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Can Links To 1 Site Penalize OTHER sites on that Hosting Account?!

by Cool Hand Luke
9 replies
Here's my quick story, and my question:

I have a Hostgator hosting account with just 2 highly SEO-optimized sites on it.

Site A was at Google's page #1, position 5 for a VERY competitive keyword. It was being consistently backlinked to steadily and earned this ranking that way, and has been a MAJOR earner with adsense.

Site B was created recently; Site B is optimized for a sexual topic, although there is no nudity, pornography, or adult material AT ALL on the site; it is a purely informational site built with cloaked affiliate links to a dating guide.

I paid for a bunch of links to site B and I believe the backlinker I used may have used forums, links, etc which he also serves to backlink to more "adult" content. When this backlinking was completed, site B rose from position #19 to position #9, before eventually settling right back around position #15. I thought, "Whatever, it needs a bit more backlinking. Fine."

However, within 2 days of the backlinking to site B, site A dropped in rank from position 5 on page 1 to position 76 on the 7th page!

The ONLY reason I can fathom for this dramatic drop in rankings is that I have heard that Google penalizes "gambling and adult" links, and site B and Site A share a hosting account; they aren't linked in ANY other way.

So, my question: Does anyone know if it is possible for Google to penalize one site on a hosting account because of "questionable" links to another site on that account?

Has anyone seen this kind of thing happen? Any helpful ideas/suggestions appreciated, thanks Warriors.
#account #hosting #links #penalize #site #sites
  • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
    Bump? Anybody on the midnight crew?
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  • Profile picture of the author chumpschimps
    Is this a private IP or shared?

    I do believe Google doesn't like sites which come from bad neighbourhoods and, as you said, adult and gambling content/links are seen as undesirable.

    Do you use Google analytics? That would also link those 2 sites as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
      Originally Posted by chumpschimps View Post

      Is this a private IP or shared?

      I do believe Google doesn't like sites which come from bad neighbourhoods and, as you said, adult and gambling content/links are seen as undesirable.

      Do you use Google analytics? That would also link those 2 sites as well.
      Great questions chumpschimps..

      First off, the hosting is shared, thus I assume the IP is. Second, I do not have Google analytics on ANY site, because I know the negatives outweigh the positives.

      Thus, the only connection would be through the hosting.
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      • Profile picture of the author adamj2
        Yeah, there would be thousands of other people on hostgator also sharing that same IP address for their own website so would not think that would be the reason.

        Maybe somehow they have connected it the way the add-on domain acts like a subdomain for your primary domain. Even though Google is supposed to see these add-on domains as completely different sites in their own right.
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      • Profile picture of the author sanhal
        I found this in one blog article about penalization of sites by Google:

        "Another situation can be that your site resides on a server that also hosts adult content, and Google can theoretically ban you both."

        Sandy
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke View Post

    So, my question: Does anyone know if it is possible for Google to penalize one site on a hosting account because of "questionable" links to another site on that account?

    Has anyone seen this kind of thing happen? Any helpful ideas/suggestions appreciated, thanks Warriors.

    Anything is "possible" where Google is concerned... And since they will not show me their actual algorithms, all I can do is guess...

    I know that Google says they penalize bad neighborhoods... I believe that is true...

    Some people suggest bad neighborhoods are determined by IP address... I don't believe this part of the story...

    If someone sets up an adult website on business.yahoo.com, will Google penalize the other 39,229 domain names on one of their IP addresses? I think not...

    Most hosting company put hundreds or thousands of domains on a single IP address, in order to reduce costs and to balance their limited resources across the needs of several of their customers.

    If bad neighborhoods were distinguished by only IP address, we would all be at risk for bad neighborhood calls, unless we were on dedicated servers.


    I would be more inclined to attribute the movement to the Google Dance or other factors you are not considering.
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    Sandy. If written by Google staff, then maybe.

    SEO people are only guessing, based on past observations and a lot of assumption.

    If you have a hidden domain ownership, there is no way Google can make the determination as to relationship. If you have open ownership records, then you are telling them the relationship.


    p.s. I own an adult-dating website that sits on the same IP as my primary sites. None are banned or appear to be penalized by Google. If I have pages sitting at #1 in Google, I cannot be penalized, can I?
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    Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
    Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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    • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      Sandy. If written by Google staff, then maybe.

      SEO people are only guessing, based on past observations and a lot of assumption.

      If you have a hidden domain ownership, there is no way Google can make the determination as to relationship. If you have open ownership records, then you are telling them the relationship.


      p.s. I own an adult-dating website that sits on the same IP as my primary sites. None are banned or appear to be penalized by Google. If I have pages sitting at #1 in Google, I cannot be penalized, can I?
      Thank you very much for your insight Bill. The bolded part of your quote is exactly what I was wondering about...if anyone was in the same kind of situation and had experienced this kind of situation or NOT experienced it. As always, your comments are appreciated!

      Besides the shared hosting, there is ABSOLUTELY no connection. I even have some big disconnects between the two; Site A is one I purchased under my name(with WHOIS guard), whereas site B is one I purchased under my LLC(also with WHOIS guard). Completely different namecheap accounts, bank accounts, etc.

      Any other insight is appreciated, because I'm at a loss.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
    Well...Looks like a Google dance! It's already working it's way back up in the rankings so we'll see.

    Thanks for the suggestions guys!
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