SEO Link Monster is back??

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SEO Link Monster has just re-opened its doors and I got an email asking me to give it a shot today. The email says it solved the issues with Panda/Penguin. Anyone have any information on this yet?
#back #link #monster #seo
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    • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
      Originally Posted by dp40oz View Post

      What did they say they solved exactly?
      Here is the actual email they sent today:

      Subject:
      SEO Link Monster is OPEN - 21 hours left...


      We've kept the doors closed to this private link building system
      for a several months while we revamped the entire network, added
      new features and backlink analysis tools, put in additional quality
      control, added many more top sites to the network, and basically
      prepared it for users "post-Panda and Penguin".

      We opened the doors yesterday to this very same link network. But
      we're only opening it until tomorrow and only for those on THIS
      "wait list".


      With all of that said, behind the scenes we have been able to run
      experiment after experiment to fine tune our network and determine
      the best strategies for helping our members increase, maintain, and
      recover their rankings after Google's latest updates. The
      majority of our members have recovered or are seeing some great
      progress as they've continued to build links to their sites,
      following our recommended changes.

      So head over there right now and grab your seat. You have less
      than 21 hours remaining...

      Be in touch soon,

      Brad, Matt, and Dori

      Get access here for the next 21 hours:
      LINK WAS HERE.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

        Here is the actual email they sent today:

        Subject:
        SEO Link Monster is OPEN - 21 hours left...


        We've kept the doors closed to this private link building system
        for a several months while we revamped the entire network, added
        new features and backlink analysis tools, put in additional quality
        control, added many more top sites to the network, and basically
        prepared it for users "post-Panda and Penguin".

        We opened the doors yesterday to this very same link network. But
        we're only opening it until tomorrow and only for those on THIS
        "wait list".


        With all of that said, behind the scenes we have been able to run
        experiment after experiment to fine tune our network and determine
        the best strategies for helping our members increase, maintain, and
        recover their rankings after Google's latest updates. The
        majority of our members have recovered or are seeing some great
        progress as they've continued to build links to their sites,
        following our recommended changes.

        So head over there right now and grab your seat. You have less
        than 21 hours remaining...

        Be in touch soon,

        Brad, Matt, and Dori

        Get access here for the next 21 hours:
        LINK WAS HERE.

        That sounds a whole lot like, "We didn't change much of anything, but we will gladly take your money again."

        I would like to see some people posting about their recovered rankings like they claim in that message.
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  • Profile picture of the author retsek
    Don't bite people. Have you learnt nothing this past few months ?
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Hmmm....If anyone has any experience with SEO Link Monster, especially as of lately, please chime in..
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Just read this thread about their original launch. If after reading all of that, you still want to give them a try, it's your money to burn.

      http://www.warriorforum.com/internet...one-tried.html
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      • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        Just read this thread about their original launch. If after reading all of that, you still want to give them a try, it's your money to burn.
        Thanks for the link.

        I just read the entire thread, post for post. Seems to me that Google slapped a portion of their network, a few customers happened to have links on those networks, and Google slapped the customers as well.

        Scary stuff...

        I'll tell you what I'll do though:

        1) I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and take SEOLM on their word that they have taken serious steps and revamped their network, just like the email said. In other words, I'll be the guinea pig and give it a shot cus I'm bored and have nothing better to do...

        2) I'll post my results here. I'm thinking that if they in fact DIDN'T solve the recent de-indexing issues, that would mean they are falsely advertising their product, and using unethical business practices. In that case, they will surely lose their reputation on any future en devours, at least for those who read this thread.

        I signed up about 3 hours ago with 1 article with 3 links embedded. 1 or 2 homepage links with several variants of the target keyword, and the 3rd link with an inner page also with keyword variants.

        Within 2 hours, the stats chart updated telling me that 14 posts have successfully been made.

        One of the columns shows the age of the sites where the posts were made. Theres a range between 2006 and 2012

        There is a screenshot/thumbnail column where you're SUPPOSED to be able to view the website where the article has been posted instead of a direct URL (to conserve the integrity of their network of course). As of today, when you try to view the screenshot, a pop-up message displays "Feature coming soon..."

