This year Google made some serious changes to the way it indexes new websites (collects website URLs and lists them). Previously it was very easy to be listed in Google and to obtain Top 10 rankings within a relatively short time, in some instances anywhere from 2-4 weeks to achieve these. Unethical SEO companies took advantage of Google's ability to list their websites quickly, and performed tactics that gave their websites high rankings they would not have otherwise obtained. See "Changes to Search Engine Marketing" for more information. Google's aim has always been to ensure a high relevancy of links found in its search listings which is the main reason it's so popular today. To ensure that their listings remain of high relevancy they have introduced what the industry has dubbed the Google Sandbox. The Google Sandbox is a way of slowly filtering out unethical techniques used on websites to give them high rankings where they really shouldn't be. The unfortunate affect of this is that websites that would have ethically achieved high rankings through SEO techniques in a short period of time previously now have to wait to achieve the same types of rankings. At this point estimates vary anywhere from 6-12 months for websites to stay in the Sandbox. This doesn't mean you won't see your website in Google within this time; however it is very unlikely you will achieve top rankings, especially if the space you are in is very competitive.
