The topic of does domain registration impact your search engine rankings is nothing new. We have covered this topic here at least a handful of times, especially since Google became a registrar. But a new WebmasterWorld thread has several case studies from SEOs on the topic.

It all started when senior WebmasterWorld member, SEOPTI, said that he forgot to use private whois information when renewing his domain. His domain name went under the real information and then soon after he said, Google devalued his incoming links by 80% or more.

As you might imagine, many are skeptical. Another senior member, wyweb, said:

Senior member, CainIV, said something similar:

Forum administrator, Tedster, said:

Seems like this isn’t as clear cut as we would like. Google might or might not reset the domain based on probably several variables.

Past articles on domain registration and SEO:
Google is a Domain Name RegistrarGoogle Can Not Use Registry Data As ThoughtTheories on Advanced Link Mapping with Google RegistrarGoogle Admits to Improve Search Quality with Registrar DataChanging Domain Name Ownership Whois Information & Google Search Ranking ImpactThe “Google Certified Domain Change” ProposalReally, Does Google Use Whois Registrar Data to Rank Sites? Can They?Does Registering A Domain Name for 10 Years Help Search Ranking?Impact of Changing Registrar Data on Search Rankings

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Update: It seems Google has gone on the record saying domain registration length does not impact rankings.