193 Sites Down, 22 To Go - Dagger to my heart

[netequity]

Hi Folks,
Maybe I'm looking for a shoulder to bawl on, an outlet to scream on, or some helpful suggestions...maybe all three.

I noticed my Adsense earnings plummeting this week. Didn't think too much about it until the third day started out really dead. So, I started checking things out. As I began to check one site and then another, I thought, this just can't be - but it was and is. 193 sites deindexed and 22 to go.

As I began to search for answers, I found where MC stated on 1/20 that G was going to start dealing with content farms and low original content sites. Well, mine disappeared on 1/21 and 1/22. Coincidental?

Here's the deal. I guess I'm a little OCD. I collect things. Used to be comics, coins, etc. Now it's domains.

My approach to sites, SEO, etc.? Here's what I've done over the last ten years. The first five I tried buying and selling names, never really building any sites to speak of. Finally decided 4 or 5 years ago to try my hand with Adsense and a little Amazon, etc.

I'm what you might call a newber goober. I read all the things to do and then go off in my own direction, led by my OCD.

So, here we go.....
I'm not on Facebook or Twitter.
I've never built any backlinks to my sites.
Certainly am not doing any BH stuff.
If I have any backlinks, somebody just decided to link to me.

I just buy some names, mostly put up WP sites, usually one Adsense ad, sometimes a sidebar ad, and a little affiliate stuff. Used to have Clickbank ads but decided a lot of those linked out to not the best sites, so took all those off.
I pull content via a Yahoo Answers plugin and a YouTube plugin.
On several sites I built categories for the content so the aggreagtion, I think, may actually provide some use to a visitor.

I keep a domain for its first year of registration and if it hasn't made the fee for another year, I drop it. A number of my names I have had registered for 10 years.

Also, I have my hosting split between 4 webhosts. HostGator was fantastic trying to work with me when some of my plugins would use too many resources on their shared hosting and they never made me but I finally opened the additional accounts other places to split the load.

If I go to Webmaster Tools, though I don't have all sites listed there, there are no warnings or messages of any kind (it was my understanding in early Jan. that MC said G was going to work with webmasters to resolve issues).

So, I'm lost. I wasn't getting rich with the low volume sites I have, making average $400 a month, about $225 of which was overhead, but for pretty much hands off, I wasn't unhappy, plus it had been gradually increasing over the last year.

Sorry for the extended ramble. I have submitted two sites for reconsideration, but not expecting much. Some explanation and assistance would have been greatly appreciated.
Even if they are reindexed, it will take a long time to submit all the others.

Comments and/or help appreciated.

[GeorgR.]

Care to give an example URl?

[scott g]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Care to give an example URl?

I'm sorry to hear that too man! That A LOT of sites and income! Never, never, ever put all your eggs in one basket... ESPECIALLY if that basket is Google!

I would like to see one of that sites that got de-indexed, if you would be ok with that... Not like Google can really do anything else to you

SH8TTY SH8T!

[netequity]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Care to give an example URl?

Sure thing.

Well, can't do a link without 15 posts. But one would be bluesmusicvideosDOTcom

[scott g]

Oh... Welcome to the Forums Too bad it wasn't on better terms

Very good looking site. Y! still has 690 pages indexed! That's a lot of content. Was the site ranking good with 164 backlinks?!

Actually that's interesting. You linked to the www and non-www domain. Y! has ONE page indexed w/o www and 690 w/ www. I would almost suggest changing the way your domain is displayed to one or the other... And doing a Site Reconsideration through Google Webmaster Tools... It can't hurt anything.

[netequity]

Thanks for the response and the welcome.
Actually, that's one of the ones I submitted for reconsideration. WebmasterTools still says over 3000 pages indexed. I guess the deindex hasn't hit there.

Site had no PR but if you were searching for blues music videos, it was #2.

Also sites like metalbuildingkitsDOTnet, buyproDOTorg, make-energyDOTnet

[paulgl]

As far as the blues music site...

