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SPAM Link attack - Sandboxed?

by Stevetyler72
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Ok, I'm not a complete believer of the sandbox as I always thought that Google wouldn't be silly enough to ban or sandbox websites that had bad INBOUND links, as the webmaster cannot control this. I could see them discounting them, but not actually penalising a website.

However, two of my websites have been ranking number 1 in Google and have suddenly dropped off the map (not in first 10+ pages). Checking my webmaster tools I see that they have both suddenly got 2000 spammy links from some random site called busythumbs.com

For some reason I cannot get onto this site (just get a blank screen) but I did not build these links and it does appear they have just blasted my website off of top spot on Google and has stopped my traffic completely!

Is there any way I can tell Google I don't want these links or disassociate myself from them in order to gain back my ranking?

Any help or suggestions?
#attack #link #sandboxed #spam
  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Mace
    The sandbox DOES exist. Google doesn't care about what's fair, they only care about the quality of their search results.

    A high authority site like Youtube or Facebook or Warrior Forum CANNOT be sandboxed. A brand new website without any credibility yet CAN be sandboxed. If Google mistakenly sandboxes a low authority website, it's really not that big a deal for their search results.

    The argument that google couldn't penalize you for inbound links is garbage. Google wants high authority sites to rise to the top. They could care less about Joe Bloe's blog on Fishing Tips.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Mace
    As for the solution.....

    There is 2 things you can do!

    1. Submit a support request to Google explaining that you didn't send low quality backlinks to your web page. They do investigate these situations if requested. Then they can manually lift the temporary penalty against your website.

    2. You can send High PR backlinks to your web site. This will essentially give your website an authority boost. And will make it more immune to backlink spam. It can also take you out of the sandbox.
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    • Profile picture of the author Stevetyler72
      Thanks co2. Yeah, I do totally get how Google don't give a damn, but didn't think it would be this easy to knock my site off that had a PR3 and is nearly 3 years old.

      I may well submit a request then to see if it does anything although the automated Google emails never seem to be promising to me.

      Do you think that I could "power out of this" by effectively now continuing to build thousands of backlinks as if it was a normal thing and not an anomaly?
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      • Profile picture of the author Brendan Mace
        Originally Posted by Stevetyler72 View Post

        Thanks co2. Yeah, I do totally get how Google don't give a damn, but didn't think it would be this easy to knock my site off that had a PR3 and is nearly 3 years old.

        I may well submit a request then to see if it does anything although the automated Google emails never seem to be promising to me.

        Do you think that I could "power out of this" by effectively now continuing to build thousands of backlinks as if it was a normal thing and not an anomaly?
        It really surprises me that your site is a PR 3 and nearly 3 years old. I've never had a PR3 site become sandboxed before. I would prefer to build authority backlinks. It may only be a temporary google dance. In my experience, higher PR webpages with domain age can withstand spammy backlink blasts. But sometimes they do a little google dance. Are you sure your site is sandboxed?
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  • Profile picture of the author webdevpro
    First try to create relevant backlinks to your site but with a slow pace. Once the authority backlinks will overpower the spammy links the chances are you site will be back with good SERPs. If this won't seems to work then you should try contacting the Google authorities.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Mace
    If I were in your situation I would build a few High PR links and just wait it out for a week. If I was still sandboxed after that time, I would notify google that some third party sent backlink spam to My website.
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