I was planning to write a post about using Region Tags on your web pages to help Google recognise your UK location.

Why are region tags important?  They help to geo-target content, and they will present additional information in the search page to help users to select the most suitable result.

The problem is I’m just not sure Google understands the UK.  Not really.

I live in Nottingham in the UK, but there is also a Nottingham in both Pennsylvania and Maryland in the United States.

A search in Google UK for “Nottingham potato” from a computer with a UK based IP address brings results in 5 of the top 10 positions being filled with American results for Potato Chip Factory tours in Nottingham’s in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

And worst of all, Google local brings up Derby as the top result on the Google map. Heaven forbid!

By the way, if you’re not impressed by my Nottingham Potato example, then scroll to the bottom of this post for some more serious examples.

Who ever thought watching potatoes get peeled and deep fried could be so much fun….

What did I expect to find when I searched for Nottingham Potato?

I would have expected to find lists of organic potato farming tips and ideas for people in Nottingham, or food wholesalers selling potatoes, or take away restaurant menus from Nottingham serving jacket potatoes, or catering suppliers.

Actually, what I would have liked to have seen is Bing’s results…

I know Nottingham Potato is silly example, but there is a more serious underlying issue:

it’s not so silly is when you search for Birmingham Airport, and as a UK user I’m served the Alabama results:

How about a pharmacy in Boston, searched on Google.co.uk: