But as you\u2019ll learn, even if this works in the short term, you may want to avoid doing it.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the problem with EMDs?<\/h2>\n
First of all, it could be considered a sign of a spammy website if its URL exactly matches a search term. Just think of all those \u2018watch movies for free\u2019 websites that proliferate SERPs when you search for that phrase.<\/p>\n
![\"emd](\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-28-at-11.44.56.png\")
<\/p>\n
Even if you remove the word \u2018free\u2019 and search for \u2018watch movies online\u2019, the SERP is a wild west town full of unsavoury characters.<\/p>\n
![\"emd](\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2016\/11\/Screen-Shot-2016-11-28-at-11.45.43.png\")
<\/p>\n
You have to scroll halfway down the page before you get to legitimate streaming companies like Crackle or Hulu. And Netflix barely makes a dent.<\/p>\n
Most domains from legitimate companies will take its name from the brand name itself, with perhaps a single keyword they may hope to rank for. As long as its in the brand name. To use Graham Charlton\u2019s example<\/a>: glassesdirect.com.<\/p>\n EMDs have been long thought of as having an unfair advantage.<\/p>\n As opposed to websites that rise to the top of Google through quality content, solid architecture, trusted backlinks<\/a> and assorted other white hat best practices, Exact Match Domains can just rise to the top by shoe-horning in a few tasty keywords.<\/p>\n Bill Slawski wrote<\/a> in 2011:<\/p>\n \u201cA company may attempt to \u201ctrick\u201d the search engine into listing the company\u2019s website more highly. For example, if the search engine gives greater weight in ranking results to words used in the domain name associated with websites, a company may attempt to trick the search engine into ranking the company\u2019s listing more highly by including desirable search terms in the domain name associated with the company\u2019s listing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s basically unfair to the legitimate companies, and risky for the user.<\/p>\n A paid-for film streaming service offering the best possible user experience and security is surely preferable to one that will download malware to your hard-drive and take you through all sorts of unsavoury black hat practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n But as you can see from the examples<\/a> above, Google hasn\u2019t quite got it right just yet.<\/p>\n In 2012, Google\u2019s then Head of Webspam Matt Cutts announced<\/a>\u00a0an algorithm change meant to reduce the amount of low quality exact match domains in search results.<\/p>\n Cutts also tweeted, \u201cNew exact-match domain (EMD) algo affects 0.6% of English-US queries to a noticeable degree. Unrelated to Panda\/Penguin.\u201d<\/p>\n However things went a bit quiet on the EMD front post 2012, until this past weekend when Search Engine Roundtable reported<\/a> a few interesting tweets sent Google\u2019s Gary Illyes on Friday.<\/p>\n It seems Illyes is on the hunt for spammy EMDs once again\u2026<\/p>\n @gfiorelli1<\/a> @pedrodias<\/a> @aleyda<\/a> @pelogia<\/a> It’s funny you say that! I was hunting for (bad) EMDs for the past two weeks without much luck \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n \u2014 Gary Illyes \u1555( \u141b )\u1557 (@methode) November 25, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And is asking for assistance too\u2026<\/p>\n @gfiorelli1<\/a> @aleyda<\/a> @pelogia<\/a> OK, I’ll go public (already asked a bunch of folk in private): if you see spammy EMDs, send them my way.<\/p>\n \u2014 Gary Illyes \u1555( \u141b )\u1557 (@methode) November 25, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are plenty of examples of EMDs that manage to stay high on the SERPs without fear of penalty – cheapflights.com being one of the more high profile examples.<\/p>\n It does this by being a legitimate non-spammy operation.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s really all you need to worry about. As Illyes also stated on Friday\u2026<\/p>\n @gfiorelli1<\/a> @aleyda<\/a> @pelogia<\/a> there is no inherent problem with EMDs. The problem is when it’s combined with other spam tactics<\/p>\nWhat is Google doing about EMDs?<\/h2>\n
![\"matt-cutts-domain-match-tweet\"](\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2016\/11\/matt-cutts-domain-match-tweet.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
\n
How do I stay on the right side of Google?<\/h2>\n
\n