I have a site that is not used for SEO, no affiliate links, nothing... A reputable site that has been around 10 years now, PR6, natural links, and all are relevant.
Google sent me an email saying they will de-index the site in 30 days if I do not correct the hidden text in the site. The sites "hidden text" A friggin hidden web counter. WTF? Anyone seen anything stupid like this before?
Is google on a hidden text seek and destroy mission lately? The counter (hidden as it is) has been there for nearly 10 years now.
I went ahead and made it a light gray to appease them, but am a bit disturbed by this. It is the only page (the main page) that has any "hidden text" (again, a web counter) on the entire site.
The site is not some scummy bh affiliate marketing spam site filled with crap.
Well on the bottom of hostdrive.com I see this (now in light grey)
---
This page has been accessed 2601193 times since August 13, 2003
We offer the following: server collocation colocated collocated computers plesk ensim savvis sbc att macintosh linux unix bsd free bsd net bsd hosts server email dns hosting game servers opensrs tucows server hosting colocated servers server farm collocate
---
I think that they are more interested in the "We offer the following:" part, because you are using a bunch of keywords there to try to increase the density and raise your rank, which Google does not approve of.
True, but it was never hidden... The color was #EEEEEE a light gray. The counter was hidden however with FFFFFF. The listing of services at the bottom of the page has been there for years. I am just curious as to why now there is a complaint?
hmm I really cant see google emailing you on that, if they were to email people cos of this then they would spend alot of cash on people to email websites
__________________ SEO Forum | Webmaster Forum
Help get your self Ranked high in the search engines.
hmm I really cant see google emailing you on that, if they were to email people cos of this then they would spend alot of cash on people to email websites
lol dont be a plum it wouldnt work how can they make a automated email on sites that might not follow rules, and also it isnt a spider that picks the hidden text up etc etc. lol
lol erm and did you not know that the spiders are not automated as well
__________________ SEO Forum | Webmaster Forum
Help get your self Ranked high in the search engines.
Plus, the contacting of webmasters is a new effort from them. At least they contacted you before doing anything. It would have been a lot worse if the site had been banned, and then you had to try to get reincluded. I mean, the whole issue here is crazy, and you should be allowed to hide a counter if you want, but still...
Mia its actually a good thing they emailed you, its proof that Google thinks you were in the unknown about hidden text and don’t see you as a potential spammer.
See Matt Cutts latest post on contacting webmasters about mistakes, it seems they have been doing this since mid 2005.
I would also think these emails are not automated - someone needs to make the decision if you should be contacted or not.
But slapping a ban for hiding a counter? Seems silly
Last edited by BingoBalls : 04-28-2006 at 05:52 PM.
Plus, the contacting of webmasters is a new effort from them. At least they contacted you before doing anything. It would have been a lot worse if the site had been banned, and then you had to try to get reincluded. I mean, the whole issue here is crazy, and you should be allowed to hide a counter if you want, but still...
I agree... I'm glad I was at least notified. It was an easy fix. I'm still curious as to what has brought this about though...
Light gray surely is hidden, specially containing target keywords for your site.
Also, I think you are lucky to get email from a bot, because if a person would have seen your text, would have surely classified it as spam and banned your site.
I suggest you remove that text ASAP. If it is a text for your clients, you have no reason to obscure it in your page footer, else Google is pretty resonable to ban you. Please don't mind me, but I did have a site banned for lot more less obvious reasons than you have with this issue.
Other suggestion I have is regarding your page layout: your offers surely look like adsense banners. Have you tried google analytics tool to see how many people that get on first page click on them?
lol dont be a plum it wouldnt work how can they make a automated email on sites that might not follow rules, and also it isnt a spider that picks the hidden text up etc etc. lol
lol erm and did you not know that the spiders are not automated as well
They can and may already have the process semi-automated.
I've just made it the most annoying red. I'm fairly certain someone from Google actually looked at the site. This was most certainly a human catch. My only concern has been why now... Why after all these years is it finally make an impact? Must be the traffic.
Other suggestion I have is regarding your page layout: your offers surely look like adsense banners. Have you tried google analytics tool to see how many people that get on first page click on them?
They are ShoeMoney Ads. I don't need analytics to track them. I track them both via my ShoeMoney Ad network interface, and via my own custom tracking script.
I've had a similar email for one of my sites. I was using a too light color for a text that was supported by a dark picture background. Visible for real visitors but invisible to the search engines. (didn't do it purposefully...a design mistake)
It was a non-commercial private blog site with 200 dynamic pages tho. To show my appreciation, i made all texts invisible #ffffff through css for 48 hours after sending them an email to check it back
