Source: Search Engine Journal
A major UK publisher's move from .co.uk to .com triggered a near-total collapse in search visibility for trending queries. Google's algorithm treated the new domain as a separate entity rather than honoring the redirect authority of the old domain. This exposes a gap in Google's domain migration handling—particularly for geotargeted properties—where even proper technical implementation doesn't guarantee the transfer of established search equity. Publishers must rebuild months or years of accumulated authority from zero. For growth teams managing international expansion or rebranding, domain strategy carries SEO risk that standard best practices can't fully mitigate.