        Well, so far so good I guess. We'll see how quickly the posts get indexed and I'll keep a close eye on the SERPS

        But on a side note, does anyone know any information on whether SEO Link Vine sites also got de-indexed or what the status is on that end? I still use it every so often and my rankings are holding steady and actually slowly increasing...
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Oh yeah, and I'll be posting 1 article a day.
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  • Profile picture of the author VegasGreg
    I watched a webinar last week from SEOLM and they mentioned some of the sites are still deindexed, but that Google is still spidering them and therefore the links still count. (If my memory serves me correctly)

    They also explained about checking current links (and associated anchor text) and how to do it right.

    I'm not jumping in on this one, but the webinar was vary intriguing.
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    Greg Schueler - Wordpress Fanatic... Living The Offline Marketing Dream...

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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Everything the Callens put out is intriguing. But we'll see how my campaign goes. I will be doing all the right things and if it doesn't work, then SEO Link Monster just simply....doesn't work. I'm hoping it does work though.

    The amount of money they make, and the amount they spend on programs like these tells me they'll figure something out. And when Google slaps them in the future, they again figure something out. It's a vicious cycle. Quite funny actually.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    OK. So its been only a few hours since I submitted only 1 article to SEO Link Monster.

    So far, SEO Link Monster is showing 14 posts from my 1 article confirmed.

    Google has officially indexed 1 of those 14 posts in only a few hours.

    The post is on a PR 0 blog but has a few thousand indexed pages. Its a domain with an age of 2009.

    So far, quite honestly, I'm impressed! Its only been maybe 3 hours since I posted the article. Maybe 4 hours, I dunno, I'm retarded with time frames. The point is this...I posted 1 article, and 1 post so far has been indexed by google within a few hours.

    I will check again after the alcohol wears off and post the results.

    Oh and yes, I know the SERPS is what really matters. I'll be keeping a close eye on that too, but all of us SEO experts know that in most cases, SERPS increases can take time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dex88
      Thank you for sharing to us your results.

      I definitely would like to see how things turn out. I am sure a lot of people (including me) are doubtful about using this type of service again. Nonetheless, if it works... then that's something to be happy about.

      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      OK. So its been only a few hours since I submitted only 1 article to SEO Link Monster.

      So far, SEO Link Monster is showing 14 posts from my 1 article confirmed.

      Google has officially indexed 1 of those 14 posts in only a few hours.

      The post is on a PR 0 blog but has a few thousand indexed pages. Its a domain with an age of 2009.

      So far, quite honestly, I'm impressed! Its only been maybe 3 hours since I posted the article. Maybe 4 hours, I dunno, I'm retarded with time frames. The point is this...I posted 1 article, and 1 post so far has been indexed by google within a few hours.

      I will check again after the alcohol wears off and post the results.

      Oh and yes, I know the SERPS is what really matters. I'll be keeping a close eye on that too, but all of us SEO experts know that in most cases, SERPS increases can take time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt.Lake
    I think they're promoting SEO LM as a means of making up for link loss. In other words, a lot of people dropped in rankings simply due to a loss of links, so using a tool like this would replace those links and thus return your rankings to what they were.

    I think there's an element of truth to that based on what I've read.

    However, are the new links you create with SEO LM going to be just as crappy and result in a penalty when they inevitably get de-indexed too?

    Personally I'm not completely anti blog networks as they quite clearly still work, but I probably wouldn't use SEO Link Monster given the general reputation.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      Everything the Callens put out is intriguing.
      Intriguing? Here is what I found intriguing. When SEOLM first launched people were immediately reporting that 50-80% of the network was deindexed. Customer's inquiries and complaints went largely unanswered for weeks. And when a response was made that admitted most of the network was toasted, the doors were never shut. Knowing that the product was a complete joke, they still allowed people to continue to join, most likely in an effort to recoup whatever money they could.

