Yes I'll admit I am biased and think that Avsim is #1, but if I put on my objective hat for a minute I would say that at a minimum Avsim is at least as good as any other site. Yet doing a google search on Flight Simulator you get the following results:Fightsim.com........Page#1, 4th from top.Simflight...........Page #2FS Dome (huh?.......Page #4Avsim...............Page #5.What's going on here, this site should be on page #1, and near the top.Mark.

money... I guess fs.com and simflight pay for rankings, fsdome may as well, I never heard of them either.

You are not using the right Google. Use:http://www.google.com/advanced_searchAnd run the same key phrase. You will see that we are far higher than that. :)

Hi,Optimizing for any search engine is a difficult science to begin with. There are many combinations that lead a site to be listed higher than another.For example, you chose the words "flight simulator". So looking at the other site, flight sim, both of those keywords are contained within your search term, so they may have a higher relevancy. Same as if you did a search for just avsim, guess what, this site shows up first.Also, if you used yahoo's search engine, and typed in flight sim, Avsim is Number 5.And did you know that the order for Alexa ratings is as follows:1) Yahoo2) MSN3) GoogleIf you look at Alexa ratings, and do a comparison of this site with any other aviation simulator site, guess what, Avsim comes out on top.The traffic rank for Avsim is 9,358. The traffic rank for Flightsim, its next closest comparison, is 11,595, so you see Avsim is on top in terms of traffic rankings according to Alexa for our hobby.Of course, maybe Tom and his staff have spent their money to allow downloads at good speeds and Equal access without fees instead of paying for website search engine optimization.Me, I'll take a library and site that doesn't limit what I can download, doesn't require me to pay for higher speeds, doesn't require me to pay for guaranteed access any time, but others may disagree.Regards,Joe JOIN The AVSIM RTW RACE FLIGHT TEAM****************Grab My FREEWARE Cessna 172 Voice recognition Profile here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]

but then again, when searching on Vivisimo (who clearly mark paid for links in contrast to what Google does) Avsim doesn't even appear on the first page (with 2 paid and 20 unpaid links per page).Flightgear.org is #1Microsoft's FS site is #2Orbiter is #3Simviation at #4 is the first portal site...Microsoft comes back at #13 with FS2000 of all things :)And at #17 with FS2002 ;)fs.com finds itself on #18Microsoft again with CFS at #24Avsim appears at position #29 out of the top 247 listed sites.FSDome hobbles in at #34

Hi Tom,Just post your Alexa Link comparing this site with the others. That pretty much sums it up for me.Joe

Joe, yup, the truth is in the numbers. Alexa is one of the few objective measures of ranking based upon visits to the site, time spent there, etc. etc. They draw from over 10 million users of their search tool (and yes, there are issues with that tool, but the measurements are accurate). To see a comparision, simply click on the link at the bottom of our top frame "Flight Simulation's #1 Site" for a day by day update, or click here:http://www.avsim.com/pages/rank.html

Just to clarify a point that some may be speculating about....We don't pay for placement on any system; neither do we pay for others to manage our placement in search engines.

Thanks for the responses. As far as I am aware (based on 60 Minutes story on Google) Google does not rank based on payment in the main search. All paid rankings are on the right hand side of the results.Mark.

Mark,That would be an incorrect assumption on your part. Besides 60 minutes is hardly a credible source, IMHO.Try this link to a Google Search:http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&cli...hoe&btnG=SearchYou will see sponsored links at the top as well.Or This one:http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&cli...800&btnG=SearchNot Only Sponsored links but paid for ads listing prices before you see the sites. (Froogle Integrated products)Regards,Joe>>>Thanks for the responses. As far as I am aware (based on 60>Minutes story on Google) Google does not rank based on payment>in the main search. All paid rankings are on the right hand>side of the results.>>>>Mark.JOIN The AVSIM RTW RACE FLIGHT TEAM****************Grab My FREEWARE Cessna 172 Voice recognition Profile here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]

The thing I like about google is that paid links are clearly marked as such (unless they are tricking me). I don't mind paid links getting into the results, but it is nice to know what I can safely ignore ;)

Actually,Take a look at the second link I provided in my above post, and click on it.Their product search results are not clearly marked in blue like the others, and those are ads that are part of their Froogle Program.So now, if you search for a particular product you are Bombarded three separate times at Google with ads.1) ads on the right.2) sponsored links above your search results.3) Froogle businesss ads above your search results.That is what happens when a company goes public, it is no longer about you and I, it is only about pleasing the shareholder, making money, and they take #1 Priority. Kind of a shame, IMHO.Regards,JoeJOIN The AVSIM RTW RACE FLIGHT TEAM****************Grab My FREEWARE Cessna 172 Voice recognition Profile here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]