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by Wayne Smith
Using keywords as a domain name has been a tactic used and abused by those who would manipulate the results of search engines. When somebody searches for a brand they expect the brand, which is normally the site name, to appear as the search result. The recent data inadvertently released by Google shows an attribute, (or a qualifier), specifically for this kind of site; It is a spam signal not specifically mentioned in Google's guidelines.
There are numerous businesses with names such as Jose's Tacos. In a world full of marketing it is a good practice to communicate as soon as possible what a business or brand does. People have busy lives and need to make decisions quickly; Having a descriptive brand name helps people by saving them time in understanding what a business can provide.
In other words, when you look at a domain as a digital entity (relationship model), a brand has an identifiable relationship model, which can be used as a qualifier. If things, (entities), like a BBB listing exist then it is a business. A brand qualifies for branded search results, A keyword.com does not qualify for branded search unless it is trademarked or branded.
While people outside of Google can not specifically know the weight differences between an exact-match domain name flag and the weight of a brand entity ... Brand entities that use descriptive brands show up like regular brands in the SERPS without a penality; But, if a descriptive brand is used the site name needs to have the entity relationship of a brand.
Marketing with entities is about creating the correct entity (relationship model) for both the site and the content on the site. A personal website has a completely different relationship model from other websites on the internet; A Media or news site has a different relationship model to a brick-and-mortar retail outlet or e-commerce site. Matching the entities, (on-site, on-page, and off-site), qualifies the site to compete in competitive search terms.
A qualifier may appear to operate as a ranking factor because with the qualifier the site shows up for more than just an exact match for the search term. Sites that lack an important qualifier may only appear in the supplemental data and only for non-competitive terms. Qualified the page can show up for competitive terms, but more qualification does not improve the position in search.
The guide to search algorithms is intended as an aid for Search Engine Optimization. Search engines can and do create new algorithms and can adjust how important a specific algorithm is in determining what sites to show and how they are ranked.