      The Three Amigos here are the ONLY ones I have found anywhere that have made any kind of argument that there is a benefit to links off of sites that have been deindexed by Google. Either they are way ahead of the curve or are relying on there being enough ignorant IM'ers that will actually fall for that. I'm leaning towards the second option.

      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      The amount of money they make, and the amount they spend on programs like these tells me they'll figure something out. And when Google slaps them in the future, they again figure something out. It's a vicious cycle. Quite funny actually.
      I don't think that is funny at all as a business practice. Yeah, I'm sure they make a ton of money off of it, but what about their customers who are left with nothing but ruined websites?

      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      OK. So its been only a few hours since I submitted only 1 article to SEO Link Monster.

      So far, SEO Link Monster is showing 14 posts from my 1 article confirmed.

      Google has officially indexed 1 of those 14 posts in only a few hours.

      The post is on a PR 0 blog but has a few thousand indexed pages. Its a domain with an age of 2009.

      So far, quite honestly, I'm impressed!
      You are impressed?!?! You paid $147 for a link on a domain with a PR 0. The domain is probably going to get blasted to hell with posts too, sending that thing to page 10 pretty quick. That impressed you?

      Seriously, after the public blog massacre just a few months ago, why in the world would anyone take a risk on something like this? Especially at $147/month.

      It doesn't matter what changes they made to the network. Public networks are extremely easy to identify. All I need is one website that is using their network, and I could unravel damn near the whole thing in a few days.
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      • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        Intriguing? Here is what I found intriguing. When SEOLM first launched people were immediately reporting that 50-80% of the network was deindexed. Customer's inquiries and complaints went largely unanswered for weeks. And when a response was made that admitted most of the network was toasted, the doors were never shut. Knowing that the product was a complete joke, they still allowed people to continue to join, most likely in an effort to recoup whatever money they could.

        The Three Amigos here are the ONLY ones I have found anywhere that have made any kind of argument that there is a benefit to links off of sites that have been deindexed by Google. Either they are way ahead of the curve or are relying on there being enough ignorant IM'ers that will actually fall for that. I'm leaning towards the second option.



        I don't think that is funny at all as a business practice. Yeah, I'm sure they make a ton of money off of it, but what about their customers who are left with nothing but ruined websites?



        You are impressed?!?! You paid $147 for a link on a domain with a PR 0. The domain is probably going to get blasted to hell with posts too, sending that thing to page 10 pretty quick. That impressed you?

        Seriously, after the public blog massacre just a few months ago, why in the world would anyone take a risk on something like this? Especially at $147/month.

        It doesn't matter what changes they made to the network. Public networks are extremely easy to identify. All I need is one website that is using their network, and I could unravel damn near the whole thing in a few days.
        Seems like you're one of those who likes barking for the sake of barking..

        I am not promoting SEO Link Monster. I am looking for a legitimate link building service and came across them. Unlike some people, I like to experience things for myself and draw my own conclusions. You are in no position to demote or praise this service since you yourself have not tried the service. Therefore your statements are irrelevant.

        In any case, and this is the last time I respond to your invalid arguments, you miss the point of this thread. The point is, I am doing a case study on SEO Link Monster after they have said, "All is well". I am trying to determine whether or not their statements are true. After all, it's one thing to read some posts about other people's experiences, and it's another thing to make statements about a service you have never personally experienced yourself.

        And the "other people's experiences" I am referring to is the 4 page thread listed in the above post, where some people have had a very bad experience with SEOLM. If you notice, the complaints (which I'm sure have validity...because they did TRY the service), are coming from the same people with several posts from each person. Some of those complaints were explained away by SEOLM, as the users did not correctly post articles, abused the service in some way, or just simply SEOLM had an error. With that said, the issues that drew my attention the most was the fact that many sites in the network became de-indexed. In which they said they have removed and replaced those sites. If you use a little big of logic, and analyze the thread mentioned above, you'll find that the answer is still...unanswered. The question being...DOES SEO LINK MONSTER WORK?

        Fast forward a couple months...they close, revamp, reopen.