You won't like my answer. That music video site is a sure TOS breaker
of youtube. And google states that you cannot break the TOS of any
of its programs.

You are lucky if it gets only de-indexed.

It breaks the TOS by being packed with nothing but youtube videos.
No content, and you rely on youtube. Can't do that if you have ads
on the site.

You agree not to use the Service for any of the following commercial uses unless you obtain YouTube's prior written approval:

the sale of advertising, sponsorships, or promotions on any page of an ad-enabled blog or website containing Content delivered via the Service, unless other material not obtained from YouTube appears on the same page and is of sufficient value to be the basis for such sales.

That site is ripe for getting banned from adsense as well.

Paul

[debra]

The url that you gave is not de-indexed by google cuz I just found you through google. So there's nothing to reconcider on googles part. You've just let your sites go staggnat and out of date.

It would help to update for version of wp from the 2.9.2 and create a sitemap to submit. Resubmit your rss feed and do some pinging...maybe import a newer and fresher ping list.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by debra

The url that you gave is not de-indexed by google cuz I just found you through google. So there's nothing to reconcider on googles part. You've just let your sites go staggnat and out of date.

It would help to update for version of wp from the 2.9.2 and create a sitemap to submit. Resubmit your rss feed and do some pinging...maybe import a newer and fresher ping list.

Thanks for the reply but G has a sitemap, it gets updated with every new post.
And I'm afraid it is out of the index. site: shows no pages indexed at all.

[netequity]

Thanks Paul, I guess I never read that close on the TOS. I do have other material at the top of the page, don't know if they would think it is sufficient or not.

[yukon]

If I had 193 sites down, I would hammer the $hit out of one of the sites with fresh backlinks, just to see If it bounced back.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by yukon

If I had 193 sites down, I would hammer the out of one of the sites with fresh backlinks, just to see If it bounced back.

Would that possibly work?

I thought once a site was out of the index a manual reconsideration was the only way to get it back in.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by netequity

Would that possibly work?

I thought once a site was out of the index a manual reconsideration was the only way to get it back in.

It couldn't make it worse, as of now the site doesn't exist in Google SERP.

Try one of the sites that you didn't request a re-submit for.

Pick one of the sites that is down now, that is hosted on the same account (hosting) for the 22 sites that are still listed in Google SERP.

Just test one site see what happens...

[netequity]

Originally Posted by yukon

It couldn't make it worse, as of now the site doesn't exist in Google SERP.

Try one of the sites that you didn't request a re-submit for.

Pick one of the sites that is down now, that is hosted on the same account (hosting) for the 22 sites that are still listed in Google SERP.

Just test one site see what happens...

Well, you're certainly right, it can't get any worse so I might as well make that effort and see what comes of it. Understand, I've never tried to do any backlinking on any site, just took whatever came, so it'll be a little strange.

BTW, looking further at my sites, I see that all the ones not removed have been created in the last 90 days or so. That leads me to believe that somebody happened to do a manual review of a site way back when, didn't like something, put everything I owned into the kill pill and it has just now done its thing while in the meantime the newer sites came in under the radar. Just my guess.

[debra]

I can still access your sites that you have listed through the google browser. Your not de-indexed. You may have lost your rank but that's all. You most likely show at the lower end of the 27M+ results whem searching for your previous keyword phrase.

If you were actually de-indexed nobody would be able to get to your site throught he google engine cuz you wouldn't be in any of thier data centers.

I would do what Yukon said...should bring you back up.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by debra

I can still access your sites that you have listed through the google browser. Your not de-indexed. You may have lost your rank but that's all. You most likely show at the lower end of the 27M+ results whem searching for your previous keyword phrase.

If you were actually de-indexed nobody would be able to get to your site throught he google engine cuz you wouldn't be in any of thier data centers.

I would do what Yukon said...should bring you back up.

Thanks for the response debra but the fact that you can put the url in and get to the site I'm afraid is not related to being removed from the index. As long as you have a domain, a webhost, and a site, you can get to it, no matter what Google does.

