Algorithm, Search & Distribution
Pogo-sticking
Also called: bouncing back to results
Pogo-sticking describes a searcher who clicks a result, returns to the results page almost immediately, and picks something else. SEOs read it as a sign the page did not answer the query it ranked for. Google has said repeatedly that it does not use the behaviour as a direct ranking input, so the sensible reading is diagnostic rather than mechanical: pages people keep bouncing off are usually mismatched to the query, and fixing the mismatch is what moves the ranking. The YouTube equivalent is a click followed by an exit in the first 10 seconds.