen with a few other websites I’ve been to. I’ve told people I’ve been to their website that they are not the right company and they have not agreed to sell my website to them. I have made one or two very clear statements about that (and I would get really annoyed if someone with a sales pitch walked in and tried to sell me another website).