        I'm simply digging up the evidence of whether this service works or not. They said they've solved the issues. I will test and see if this is true. If it's true, that's great. If its not, I click a couple of buttons and get a refund. Never once have I seen SEOLM or any other their other products refuse to give refunds.

        So, did I waste $147? Absolutely not.

        Again, I am not defending them, I am simply laying out the facts how I see them.

        And in response to your comment about me being impressed:

        Yes. I'm impressed. And in case you didn't read the post and just shot words out...

        This is a monthly service of $147/mo. The keyword here is $147 a MONTH.

        Not a day, not a week, not an hour. A MONTH.

        I am impressed because only a few hours after I signed up, I had 1 post indexed by GOOGLE. I expect more indexed posts when I check the stats again after I'm done responding to your irrelevant posts.

        If they're posting 14 posts a day, and Google is indexing those posts, that means a ton of links over a MONTH. Remember...a MONTH costs $147, not a day, hour, or week.

        Let me explain again for those of you who need to read things more than once..

        I signed up. Submitted 1 article. The article was almost immediately posted onto 14 sites. A few hours later, Google indexed 1 of the 14 sites. For a so-called "dead", "joke of a site", "whatever else you can say", that is impressive to me. I have not checked since then but I will update the thread in a few minutes for a "12 hours later" update.

        Ok then, I would appreciate constructive criticism, but not blatant ignorant posts. I will now continue with my case study.
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  • Profile picture of the author rowanman28
    I don't know what's going on with Google, and I don't really care. I've been continuing my strategy of getting tens of thousands of social followers, and using all types of social media to get traffic, and I'm continuing to see a steady improvement in my traffic, while those focusing on SEO have found they can be here today and gone tomorrow.
    Signature
    Social Media Marketing Services
    Custom Facebook page design, Facebook Ads management, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, Google Plus, Instagram, social sharing, SEO, content production, video production, whatever you want.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by rowanman28 View Post

      I don't know what's going on with Google, and I don't really care. I've been continuing my strategy of getting tens of thousands of social followers, and using all types of social media to get traffic, and I'm continuing to see a steady improvement in my traffic, while those focusing on SEO have found they can be here today and gone tomorrow.
      That's great and all, but social media is not a viable solution for many niches out there. People are not going to Twitter to find their next dentist. They are not searching Facebook for legal advice or to find the right attorney to represent them.

      I could go on, but you have your own agenda, so whatever...

      Until real live people stop searching for products, solutions, answers, etc. in Google and other search engines, it is not wise for a business to just ignore search engines. Their competitors sure as hell aren't.
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      • Profile picture of the author retsek
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        I could go on, but you have your own agenda, so whatever...
        That's the problem with most SEO and marketing advice on this forum
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        • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
          Originally Posted by retsek View Post

          That's the problem with most SEO and marketing advice on this forum
          I agree. That poster is quick to knock people/things down but not quick to give good advice.

          Now I remember why I stayed away from forums for so long...its people like them who float around from post to post looking for a target who they can infect with their nonsense and negativity.
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          • Profile picture of the author retsek
            Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

            I agree. That poster is quick to knock people/things down but not quick to give good advice.

            Now I remember why I stayed away from forums for so long...its people like them who float around from post to post looking for a target who they can infect with their nonsense and negativity.

            errr.. you joined this month.
            For all we know you are IN FACT trying promote this network.
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            • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
              Originally Posted by retsek View Post

              errr.. you joined this month.
              For all we know you are IN FACT trying promote this network.
              Uh..ok..take a look at my sig. Click on it, go to my website, find my phone #, and call me.

              I'm not trying to promote them, and obviously you need to read things more then twice?

              Geez, can't do a simple case study without being bothered by forum rats..
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              • Profile picture of the author remodeler
                Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

                Uh..ok..take a look at my sig. Click on it, go to my website, find my phone #, and call me.

                I'm not trying to promote them, and obviously you need to read things more then twice?

                Geez, can't do a simple case study without being bothered by forum rats..
                Forum rats?

                Seems to me that some good people here are trying to throw some common sense out to help others not to lose their money to these lowlifes who want to YET again rip people off on a service that trashes out their websites.

