Go to any internet marketing forum you want these days and\rone of the topics is sure to be whether or not there is a\r"sandbox" at Google where new sites are forced to come and\rplay for 3-6 months before joining the ranks of ranked and\rsearched results. On the surface it would appear that this\ris so. New sites are typically taking a long time to get\rindexed and even longer to show up in the search results.\rSo hence, the sandbox theory. Let's examine some possible\rreasons and more importantly, our reaction to it.

The most obvious possibility, (since no one outside of\rGoogle really knows) is that because of the proliferation\rof spam on the engines, Google is checking all the links to\rthese new sites. Sometimes a new site will appear sporting\rthousands of backlinks, and this takes some time to check,\reven given a rolling schedule of indexing by that pesky\rspider! Google it seems is serious about link farms, and\ranything that smacks of that may take some time to get\rindexed. But then, so will most other sites. It is a very\rlarge index, (some say nearing capacity, though I doubt\rthat will turn out to be true) and it is a gargantuan task\rto keep it current and free of extraneous (read poor)\rsearch results. There are other ideas out there, and\rconspiracy theories abound, one being that it is an evil\rplot to force newer sites in search of traffic to resort to\rpaying for Google Adwords. Uh-huh. A particularly amusing\rthread is currently taking place at the High Rankings\rforum, a must-read for all conspiracy theorists!

Since we don't know, can't know, will not know for sure\runtil the Google Gods unlock the keys to the kingdom and\renlighten us; it only makes sense to this webmaster to get\ron with life. I've got new sites waiting, as do many. We\rall languish at PR0 until (or if) there's another update.\rSome sites get picked up quicker than others, and to some\rextent that is a measure of SEO. However just get over it!\rSince there's nothing concrete we can do except build great\rcontent sites with lots of relevant links (legitimate) why\rworry about any sandbox?!? Don't get your knickers in a\rknot! Write more content, articles, and get more sites to\rlink to you because of the worth of your site. There are \rother sources of traffic, go get them! Do the right\rthing for your business. Spend time on it, not worrying\rabout this.

Many of the leading voices in SEO agree that there may\rindeed be a "sandbox", and if there is, that may not\rnecessarily be a bad thing. You don't want some farmer\r(link) ranking ahead of your carefully crafted content\rsite, do you? Of course not! One thing is sure: if there is\ra sandbox, it belongs to Google and if you want to play,\rfollow the rules and don't cry! Pay or play!

Keith Thompson is the Webmaster at Internet Marketing Here & Now! a site devoted to bringing you the latest and best in website promotion.