have i been sand boxed?

Nope, it means you aren't doing enough optimizing, that's all.

thats very good to know, panic over thanks guys big help

Google dance happens all so often, most of the time after you have built massive links your site (typically new, less than 3 months old). My experience is that when my site is danced, I continue to build links - about the same amount - consistently, and my site came back in an even better position.

Don't just cease all your link building abruptly, by the way.

Not true. This is a myth.

I don't want to hijack the thread, especially to talk about an seo subject which is not the purpose of the main forum area.

I'll just say that it's only really IMers who don't have much experience of successful offline business that seem to think that when you launch a new business you're not going to get as much promotion (paid and free) as you can.

The idea that "if you get lots of links quickly it will look suspicious" is just wrong. The very first thing any business does when they open is promote the hell out of their business. These days most businesses have a website and the same goes for that.

The concept of getting lots of links only being what link spammers do is out of date.

I've done massive link campaigns for many offline businesses and never seen adverse effects. Sure if all you do is spam profile links etc. then you're asking for trouble but the idea that getting lots of links is bad just doesn't stand up. You think if Oprah mentioned your website you would suddenly get tons of links? or that Google cares about your website specifically?

Ironically, many of the people that say this stuff are selling link building services, or actually think of a lot of links as more than a few hundred.

I'm not selling anything or trying to tell you what to think or do - except test for yourself and don't believe sweeping generalisations made by people who offer no proof, especially when they're giving you a story that will restrict or limit the way you do business.

Andy