By Rocco Havel | August 21, 2009

Search engine optimization can be a tricky thing, it appears. Just two months after sitting atop the poker internet search rankings, PartyPoker has dropped all the way out of the top ten.

The rankings were produced by a marketing company called Greenlight for EGRmagazine.com, the online presence of eGaming Review. In the study, Greenlight looked at poker-related searches on Google UK and recorded how often websites appeared on the first page of results. People who searched for poker sites most frequently typed in simply “poker.” This most basic of search terms was entered into Google by UK residents 39 percent of the time. “Online poker” was a distant second at 8 percent, followed by “poker chips” at 5 percent. Other search terms included phrases such as “free poker”, “poker hands”, “poker stars”, “poker games”, and “poker tables.”

For the month of June, 888.com, parent of Pacific Poker, stood atop the field, appearing on the first page of Google search results 44 percent of the time. PKR.com was second with a 39 percent hit rate, and a tiny poker room on the Everleaf Gaming Network called OnlinePoker66.com was third at 36 percent, tied with PokerStars.com. Someone should give the search engine optimization experts at OnlinePoker66.com a raise – how many people had ever heard of that poker room until now?

Other notable sites include FullTiltPoker.com (9th – 30 percent), PokerListings.com (10th – 26 percent), and the now defunct PokerRoom.com (12th – 14 percent). Interestingly, PacificPoker.com ranked 14th at 9 percent, while its parent company was the leader of the group.

PartyPoker.com fell precipitously since April, which was the last time Greenlight conducted the study. Then, it was tied for the lead with 888.com, appearing on the first page of search results 49 percent of the time. Now, it ranks just 11th with only an 18 percent retrieval rate.

OnlinePoker66.com was the big winner, appearing in 3rd place after having not even been in the top twenty in April. PKR.com also made a big leap, jumping from 9th to 2nd.

A non-poker specific site, Wikipedia.com, found itself tied for 7th on the list, although its 32 percent first page percentage was a far cry from its April results, when it was the only site to make the first page of Google results over half the time. MiniClip.com also made the top ten (6th) as a non-poker specific site, although that site does offer free online games, as opposed to Wikipedia.com, which is purely a general information site.

Two non-poker sites, YouTube.com and DrinkStuff.com, were in the top twenty in April, but were not on the list in June. Below are Greenlight’s top twenty lists from both April and June, with the most recent one first.

Top 20 Poker Sites to UK Web Users – June 2009 (% of poker-related search results in which website appear on first page)

1) 888.com (44%)
2) PKR.com (39%)
3) OnlinePoker66.com (36%)
4) PokerStars.com (36%)
4) PokerStars.net (36%)
6) MiniClip.com (35%)
7) FreePoker.org (32%)
8 ) Wikipedia.org (32%)
9) FullTiltPoker.com (30%)
10) PokerListings.com (26%)
11) PartyPoker.com (18%)
12) PokerRoom.com (14%)
12) PokerJunkie.com (14%)
14) PacificPoker.com (9%)
15) Gamble.co.uk (8%)
16) PersonalPokerchip.com (7%)
17) LaunchPoker.com (6%)
18) Poker-Chips.net (6%)
19) PokerShopping.co.uk (6%)
20) PlayWinningPoker.com (5%)

Top 20 Poker Sites to UK Web Users – June 2009 (% of poker-related search results in which website appear on first page)

1) Wikipedia.org (exact number undisclosed – over 50%)
2) PartyPoker.com (49%)
3) 888.com (49%)
4) PokerStars.net (40%)
5) TheFreePokerroom.com (33%)
6) FreePoker.org (32%)
7) PacificPoker.com (30%)
8 ) PokerStars.com (24%)
9) PokerListings.com (22%)
10) PKR.com (16%)
11) poker.co.uk (16%)
12) PokerRoom.com (15%)
13) MiniClip.com (14%)
14) FullTiltPoker.com (14%)
15) PokerJunkie.com (13%)
16) YouTube.com (10%)
17) LaunchPoker.com (9%)
18) PersonalPokerChip.com (9%)
19) pokershopping.co.uk (8%)
20) DrinkStuff.com (7%)

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