The Problem with Google Canada Search, Eh!

Being from Canada (my time to rant), when wanting to look for an item to purchase online, it’s extremely hard at times to find companies based in Canada. Even when using Google Canada (and selecting pages from Canada) there are still lots of websites that are not Canadian based showing up in the results.

Why is this you may ask?

Currently, Google Canada (when selecting pages from Canada) solely bases Canadian websites based on their hosting IP. That is any website that happens to get hosting in Canada, according to Google, will qualify to be listed under Google Canada (selecting pages from Canada option). For those that are solely looking for Canadian sites, this can get extremely frustrating at times. If a US company with a .com domain name chooses to have their hosting provider from Canada (and their servers are based in Canada), this company will according to Google Canada be eligible to show up as Pages from Canada.

Update! November 2008. Google is now making it easier for Canadian companies that have a .com domain and not hosted in Canada with an Canadian IP. Simply log into Google Webmaster Tools, (create an account if not already done so), under Tools, click on Set geographic target and choose the country you are looking to target.

But Google Local Search Works?

Ironically, Google local search actually lists businesses from the local areas, even if they don’t have a website. Now, why can’t Google somehow incorporate all of Google Local sites into Google Canada without having any outside interference? There are many Canadian companies that have .com domain names, and do have hosting outside of Canada, but are in-fact Canadian companies and should be listed in Google Canada (when selecting pages from Canada). Hopefully, the connection will be made sooner rather than later.

The Search Continues

Recently, whilst looking for a somewhat big ticket item to purchase, I opted for Google Canada and selected pages from Canada (hoping to actually see Canadian Companies). I found I was finding US companies that did not ship to Canada, or with higher shipping and duty costs, the price would of been a lot higher.

So, basically pages from Canada with Google are not solely Canadian companies, but companies that happen to be hosted in Canada. I hope this will change in the foreseeable future. If this happens to change, it will give Canadian companies a big boost.

Gerard Manning
Search Engine Placement Specialist
Search Engine Marketing Agency :: Manning Search Marketing