Based on extensive research following an intriguing cybersquatting case (in which the defendant website is ranked high on Google searches for a specific trademark, despite this trademark being totally absent from all pages and hidden content of the website), SEO expert Chris Silver Smith tried to figure out whether or not simple redirections from rich-term domain names can influence the Google search engine. In other words, would a bogus website named “electric-bicycles-are-cool.com” redirecting to a .com corporate site help a company to rank higher in results, even if its website never mentions the keyword “electric bicycle” (or not even sells some)?

Although the demonstration is not totally conclusive, and the process of redirections evokes the principles of Google bombing (which may be punished by the Google algorithm), Smith is positive: “It seems likely that my theory that keyword signals are passed through redirection is valid,” he concludes, admitting that “there remains some degree of fuzziness about the precise mechanisms involved.”

Over the years, and although the way its search algorithm works remains largely unknown, Google has denied the importance of domain names in search results. Based on comments on Twitter from Google operatives, experts have noted that “Keyword Rich Domains For Your Website Won’t Help You Rank”, or even that “Keywords In Domain Names Are Overrated.”

Full source:

https://searchengineland.com/the-case-of-the-stealth-google-bomb-388753