But, if you go to Google and search for the indexed pages by putting "site:yourdomainname" and it comes back with no results then you're dead. In this case, I'm dead.

The only way anybody can get to my site is to already know the name of the url and that would be precious few people. If they go to Google and search for blues music videos, again I'm dead.

[waterprism]

You can check here -- www.iwebtool.com/google_banned

Only gives you 10 checks for free w/o upgrading, but you'll know what to do about that. I checked one of your sites on it and it doesn't look good.

You work hard and are focused; you should turn both to ranking content-rich sites that you actively backlink. One good content site could make you what your entire portfolio does now.

[scott g]

Originally Posted by debra

The url that you gave is not de-indexed by google cuz I just found you through google. So there's nothing to reconcider on googles part. You've just let your sites go staggnat and out of date.

It would help to update for version of wp from the 2.9.2 and create a sitemap to submit. Resubmit your rss feed and do some pinging...maybe import a newer and fresher ping list.

That's weird.

site:bluesmusicvideos.com - Google Search

B/c Google does NOT have that site indexed (www or not).

A site reconsideration could possibly help your site if you're site drastically dropped in Google's SERPs. I know this from experience. If your site is de-indexed... It could possibly help just the same.

Unfortunately, Paulgl knocked this one out of the park... TOS TOS TOS. And now, Google won't second glance your URL. I'm actually shocked they didn't terminate your Adsense account... Yet.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by waterprism

You can check here --

Only gives you 10 checks for free w/o upgrading, but you'll know what to do about that. I checked one of your sites on it and it doesn't look good.

You work hard and are focused; you should turn both to ranking content-rich sites that you actively backlink. One good content site could make you what your entire portfolio does now.

Thanks for your response and the link. I had already undertaken the task of typing in all my names earlier today straight into Google which fed me the bad news that for some reason known only to somebody besides me, my sites were gone.

[debra]

Originally Posted by scott g

That's weird.

site:bluesmusicvideos.com - Google Search

B/c Google does NOT have that site indexed (www or not).

A site reconsideration could possibly help your site if you're site drastically dropped in Google's SERPs. I know this from experience. If your site is de-indexed... It could possibly help just the same.

Unfortunately, Paulgl knocked this one out of the park... TOS TOS TOS. And now, Google won't second glance your URL. I'm actually shocked they didn't terminate your Adsense account... Yet.

Really strange cuz the first time I saw that page was when I followed your link. I wonder if it has something to do with hitting different datacenters.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by scott g

That's weird.


B/c Google does NOT have that site indexed (www or not).

A site reconsideration could possibly help your site if you're site drastically dropped in Google's SERPs. I know this from experience. If your site is de-indexed... It could possibly help just the same.

Unfortunately, Paulgl knocked this one out of the park... TOS TOS TOS. And now, Google won't second glance your URL. I'm actually shocked they didn't terminate your Adsense account... Yet.

Well, at least if they even decide to look at it, they won't see any Adsense there as I turned it off. I have some content at the top as I mentioned to Paul, though I don't know that it would be enough. If it gets back on I'll probably flesh it out, though honestly music niches don't pay well anyway. Probably just as well off to call it a hobby site and move on and deal with the ones that actually bring home some dough. Thanks

[Chris Sweeney]

Man, I always hate seeing these things...people getting their sites deindexed, AdSense accounts banned, people losing their various streams of income, etc., and I'm always afraid something like this is going to happen to me, especially once I start making a ton of money. But still, I guess I shouldn't let the fear of striking out keep me from playing the game, right?

[Blazon1]

Interesting that your blues music site was pulled, but the #2 site for the search "blues music videos" is a site along the lines of your site, complete with adsense ads.

I have a video blog related to a fairly popular tourist area that has mostly YT videos as the content. Looks like I'll have to stop using their videos and start looking elsewhere for that content. In fact, I think I'll just yank adsense off the site and monetize in some other way. Screw Google.

