[ NNSquad ] Google may factor page load speeds into search results rankings

[Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>]

In what almost seemed like a casual comment during an interview, 
Google's Matt Cutts suggested that future Google rankings may 
include input from characterizations of page loading speeds --
a parameter not currently included in rankings.

http://bit.ly/KdeQB  (WebProNews)

Since Matt generally is very careful about what he says in the context
of anything SEO-related, I assume that this is more than a
middling-high probability to actually take place.

While my assumption is that the main focus would be on the impact of
pages bloated with poorly written or unnecessary javascript and the
like, the fact is that page load speed of course relates to a spectrum
of factors, including key ones that may be difficult to control for
any given Web site owner.

If Google used actual page load stats as collected by Googlebot, the
speed of Web server hardware and server Internet connections, as well
as Internet connection loading overall and possible ISP
oversubscription at any given point could come into play.

This suggests that (especially for servers hosted on privately owned
machines outside of well-connected data centers) actions by ISPs that
can result in widely varying performance over both short and long time
frames may ultimately directly impact on page rankings in the Google
index.

Such a concern can only itself be ranked as speculative at this point,
but is an issue that will bear watching.

--Lauren--
NNSquad Moderator