Penalized on Google due to another site's linking method?

starlygirl · 11-11-2003, 02:12 PM

Hi - I think I'm in trouble with Google. I've always ranked very well for my search terms, but suddenly my main index page is nowhere to be found under my usual search terms (or found AT ALL as far as I can tell).

I was listed on an "online mall" type place and instead of just linking the normal way to my site, they used some type of meta-refresh forward type thing. I'm assuming this was the no-no that caused the problem. I've already written the mall and had my link removed.

Now, I'm just wondering, will my site reappear in Google on its own or do I need to write to someone at Google and explain the whole mess?

How can I tell if my site was actually banned or just temporarily penalized? Thanks for any help.

Stacy Rockwell

digitalpoint · 11-11-2003, 02:18 PM

Most likely it's simply "Google flux". Sometimes (for whatever reason) pages are not in the most recent index. It probably will reappear in a day or two. Depending on how often your site is indexed, it could be a week or two.

- Shawn

burgi82 · 11-11-2003, 02:26 PM

you should never get penalized for other sites linking to you, but you could get penalized for linking to the wrong sites yourself.
But, since you can't influence what other sites are linking to you, no harm can be done by them.

Gede · 11-11-2003, 05:02 PM

Quote:

How can I tell if my site was actually banned or just temporarily penalized? Thanks for any help.

Ask them

UKZJ007 · 11-11-2003, 05:26 PM

Well refer to article/forum topic about linkfarms (i cant be bothered to locate it!)

If you submitted to a linkfarm which is banned by google .... then its your own fault ... not saying that it is specifically to you!

Knowing how strict google are, you're probs gonna have to go to mr. googles house and beg him to let you back in ... i had to!

PhilC · 11-11-2003, 06:20 PM

Hi Stacy,

Your site isn't banned by Google. It has a PR2 and some backlinks. As Shawn said, it'll probably just be Google fiddling with their data, and it will probably come back shortly. But even if it doesn't come back, the site isn't banned.

Of course, you may have changed things on the site that have affected the ranking, but you'd probably know if that were so.

dave conz · 11-11-2003, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pc-clever

If you submitted to a linkfarm which is banned by google .... then its your own fault

This sort of penalty would be unworkable. If Google did this then I could simply submit all my competitors to links farms. Voila - instant number 1 for me and oblivion for everyone else! You'd also get heaps of twits having competitions to see how many sites they can get banned. In short, Google can't penalise you for an action which could be taken by someone else. Not just because it's unfair but it would seriously affect their own credibility.

PhilC · 11-12-2003, 03:23 AM

I assume that what pc-c meant was "If you linked to a link farm....."

Mel · 11-12-2003, 06:32 AM

Hi Stacy:
As Phil said you have not been penalized by Google, but you are not ranking well on your primary search terms.

Some of the indications that you may have suffered a penalty are a severe loss of PageRank, no back links showing and not ranking for keywords you used to rank well for. You have a PR of2 and 2 backlinks, so you are not under a penalty

It seems that you moved your site to a new URL recently, how long ago was that and did you rank well after you moved. Your site has dropped from PR 5 to PR 2 likely as a result of your move. Your move to a new URL also means that all the old inbound links you had before do not point to your new site, resulting in a loss of PR and rankings.

I don't think that your old site (which still exists with all the old pages btw) is the cause of your problems though, as each page says you have moved and simply links to your new site with a standard <a>href link.

Your site optimization could be better, you could start with improving your onpage factors and then start getting some keyword anchor text links to your site. A place to start could be at your old site where you could change the existing links to anchor text links pointing to your new pages.

Get your new site listed in DMOZ and other directories, and get as many as you can of your old links upgraded to links with anchor text pointing at your new site.

I, Brian · 11-12-2003, 07:24 AM

It's also important to note that newer sites have pages artificially boosted in the rankings for a few months. After about 12 weeks or so, these new site pages settle into their proper positions. So perhaps this could also be an applicable reason? Especially if your siet does not seem well optimsied ni the first place, as per Mel's comments.