[GeorgR.]

Can we please settle this, YES his site is de-indexed.
If site:XXXXXXX doesnt yield anything its de-indexed. We dont need to debate over 20 posts s about this in a SEO forum

As for your site: Aside from the little info pages you have..you cannot simply take content from YT and basically make a youtube clone on YOUR site...without any other content whatsoever.

It's like going to ezine articles and and throwing all articles related to a subject on my site...UNALTERED.

If it were so so easy i had even more sites than what i already have and would not need to write (or let write) one single article! Basically install a blog, some plugins..and then 1:1 copy-scraping and..."wow! look at my earnings!"

Sorry...no, its NOT that easy and its actually a good thing. Maybe you learned something from that disaster.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Can we please settle this, YES his site is de-indexed.
If site:XXXXXXX doesnt yield anything its de-indexed. We dont need to debate over 20 posts s about this in a SEO forum

As for your site: Aside from the little info pages you have..you cannot simply take content from YT and basically make a youtube clone on YOUR site...without any other content whatsoever.

It's like going to ezine articles and and throwing all articles related to a subject on my site...UNALTERED.

If it were so so easy i had even more sites than what i already have and would not need to write (or let write) one single article! Basically install a blog, some plugins..and then 1:1 copy-scraping and..."wow! look at my earnings!"

Sorry...no, its NOT that easy and its actually a good thing. Maybe you learned something from that disaster.

Maybe I did learn but it would still be nice to have more answers. As Blazon1 said my site has been replaced in the SERPS by another site that is 5 years old, PR3 and consists of only scraped material, a lot nicer no doubt, but still unoriginal in its overall content.

The real issue for me is not losing this site but 193 sites, when there are still millions out there just like mine. I can't seem to find a lot of discussion in forums that this was a mass hammer across the web so that means there was something very specific and unique about my death and I have no idea what it was, therefore I have nothing to use in addressing the issue with G.

About a month ago, I had several sites hacked on one of the webhosts. I had to reinstall all those sites from backups. I can't even question G if those pages were picked up by googlebot or not, leading to this as they wiped the slate clean when they deindexed everything.

So, I'm guilty as charged in the G court, it's just not clear what they're charging me with.

Thanks for your response.

[JackPowers]

Sorry to hear man, but you're basically running a network of autoblogs and Google decided to crack down on those.

If your blogs are all duplicate content, then it's very easy for Google to scope them out. I feel your pain, but take this as chance to do things right the next time around.

[Chris Sweeney]

And please keep us posted as to whether any of your sites resurface in big G.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by Chris Sweeney

And please keep us posted as to whether any of your sites resurface in big G.

Yep, will do on that. Thanks.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by JackPowers

Sorry to hear man, but you're basically running a network of autoblogs and Google decided to crack down on those.

If your blogs are all duplicate content, then it's very easy for Google to scope them out. I feel your pain, but take this as chance to do things right the next time around.

Thanks for your response.

I guess that's part of my not being able to completely wrap my head around all this.
"it's very easy for Google to scope them out". Agreed, so I would have thought the web would be abuzz with the sudden disappearance of millions of sites. Since it's easy to find, it's easy to ban.

Maybe I get to be the poster child!

[paulgl]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

It's like going to ezine articles and and throwing all articles related to a subject on my site...UNALTERED.

Back when I was a young buck, I bought a pre-made adsense ready site with
tons, and I mean tons, of articles from EZA, all unaltered. I thought I had
it made. Just ad the adsense code and watch the profits. The site never
got any PR no matter what I did. Never got de-indexed, but it stayed
at PR n/a for 2 years. The site was really for my wife and was cheap to
maintain. I deleted the whole thing, started a blog. In 4 months, which
was the next PR update, it had jumped to PR 4. I never looked back.

I think you can salvage the domains that have not been de-indexed,
and may even bring some of the others back. But I would pick a reasonable
number, like 25 or less.

