Potential Google Penalties

[socialbookmark]

A penalized web site is much less likely to show up in a SERP, and in some cases it may not appear at all.

• The Google sandbox effect
• The expired domain penalty
• Duplicate content penalty

1.The Google Sandbox Effect

Many search engine optimization experts hypothesize that there is a virtual “purgatory” that all newly launched sites must pass through in order to rank well in Google. In fact, many new sites seem to pass through this stage, and many find that the period is remarkably close to six months. Matt Cutts states in an interview with Barry Schwartz that there may be “things in the algorithm that may be perceivedas a sandbox that doesn’t apply to all industries” (Matt Cutts Confirms Sandbox Exists for Some Industries).
I believe that while Google may not explicitly have a “sandbox,” the effect itself is real. For this reason it is termed an “effect,” and not a “penalty.” It may be the collective side effect of several algorithms —not an explicit “sandbox algorithm.” Some sites seem to be exceptions to the rule, especially those that acquire links from several authority sites early on. A few links from CNN.com and other prominent web sites, for example, may exempt a web site from the sandbox effect.
Some hypothesize that Yahoo! has a similar algorithmic factor, but that it is less severe and pronounced.
Bing Search does not appear to have anything similar implemented.

2.The Expired Domain Penalty

Using a previously expired domain to launch a new web site used to evade this dreaded “sandbox effect.” This was likely because Google was unaware that the site was new. Google put a stop to this loophole a while ago, and now it seems to be quite the opposite situation at times.
An expired domain name may now be subject to a temporary penalty. This is important, because it implies an additional delay before a site begins to rank well. In some cases Google will even refuse to index the pages at all during that period, leaving a web site vulnerable to content theft.
It is also likely that Google devalues any links that are acquired before the re-registration of the domain.

3.Duplicate Content Penalty

Search engines attempt to avoid indexing multiple copies of the same content—duplicate content. Many search engine optimization experts hypothesize that not only does a search
engine not index such pages,but it also penalizes a site for having the duplicated content.
This is a subject of much debate, but in any case, having duplicate content will not improve the rankings of a site in any of the major search engines. Therefore, duplicate content should be avoided.

[Rozanne]

Thank you for posting such a fantastic article.

[Michael55555]

thanks good info...

duplicate content penalty can be an issue for sites running under creative commons license it seems. UG! :/

[Etienne]

Originally Posted by socialbookmark

Bing Search does not appear to have anything similar implemented.

The Bing sandbox effect is the time for the slow bots to wake and start indexing

[dburk]

This post seems to be stolen content plagiarized from the book Professional Search Engine Optimization with PHP published by Wrox in 2007 (see page 51).

Anytime you use someone else's words or ideas, you have to cite your sources. If you don't you are plagiarizing.

Oops, I Plagiarized

[thomasr]

Aggressive link building and purchasing links can also result in a penalty

[cbpayne]

The sandbox is a myth; there is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty.

[JasonB]

Originally Posted by socialbookmark

3.Duplicate Content Penalty

Search engines attempt to avoid indexing multiple copies of the same content—duplicate content. Many search engine optimization experts hypothesize that not only does a search
engine not index such pages,but it also penalizes a site for having the duplicated content.
This is a subject of much debate, but in any case, having duplicate content will not improve the rankings of a site in any of the major search engines. Therefore, duplicate content should be avoided.

As you stated above, that this is a subject of much debate and we won't get into it but I do want to say this....

Its only duplicate content when the same title, description, keywords, content or article is on your own site twice or more than once. However you want to look at it.

Why would google penalize my website for 2 other sites, not mine, having the same identical content I submitted my article to. No possible way in hell. They can't and won't.

So, when are you to be penalized for duplicate content? When your site has the same article as another site?

[Etienne]

From what I heard, you will get less credential for duplicate content, but you gain benefits by having duplicated articles on other websites linking back to your website. Overall, the backlinks have a bigger impact.

What you want to avoid is duplicate content within the same website which would split the SEO weight.