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When I type in my website's name into Google it gives all other competing websites names but never autocompletes mine. Did the other sites buy the autocomplete option from Google?

My website is pienkvoete.co.za Google autocompletes it for pienkvoet-pret.co.za (another site that dealts with other stuff than my site); for pienkvoet.co.za (thats a blank website that has nothing in it) and other searches related to pienkvoet but NEVER for pienkvoete.co.za

What can I do, because I am defenitely losing traffic?

Am I paranoid? Because it feels like someone is deliberately doing this. My website gives out information about pregnancy and childbirth and there are some magazines in my country that I believe are very threatened by my website giving free information in a local language.

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I think that a huge part of a problem is that pienkvoet.co.za is so similar to pienkvoete.co.za - google will always prefer more popular website for picking up suggestions. Unless you have a plan to demolish competition in SEO and got few months to wait till Google puts your website in suggestions - you won't see your site next to competition in suggestions. – MarcinWolny Feb 26 at 21:51
I think the answers cover this, but the google-autocomplete feature isn't autocompleting domain names, it's suggesting probable searches. If you search for "pienkvoet", or even pick the 2nd suggestion "pienkvoet.co.za" then your site is actually #2 in the SERPS - The "pienkvoet.co.za" site does not actually appear in the SERPS as far as I can see. – w3d Feb 26 at 23:45

1 Answer

up vote 8 down vote

No one is deliberately doing this.

The autocomplete is based on the amount of searches and quality of results.

There isn't much you can do about it.

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