Paul

[Defunct]

Sounds like you used the plug ins from Auto Cash Content, maybe that worked a few years ago, but you know your content is useless and so is your site.

You would have made more money from one good site with useful content than all 190 of your auto blogs together.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by Defunct

Sounds like you used the plug ins from Auto Cash Content, maybe that worked a few years ago, but you know your content is useless and so is your site.

You would have made more money from one good site with useful content than all 190 of your auto blogs together.

Sorry, never heard of Auto Cash Content but thanks for your comment.

[Diane S]

Getting deindexed is just the worst feeling. The first time it happened to me I had no idea it could even happen. It was like getting kicked out of school and never being told why by the principal. Ugh!

I did not try to get my site reconsidered. Even though I had put a fair amount of time into it, it was just one of thousands to get deindexed that week by Google. All sites had one thing in common. All sites had been using the same script on dot infos. It was 2008 and Google deindexed thousands of BANS sites on dot infos in one fell swoop. Tons of people lost major portions of their income overnight. The BANS sites on dot coms did not get deindexed - at that time.

You just never know with Google. One thing I took away from that experience is that Google really does not like a commercial site to be on a dot info. But I have never had a problem with a site showing adsense - and adsense is the only monetization - on a dot info.

These things can only be learned through trial and error and by sharing info like this in forums.

Really sorry this happened to you.

[Kay King]

The bigger question for me is why you would bother with 193 sites if you wer only earning less than $200 from them. Are those numbers right?

I'd go through and choose the 50 sites with the highest traffic numbers - and I'd totally rebuild those sites and put some REAL information on them. Take them down - rebuild - put them up and SEO them.

I'd start with the 5 oldest domain names (or the 5 highest traffic count) and build real sites on those domains and to if I could create viable sites. It doesn't matter what other people's sites look like or whether google is allowing them in the index or not. Your sites are de-indexed so that is where you have to start.

Thin sites - scraped content - and google has been de-indexing sites like this for months. One reason people are told to "keep building" autoblogs is because those sites are often removed by big G.

kay

[netequity]

Originally Posted by Diane S

???????????? It is indeed not indexed in Google. To find out if a site is indexed in Google, you go to Google, and type in this in the Google search bar:

site:yourdomain dot com

When I did that for the OP's bluesmusicvideos site I got the standard deindexed message:

Your search - site:bluesmusicvideos.com - did not match any documents.

The site IS deindexed.

I am so sorry this has happened to the OP.

So is the OP!! Verrry sorry! 193 times. Thanks for your comment.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by Kay King

The bigger question for me is why you would bother with 193 sites if you wer only earning less than $200 from them. Are those numbers right?

I'd go through and choose the 50 sites with the highest traffic numbers - and I'd totally rebuild those sites and put some REAL information on them. Take them down - rebuild - put them up and SEO them.

I'd start with the 5 oldest domain names (or the 5 highest traffic count) and build real sites on those domains and to if I could create viable sites. It doesn't matter what other people's sites look like or whether google is allowing them in the index or not. Your sites are de-indexed so that is where you have to start.

Thin sites - scraped content - and google has been de-indexing sites like this for months. One reason people are told to "keep building" autoblogs is because those sites are often removed by big G.

kay

You're beginning to make me feel a bit embarrassed! Yes, indeed I was making an average of $400 a month gross, around $200 net after renewals and hosting. Really only a handful of sites were providing the bulk and a number weren't making reg fees so they would be dropped and replaced.

I've got a number of 10 year old domains, some of which didn't even have any content so I can start with those.

I'm retired with three grandkids to help with, so the idea of putting in an hour or so on a site and then walking away from it appealed to me perhaps more than the average person as it didn't require the ongoing maintenance of a real content site, provided a little regular income without a substantial time commitment.

Thanks for your comment.

[Kay King]

I'm retired with three grandkids to help with, so the idea of putting in an hour or so on a site and then walking away from it appealed to me perhaps more than the average person as it didn't require the ongoing maintenance of a real content site, provided a little regular income without a substantial time commitment.

