Problem when searching for "link:www.mysite.com" vs "link: www.mysite.com"

[EmilyP]

Why does a search for "link:www.mysite.com" show no results, but when there is a space before www.mysite.com it shows results?

The same happens for "link:www.mysite.com" (nothing shows up), but when I search for "link:www.mysite.com/index.php" it returns results.

Is there a problem I am missing?

Thanks so much!

[ChrisCountey]

Even Google's own back link tool is slow/inaccurate. I recommend using software like SEOmoz's Open Site Explorer, Ahrefs.com or MajesticSEO to get more up-to-date link data. We actually use all 3.

[MarieHaynes]

The same thing happens if you are typing in site:www.mysite.com vs site: www.mysite.com.  It only works without the space.  Not sure why!

I'd agree that the link operator on Google is pretty unreliable though.  According to Google I have 26 backlinks to my site.  According to YSE I have 1700+.

[MSSTORAGE]

The backlink operator only works without the space. This would suggest that google many have few/no links to your site. This is a not a great way to check backlinks though. Google webmaster tools often displays a more accurate result.

"You can perform a Google search using the link: operator to find a sampling of links to any site. For instance, [link:www.google.com] will list a selection of the web pages that have links pointing to the Google home page. Note there can be no space between the "link:" and the web page URL."

Mor Info here https://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=44231

You can perform a Google search using the link: operator to find a sampling of links to any site. For instance, [link:www.google.com] will list a selection of the web pages that have links pointing to the Google home page. Note there can be no space between the "link:" and the web page URL.