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Google treats the words US, USA, and American as the same keyword?

by LegendToBe
16 replies
  • SEO
    • |
If you Google "US History" and look at the search results, Google seems to see "US" as the same as "American".



Does that mean that ranking for the US XXX would rank you also for American XXX?

Thanks in advance
#american #google #keyword #treats #usa #words
  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    Yes.

    Hummingbird.

    I need a taco.
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  • Profile picture of the author Icematikx


    But yes, Google understands acronyms very well. It knows when several search phrases mean the same thing.
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    Just got back from a #BrightonSEO. I was given room 404 in the hotel I stayed at. Couldn’t find it anywhere!

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  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    Well, I guess if we are just going to post pictures, how about one that is actually useful...


    Pay special attention to 180 in the lower left hand corner.

    Now, about my taco....
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    This can help flush out those <bold> SERP keywords:
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  • Profile picture of the author LegendToBe
    So in theory, the SEO values of the domain names of americanhistory.com, and ushistory.com are the exact same?
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by LegendToBe View Post

      So in theory, the SEO values of the domain names of americanhistory.com, and ushistory.com are the exact same?
      IMO both keywords are pretty much the same.

      Both keywords (american & US) are used in the same context over 100's of pages on the same domain/s. Google knows those two keywords are interchangeable, that's why they're bolding the keywords in the SERPs.
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  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    I would not say exact, no.
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  • Profile picture of the author LegendToBe
    There does appear to be a bit of a difference. I used that tool and the last couple results are different from "american" and "us".
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  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    But would you say.... Exact?

    And where's my taco people.... come on... It's Tuesday and I want a taco.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Hard or soft shell?
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  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    Hard, extra cheese, verde salsa....

    I'll bring the Corona and limes. Not that I like Corona, but ... it's Tuesday.
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  • Profile picture of the author godoveryou
    I could see that in the sense that "United States Of America" stems down to "America" and thus "American."

    However, that update is long since been replaced by the synonym engine in Hummingbird.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by godoveryou View Post

      Just curious - have you noticed an difference in behavior since Hummingbird?
      Originally Posted by godoveryou View Post

      I could see that in the sense that "United States Of America" stems down to "America" and thus "American."

      However, that update is long since been replaced by the synonym engine in Hummingbird.
      I missed your comment earlier.

      No, I haven't seen any changes with Hummingbird as far as bold text/keywords on the SERPs.

      Google does stray a little bit on synonyms, it's like they sometimes go deeper than the original keyword, like they have a list of nested groups of keywords but that's been going on for a few years. That link I posted is from 2012, right at 2 years now.

      There's probably some exceptions like for instance If my keyword was a question & I was searching from a mobile phone (GEO location) rather than a desktop (static location based on ISP). I think Google wants to be Siri with Hummingbird but you know how that goes, Google doesn't always put a lot of effort into some of their projects.
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