Let me give you another way to look at this. I have grandchildren, too, so I know what you are saying - but I think you are wrong.

If the sites you build are just scraped content and basically worthless to those who visit the sites - you will have to keep replacing them forever.

BUT -

-if you take aged domains and

-you spend a day building a site with ten pages of good quality, interesting, unique content (you write it or hire it written) and then

-You SEO a bit with some articles submitted, backlinks, etc....

-Over the next three months you add a couple new pages a week to the site and some affiliate links here and there to get the site well positioned in rank

-With adsense on it - and good niches - you have an ONGOING source of income. After the first three months you can add 1-2 pages a month or even every other month and keep earning from that site.

Yes, it requires some time and effort up front (I use mainly html sites because once they are done, they are done) and a little effort for the first few months. Instead of slapping up 10 one-hour sites - put up one site you spend 10 hours on and you'll be in profit quickly. That one site can earn more...longer...than all of your quickie sites put together.

If you do that for a year or two - you have ongoing income with little time and effort required after that. You'll have a decent income from the sites and pride in creating something real and useful to those visiting your sites.

Do the work up front on a site - and you won't have to keep replacing the sites or worry about de-indexing. Think about it. It works.

kay

[netequity]

Originally Posted by Kay King

Let me give you another way to look at this. I have grandchildren, too, so I know what you are saying - but I think you are wrong.

If the sites you build are just scraped content and basically worthless to those who visit the sites - you will have to keep replacing them forever.

BUT -

-if you take aged domains and

-you spend a day building a site with ten pages of good quality, interesting, unique content (you write it or hire it written) and then

-You SEO a bit with some articles submitted, backlinks, etc....

-Over the next three months you add a couple new pages a week to the site and some affiliate links here and there to get the site well positioned in rank

-With adsense on it - and good niches - you have an ONGOING source of income. After the first three months you can add 1-2 pages a month or even every other month and keep earning from that site.

Yes, it requires some time and effort up front (I use mainly html sites because once they are done, they are done) and a little effort for the first few months. Instead of slapping up 10 one-hour sites - put up one site you spend 10 hours on and you'll be in profit quickly. That one site can earn more...longer...than all of your quickie sites put together.

If you do that for a year or two - you have ongoing income with little time and effort required after that. You'll have a decent income from the sites and pride in creating something real and useful to those visiting your sites.

Do the work up front on a site - and you won't have to keep replacing the sites or worry about de-indexing. Think about it. It works.

kay

Pretty hard to argue with your logic. I'll give it a go and see if we can't get this ship turned around.

Thanks for your input.

[netequity]

Originally Posted by Diane S

Getting deindexed is just the worst feeling. The first time it happened to me I had no idea it could even happen. It was like getting kicked out of school and never being told why by the principal. Ugh!

I did not try to get my site reconsidered. Even though I had put a fair amount of time into it, it was just one of thousands to get deindexed that week by Google. All sites had one thing in common. All sites had been using the same script on dot infos. It was 2008 and Google deindexed thousands of BANS sites on dot infos in one fell swoop. Tons of people lost major portions of their income overnight. The BANS sites on dot coms did not get deindexed - at that time.

You just never know with Google. One thing I took away from that experience is that Google really does not like a commercial site to be on a dot info. But I have never had a problem with a site showing adsense - and adsense is the only monetization - on a dot info.

These things can only be learned through trial and error and by sharing info like this in forums.

Really sorry this happened to you.

Looks like you and I have been down some of the same roads. Yes, I was right in the middle of BANS also and was doing pretty well as an eBay affiliate. In fact, after G killed my BANS sites, eBay later cancelled my affiliate account with no real explanation and most of the sites that G had not deindexed I then removed eBay from and put Adsense on.

I was happy to see I was well on the way to overcoming the income loss from eBay, until now...

Thanks for your response.

[Condorr]

Since you know which sites and niches were profitable, I would advise you to just buy a new domain and start over with new accounts. This time try to place your user's experience first.