It appears as though Google have changed the way it display rankings for some major brands. Normally Google would only display two rankings for site for a given search query however if you perform a search on BBC News for example you can now see up to 10 pages listed in the SERPS for the same domain similar to what you would see with the site:search function.
I first noticed this on Tuesday, however like with Malcolm Coles - who has been the first person I have seen mention this change - I was also unsure whether this has been around for a for a while . However it would appear that this is in fact a new change to the way Google is to display its rankings.
I feel this change is the correct thing to do and that brands have the right to dominate rankings for their brand term. It will also help immensely with reputation management meaning resources used for frustrating tactics such as de-optimisation can be used in more important matters like going after rankings for higher volume/converting keywords.
How does Google decide what pages to show however? It could be simply be the popularity/authority of your deeper pages or perhaps it is based on CTR and impressions. Time will tell I guess but what it perhaps does mean is that to increase the number of pages that are displayed (if your brand is not displaying more positions) is to perhaps build link popularity to your deeper pages as well as improve the link flow through your site via internal linking. Also if it is based on impressions and CTR data then imporving your page titles and META descriptions is sure to help.
On another point it seems like this change will add to the list of reasons why using keyword rich domains for “branding” is not always a good idea. For example if you do a search for DIY you can see that B&Q only hold a single position even though it is a strong domain (note a search for B&Q generates more). So it appears only proper trademarked terms will work which makes perfect sense.
What do you think is this a good idea or not?