Sites Disappearing From Google - Coincidence?

13 replies
  • SEO
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Over the past week or so, I have had roughly 10 different sites disappear from the Google search results. Prior to last week, I have had a total of 2 sites disappear from the first page and they haven't come back in 10+ months.

Let me point out three things about these sites:
1. They are all still indexed
2. Most of them have different backlinking strategies
3. They were all in my Webmaster Tools and Analytics Accounts


Do you think it's possible that Google is somehow assuming my sites all do the same thing?

Anyone have a suggestion for what I can do to overcome this?
#coincidence #disappearing #google #sites
  • Profile picture of the author RichardF
    It's just impossible to figure out what Google is doing right now. I had ~10 sites come back from the dead about a week ago, but in turn lost a few sites that had been ranking steadily for quite some time. I just try to carry on as normal, building new sites and adding content and backlinks.

    That said, I don't like the idea of having all your sites in Analytics or WMT. It's just way too easy for them to use that info to tie them together and slap all of them at the same time. You'd be better off using another tracking solution - Piwik is my favorite, though it's self-hosted.
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  • Profile picture of the author noble
    We call it the "Google Dance" because of how common it is. It is even more common if your sites are relatively new (less than 3 months).

    Keep adding content, building links and I'm sure they'll rebound.
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  • Profile picture of the author BarryOnline
    I’m trying to build a clearer picture on this one too, there must be something that’s the same about all these peoples sites who have reported big a drop in rankings from around the 7th June.

    What I’d like to know from the people who have seen a big drop in the SERP is:

    Do your sites contain 100% unique content?

    Are there lots of adds on the home page, affiliate links, AdSense etc?

    Did you see a big change in the sites listed on the first page of Google or was it just your site that dropped?

    What site replaced your position?

    Was anyone ranking in Google UK hit by this yet?

    I don’t think this has hit the UK yet but I’m very worried about it. Hopefully I won’t get hit too hard.
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  • Profile picture of the author tanaris
    This is getting worse.. I'm familiar with Google dance and this is not it. This is not a coincidence of any kind because this is not the only post I read about the same complaint.
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  • Profile picture of the author BarryOnline
    Could be Panda 2.2 which is focused on "Improved Scraper Detection"

    Coming Soon: Google Panda Update 2.2
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  • Profile picture of the author Nail Yener
    About 9 months ago, one of my sites started to disappear from the search results just after a few weeks of staying on #1. In the first couple of months, it was disappearing and coming back like every two weeks or so and now for about three months it has gone forever. It is probably I stopped updating that site and building backlinks to it. After all it was a thin CPA site and once it started to dance, I really didn't want to invest my time on it to rescue because there was no guarantee on that. You would never know for certain what Google might do.

    I have some other sites as well which never experienced a Google dance and all of them are bigger sites with quality content and more natural backlink structure.

    Honestly, I now focus on quality content and will not build backlinks except for article submissions, bookmarks and genuine commenting on related blogs. because Google is continually devaluing artificial backlinks and giving importance to quality content. And I will never start a thin site again.
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  • Profile picture of the author Clyde
    I think they've gotten better at discounting low-quality links.

    This is what I see across my 2k+ sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hlatky
    This is definitely NOT the Google Dance.

    Something must definitely have happened last week reading about other people's misfortunes as well.

    The weird thing is that they all have a different backlinking method. One of my sites that has stayed in the rankings has only done link exchanges. I don't know if that is a coincidence or not.

    This might be the end to profile backlinking!
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    • Profile picture of the author Carl Brown
      Originally Posted by Mike Hlatky View Post

      This is definitely NOT the Google Dance.

      Something must definitely have happened last week reading about other people's misfortunes as well.

      The weird thing is that they all have a different backlinking method. One of my sites that has stayed in the rankings has only done link exchanges. I don't know if that is a coincidence or not.

      This might be the end to profile backlinking!
      As one who uses profile links, I would sill discount them if I were in Google's shoes because they are self-serving links. Same with blog comments. I'm sure Google's goal is to take back the value of natural links. Since virtually all search engine traffic comes from Google it would be wise to focus on quality content. It's what the searchers want, and it's Google's job to deliver quality sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nail Yener
      Originally Posted by Mike Hlatky View Post

      This might be the end to profile backlinking!
      I really hope that. I hope that such things will disappear soon and we will have a much cleaner internet and also by eliminating such tasks, we will have to focus on higher quality content, networking, adding value to the community etc. Good for all of us, marketers and consumers.

      Let's stop all types of spam and build the internet of the future together.
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      • Profile picture of the author BarryOnline
        Originally Posted by Nail Yener View Post

        Let's stop all types of spam and build the internet of the future together.
        I absolutely agree with stopping all the garbage spam that’s being produced.

        My guess is that Google does not count most forum profile links. Surly they must be able to tell the difference between a blog post & a forum profile page.

        Forums are built around common themes or plat forums so there must be parts of a forum profile page that are the same & Google can identify.

        Do people think Google does not know about all the spam producing software out there that’s used to create back links?

        I bet Google do & I bet they put lots of effort into discounting the links they produce.

        In mike's case it's not has back links that has caused his drop in rankings but more to do with his on page SEO.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Banks
        Originally Posted by Nail Yener View Post

        I really hope that. I hope that such things will disappear soon and we will have a much cleaner internet and also by eliminating such tasks, we will have to focus on higher quality content, networking, adding value to the community etc. Good for all of us, marketers and consumers.

        Let's stop all types of spam and build the internet of the future together.
        Maybe in the future there will be internet tiers, the low level public, and the higher level elite that you have to pay more to access but it is guaranteed spam free.
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  • Profile picture of the author marston007
    I would agree with everything I am hearing here. Google has been preparing to do these things for years, and it's been watching and learning tactics used by Internet Marketers everywhere. Unique content alone is not enough. Bounce rate seems to pull major weight. Google uses visitors going to sites to determine if your content is quality. If they see people leaving quickly and not clicking on stuff, then they frown on your site..
    I think Google is basically attacking web-sites it feels aren't true quality, and destroying anyone they are associated with... many good quality sites are being nuked my accident.
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