Unwanted useless code keeps appearing, and reappearing

4 replies
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Recently my site - http://LowCostMarketingStrategies.com - has experienced a big dip in traffic most likely related to the Google Penguin Update

I have not pinpointed the reason why I have been hit yet, but after careful consideration I realised that it could well be the useless html code that keeps appearing and making my word count double and triple.

One of the main things that Google has targeted in this new update is things such as hidden text and discrepancies between the html code and what the user sees on the page.

My worry is that this code below is making me look bad to the search engines, but I have never wanted there and can't work out how to get rid of it. Even when I start a brand new fresh page and check my html I get the following useless code:


<div><style>.adslot-overlay {position: absolute; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.65); border: 2px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.65); color: white !important; margin: 0; z-index: 2147483647; text-decoration: none; box-sizing: border-box; text-align: left;}.adslot-overlay-iframed {top: 0; left: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0;}.slotname {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; right: 0; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; padding: 3px 0 3px 6px; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.45); text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden;}.slotname span {text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-transform: capitalize;}.revenue {position: absolute; bottom: 0; left: 0; right: 0; font-size: 11px; padding: 3px 0 3px 6px; vertial-align: middle; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(0,0,0,0.45); font-weight: bold; text-overflow: ellipsis; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap;}.revenue .name {color: #ccc;}.revenue .horizontal .metric {display: inline-block; padding-right: 1.5em;}.revenue .horizontal .name {padding-right: 0.5em;}.revenue .vertical .metric {display: block; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;}.revenue .vertical .name, .revenue .vertical .value {display: block;}.revenue .square .metric, .revenue .button .metric {display: table-row;}.revenue .square .metric {line-height: 1.5em;}.revenue .square .name, .revenue .square .value, .revenue .button .value {display: table-cell;}.revenue .square .name {padding-right: 1.5em;}.revenue .button .name {display: block; margin-right: 0.5em; width: 1em; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: clip;}.revenue .button .name:first-letter {margin-right: 1.5em;}a.adslot-overlay:hover {border: 2px solid rgba(58,106,173,0.9);}a.adslot-overlay:hover .slotname {border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(81,132,210,0.9); background-color: rgba(58,106,173,0.9);}a.adslot-overlay:hover .revenue {border-top: 1px solid rgba(81,132,210,0.9); background-color: rgba(58,106,173,0.9);}div.adslot-overlay:hover {cursor: not-allowed; border: 2px solid rgba(64,64,64,0.9);}div.adslot-overlay:hover .slotname {border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(128,128,128,0.9); background-color: rgba(64,64,64,0.9);}div.adslot-overlay:hover .revenue {border-top: 1px solid rgba(128,128,128,0.9); background-color: rgba(64,64,64,0.9);}</style></div>

If anybody has any ideas as to why/how this is happening and how to get rid of it so that my code is clean - it would be massively appreciated.
#appearing #code #reappearing #unwanted #useless
  • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
    that's not useless code, that is CSS styling that is needed for ads plugin or whatever it is you're running on your site.


    the reason you may be losing traffic is it looks like that top ad is framing your site...

    so none of your pages SEO is sticking because the crawlers are just seeing that frame. That's what I think anyway.


    get rid of it and it should solve your problem or at least test it out and see if removing it makes a difference
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    • Profile picture of the author ScottDudley
      Thanks Karen I never thought of the top bar causing any problems. Mind you though, that bar has been there for about 6 months and it was only about a week ago that my Google traffic dried up.

      This must have something to do with the updated algorithym that has picked it up. I will definitely remove it and see what happens.

      Interesting about the CSS assessment as well. Would you recommend that I remove the ads plugin? The thing that I don't get is that if I write a 500 word article, this code (or something else) falsely says it about 800 words or more, which I was thinking was not good for the search engines.

      Thanks for helping me out
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      Scott Dudley is a direct response Copywriter from Perth, Australia, who also specializes in writing sales letters and emails for his clients. You can see samples of his portfolio at http://scottdudley.net/blog/portfolio/ or contact him on Skype by adding the username: Scott_Dudley

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  • Profile picture of the author Ed Brown
    according to my diagnostics there are no frames or flash anywhere on the site ... matter of fact, it's one of the greenest diagnostics I've seen lately although it is very javascript dependent. You have a PR 3 from google with 272 pages indexed.

    I would suggest converting to php which offers similarly dynamic bells and whistles but is much easier on the digestive tracks of search engine spiders.

    the code you're displaying doesn't appear in the page source of the link you provided so it's most likely not even noticed by crawlers ...

    I think you may just be feeling the effects of penguin ... and you aren't alone my friend.
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    • Profile picture of the author ScottDudley
      Thanks for your input Ed, much appreciated.

      Just one quick question. I am using a plugin called WP-Protect which prevents people from being able to highlight/select text/images to copy. It also disables the right mouse options.

      Could this possibly be why the page source does not appear, and if so should I remove the plugin? I love the fact that it protects my content, but not if it is going to cut off my traffic.
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      Scott Dudley is a direct response Copywriter from Perth, Australia, who also specializes in writing sales letters and emails for his clients. You can see samples of his portfolio at http://scottdudley.net/blog/portfolio/ or contact him on Skype by adding the username: Scott_Dudley

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