                These 3 amigos have already shown the world what they are about...hint, it's not caring about their customers. The proof is out there. Now they are back again with the same BS. You can do all the case studies you want, but I would never give these guys a dime regardless of results. Even then, ANY positive results would be temporary at best until the next update.

                Has no one been paying attention to what has happened with these networks??? I know that everyone wants an easy solution to get to page 1. Just throw out some money to a service and watch the rankings move up. It just doesn't work that way. It takes work, patience, dedication, perseverance and time. Sadly, that means failure for 99% of everyone who wants to make money online.
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                • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
                  Originally Posted by remodeler View Post

                  Forum rats?

                  Seems to me that some good people here are trying to throw some common sense out to help others not to lose their money to these lowlifes who want to YET again rip people off on a service that trashes out their websites.

                  These 3 amigos have already shown the world what they are about...hint, it's not caring about their customers. The proof is out there. Now they are back again with the same BS. You can do all the case studies you want, but I would never give these guys a dime regardless of results. Even then, ANY positive results would be temporary at best until the next update.

                  Has no one been paying attention to what has happened with these networks??? I know that everyone wants an easy solution to get to page 1. Just throw out some money to a service and watch the rankings move up. It just doesn't work that way. It takes work, patience, dedication, perseverance and time. Sadly, that means failure for 99% of everyone who wants to make money online.
                  I respect your opinion. But I do need to say this - those people jumping into a thread, and needlessly criticizing a simple case study is not at all necessary.

                  The people can choose for themselves whether or not they will use "x" services. I am simply trying to provide an unbiased solution to the question with evidence and first hand experience. Not just what other people heard, or said.

                  In addition, most people will say exactly what you just pointed out.."ANY positive results would be temporary at best.." in regards to these link networks.

                  That may be your experience as well as many other people. I on the other hand have used link networks, specifically SEO Link Vine. And I can tell you first hand that I have gained in rankings across the board for many targeted keywords and I have steadily moved up, slowly, but still on the upwards direction. Ever since the Google slaps these link networks experienced, I have not at all lost any of my rankings and i'd say at least 80% of the links built are still indexed by Google. But I, like many other SEOs don't put all our eggs in one basket. We don't put all of our efforts into using link networks. Just like investing money, you must diversify your SEO efforts. I feel that link networks (if we can get one to work at least), is just an extra tool at our disposal in addition to what we all know whats best in SEO. But so far (knock on wood) I have not experienced any negative outcomes from link networks, specifically SEO Link Vine.

                  With that said, I would like to continue my case study on this particular link network because I feel that since SEO Link Monster is putting a significant effort into promoting their product, people in this forum, or people searching on Google will have questions in their minds in whether or not the service works. I am attempting to answer some of those related questions.
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                  • Profile picture of the author nik0
                    Banned
                    Yes please continue your case study Xspirit. Let's see how many more Pr0 links you can get at sites with a 1000 pages.

                    I'm immens impressed that's for sure, that a new network can give out such crappy links in only a few hours
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                    • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
                      Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                      Yes please continue your case study Xspirit. Let's see how many more Pr0 links you can get at sites with a 1000 pages.

                      I'm immens impressed that's for sure, that a new network can give out such crappy links in only a few hours
                      I will find out how many PR0 links i can get, for sure. I will also find out if I can get higher PR links too. If i can't get decent links, then obviously SEOLM is a dud. We will soon see.
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                  • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
                    Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

                    With that said, I would like to continue my case study on this particular link network because I feel that since SEO Link Monster is putting a significant effort into promoting their product, people in this forum, or people searching on Google will have questions in their minds in whether or not the service works. I am attempting to answer some of those related questions.
                    I will give you room to continue with your case study, but I would like to ask some questions here:

                    What is different about the network now?

                    One of the creators of the network (Dori Friend) recently did a case study where she analyzed various sites that were hit by penguin, and with regard to blog networks these were her conclusions:

                    Method #2: High Quality Blog Networks

                    This might be the most “black hat” solution, but it’s still affective. Recently ALN and BMR have proven that low quality networks which seemed to good to be true, are too good to be true.



