Are underscores (_) the same as dashes (-)

[Ixix]

hi, quick question here:

do underscores have the same effect that dashes do in separating keywords out in a domain name?

For example:

is mp3-downloads seen the same as mp3_downloads?

more importantly, is

domainnames = to domain-names = to domain_names?

thanks for the response...

 

[Pred]

you can only have numeric characters, alphabetical characters or 'hyphens' (some call dashes) '-' as components in a domain name.

you cannot have an underscore
you can only have an underscore in the bit 'before' a domain name. ie: for an email address. again , only in the part before the '@'
hope that helps

 

[Ixix]

you can only have numeric characters, alphabetical characters or 'hyphens' (some call dashes) '-' as components in a domain name.

you cannot have an underscore
you can only have an underscore in the bit 'before' a domain name. ie: for an email address. again , only in the part before the '@'
hope that helps

alright, what about as a permalink in a blog?

like:

blogname.com/keyword_name
blogname.com/keyword-name
blogname.com/keywordname

are those all the same?

 

[accent]

not-the-same
but = OK
But not / OK in base-domain-name

 

[Peter]

with Google the _ and - are treated as a word separator the same as what a space is.

However Matt Cutts (a well known Google employee) recommends using a dash (-)

 

[Mark]

I still use hyphens "-" most times , But I have been told by some to use the plus sign "+" also in the past ... Which is what most engines use as spaces on search terms.