During a recent episode of Google’s Search Off The Record podcast, the company’s search relations team hinted at possible changes to the way country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) are evaluated for SEO.
This discovery came about during a discussion about internationalization and hreflang implementation.
The declining importance of ccTLDs
Gary Illyes, a senior member of Google’s search relations team, suggested that the localization boost traditionally associated with ccTLDs may soon be coming to an end.
Illies said:
“In a few years, [ccTLD benefit] It will disappear.”
He explained that ccTLDs are becoming less reliable indicators of a website’s geographic target audience.
Creative Use of ccTLDs for Branding
The main reason for this change, Illies said, is the creative use of ccTLDs for branding purposes rather than geographic targeting.
He further stated:
“Think about all the fun domain names you can buy these days like .ai. I think it was Antigua or something… it doesn’t say anything about a country anymore… it doesn’t mean the content is for that country.”
Illies went on to explain the historical context and why this change is happening.
“One of the main algorithms that does the whole localization thing is something called LDCP (Language Demotion Country Promotion), which basically means that if you have a .de domain, you get a little bit of preferential treatment with your .de domain name for German users. But now for domains like .co and .de, which don’t have anything to do with Germany anymore, it doesn’t make much sense to automatically apply that little bit of preferential treatment because it’s ambiguous.”
Impact on SEO strategy
This shift in perspective may have implications for international SEO strategies.
Traditionally, many businesses have invested in ccTLDs to gain an advantage in local search results.
If Google were to stop using ccTLDs as a strong signal of geographic relevance, it could change the way companies approach their domain strategies for different markets.
The marketing value of ccTLDs
However, Illies also points out that from a marketing perspective, buying a ccTLD may still be worthwhile.
“From a marketing perspective, I think there’s still value in buying a ccTLD. If I were running a new business, I would try to buy a country TLD if financially possible, but I don’t think you need to worry too much.”
What this means for you
As search engines improve their ability to understand content and context, traditional signals such as ccTLDs are likely to become less important.
This could lead to fairer competition between websites, regardless of domain extension.
Here are some key points:
- If you’ve invested heavily in country domains for SEO purposes, it may be time to reevaluate this strategy.
- As ccTLDs become less important, it becomes important to properly implement hreflang tags to indicate language and geographic targeting.
- While the SEO benefits may be diminished, ccTLDs still have branding and marketing value.
- Keep an eye out for official announcements and changes to Google’s documentation on ccTLD usage and international SEO best practices.
Although no immediate changes were announced, the discussion provides valuable insight into the future direction of international SEO.
Listen to the full podcast episode below:
