SEO Insights from Israel-Related Queries

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SEO Insights Based on Israel Related Queries

What insights can we glean about SEO from examining Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) tailored to Israel-related queries? Israel stands unique in many aspects compared to other countries. Intriguingly, this uniqueness extends to its SERPs, revealing noticeable differences.

For the purpose of this exercise, you are going to need to scroll through all the screen captures below, to see the various examples for comparative purposes.

It’s important to clarify that this analysis steers clear of political or antisemitic connotations. Our focus here is purely on the intriguing workings of the search algorithm and how it shapes results for users in the context of Israel.

SEO Insights: Websites About Israel

This screenshot displays the search results for the query “websites about Israel”. The search was conducted in incognito mode, using a VPN to set my location as Atlanta, GA, USA, with English settings in Chrome.

Observations in the results:

Top of the Page: 4 paid ads are prominently placed. Interestingly, each page refresh brings 4 different ads.
Main Body: 10 organic search results (SERPs) are listed.
Following Organic Results: An additional paid ad is positioned.

Notable Trend:

Among the 10 organic SERPs, 9 are news-related, while 1 is a government site detailing services. It’s significant to note the absence of results about travel, culture, leisure, or other informative aspects related to Israel.

Note in the results:

4 Paid ads at the top (there are always 4 different ads in this case, whenever the page is refreshed).
10 Organic SERPs
1 More paid ad after the organic results

Note – 9 out 10 SERPs are about news. 1 is a government site about services. Not one of the results is about travel, culture or leisure, or any other informative material.

Websites About Italy

Now, let’s replicate this process with a query focused on Italy. I searched “websites about Italy” from Atlanta GA, in US English, in Chrome. Here are the results.

Observations in the Results:

Top of the Page: No paid ads are present.
Main Body: 10 organic search results (SERPs) are displayed.
Further Down: A continuation of ongoing organic SERPs.
Bottom of the Page: No paid ads are found.

Trend Noted:

All 10 organic SERPs are informative, focusing on aspects such as travel, culture, leisure, and other educational content.

Additional Point:

Notably, none of the SERPs are related to news.

Websites About Canada

I searched for “websites about Canada” from Atlanta GA, in US English, in Chrome. Here are the results.

SEO Insights from Websites Worldwide

I repeated this exercise with searches for Japan and Australia and received similar results. These SEO results are somewhat surprising but I explain it by rationalizing that these all calm and stable countries.

I decided to test some of Israel’s neighbors such as Egypt and Jordan. And the results here too are the same. In the case of Egypt there was a trend to show Ancient Egypt related SERPs, but still the results were informational and not news related.

For my next experiment, I searched websites about China. In this scenario, the SERPs were mostly informational, with a slight increase in government-related sites, both from China and the US State Department.

After these series of tests, I decided not to examine more countries. The data collected thus far was sufficient to draw a significant conclusion: In the realm of SEO, Israel is treated distinctly compared to most other countries.

What Can SEO Insights Reveal About Israel?

The 2 main observations are:

1. None of the other locations had sponsored ads targeting searchers in Atlanta – not for China, Japan, Australia, Egypt, Italy, etc. Jordan had 2 ads.

Israel is the only place that seems to have advertisers willing to pay for ads based on Israel interest searches.

2. When it comes to Israel, all the top SERPs are about news. This is completely unique.

My conclusion is not that this is anti-Israel bias in the search engines. The search engine is pointing to Israel-based news outlets. The algorithms are based on massive amounts of data, and are likely just reflecting a sociological phenomenon when it comes to Israel.

These SERPs are the result of an incognito search. For users that are logged in, the results would be vastly different based on their search and browsing history, user profiles, etc.

However, when the search engine needs to provide SERPs for anonymous users, in the absence of any leading information regarding the user’s profile, it appears that the algorithm identifies that most people searching for a website about any country want fun facts. If they want it for Israel, it’s likely they are looking for news related information.

If we trust the AI behind the algorithm to be accurate, it seems that in regards to Israel, people want to know what’s going on currently and not just see a cute, informational page from Nat GEO Kids.

Honestly, I am struggling to explain this. There must be millions of people who want news about China and other locations, but this does not seem reflected in typical SERPs. On the other hand, there must be a significant number of users who are authentically searching for informational facts about Israel.

What are your thoughts that can explain this?

Author

Sol Jakubowicz
Sol provides consulting services in the areas of business and project management specifically related to digital marketing, lead generation and eCommerce. Co-founder of SunHouse Marketing (formerly eCommerce Innovators), a digital marketing consulting company that provides the full range of the most current and up to date digital marketing services and techniques: Strategic Planning, Business Development, Project Management, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and our area of specialty - Lead Generation. In the Telecom industry from 1999 – 2009, with a focus on Business Consulting/Business Process Analysis. In this role I collaborated with teams across large Tier 1 corporations, and the corresponding teams within our company, to create integrated, cross functionality synergies. Background in Mediation and Conflict Resolution, providing a tremendous positive impact on all interactions, and ensuring that business dealings are not only pleasant but more efficient and cost effective. My passion is business process analysis. Tell me about your current business, and I will uncover new ways for it to be more efficient and more profitable.
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