                    It’s no longer enough to have private networks with small amounts of content, anchor text that is poorly placed within the context of the article, no (or very little) accountability in the area of content quality, and other gaping network-wide footprints and general low quality attributes.



                    A completely internalized niche blog network (which in reality is really a group of microsites) is as effective as it ever was and generally more selective than large public blog networks to ensure proper quality control and avoid footprints. More on that later!
                    Source: Penguin Analysis: SEO Isn't Dead, But You Need to Act Smarter | Microsite Masters


                    Taking her points into consideration: is the network anything close to comparable to what she states?


                    You can go around calling people names but we are giving you sound advice based on knowledge of the industry. Public Networks have a target on their back - ask any public blog network owner and they will tell you they are all shaking in their boots wondering when the rest of their network is going to get kicked out of the SERPs.


                    If placing your business at risk by utilizing a risky SEO technique is your idea of sound business practice then go ahead and do as you please. But I do agree with you that a case study is the only way you can truly judge if there have in fact made drastic changes to the network that will actually lower the risks to their users or if they have just waited for the dust to settle so that they can re-introduce the network and recoup their losses.


                    I will be watching this thread closely.
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                    • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
                      Originally Posted by IM Ash View Post

                      I will give you room to continue with your case study, but I would like to ask some questions here:

                      What is different about the network now?

                      One of the creators of the network (Dori Friend) recently did a case study where she analyzed various sites that were hit by penguin, and with regard to blog networks these were here conclusions:


                      Source: Penguin Analysis: SEO Isn't Dead, But You Need to Act Smarter | Microsite Masters


                      Taking her points into consideration: is the network anything close to comparable to what she states?


                      You can go around calling people names but we are giving you sound advice based on knowledge of the industry. Public Networks have a target on their back - ask any public blog network owner and they will tell you they are all shaking in their boots wondering when the rest of their network is going to get kicked out of the SERPs.


                      If placing your business at risk by utilizing a risky SEO technique is your idea of sound business practice then go ahead and do as you please. But I do agree with you that a case study is the only way you can truly judge if there have in fact made drastic changes to the network that will actually lower the risks to their users or if they have just waited for the dust to settle so that they can re-introduce the network and recoup their losses.


                      I will be watching this thread closely.
                      Dori helped develop SEO Link Monster as far as I understand. When watching the videos after sign up, they go into more detail about their network, and how they own all the sites, have full control of them, they're all quality sites, and so on and so on. I haven't used the network until yesterday so I don't know the quality of the sites they had before to compare with. So far it's not looking good, considering my post got indexed, and the next day its gone.. In addition, that post was on pr0 blog, but time will tell. I don't think I've given the service enough time to even attempt to redeem itself.

                      As far as I know, which is very little about specific changes they made, they've removed the de-indexed sites from their network, made changes to protect the network from tattle tales, and that's about all I know. They've pretty vague on the exact details. They say they have closed their doors for a couple of months while they revamp and make changes..

                      I would hope, that Dori and the rest did make significant changes to the system. Otherwise, they're scammers, liars, etc.

                      BTW, I do apologize for using the word "forum rat" in my previous posts. I'm trying to do something that benefits those who simply just want to know more and its frustrating to see people coming in and targeting me as if I built SEOLM lol. But I'm over it and will carry on.

                      I'm not risking my business by doing this. That would be incredibly foolish of me.

                      If in fact SEOLM are a bunch of thieves and liars, I'll be the first to throw the stone at them. I don't want anyone to think that I am bias in their favor, because I'm not. I don't even know these people. I just would like a cool little tool to help build some quality links.
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      • Profile picture of the author 1thSupernova
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        That's great and all, but social media is not a viable solution for many niches out there. People are not going to Twitter to find their next dentist. They are not searching Facebook for legal advice or to find the right attorney to represent them.

        I could go on, but you have your own agenda, so whatever...

        Until real live people stop searching for products, solutions, answers, etc. in Google and other search engines, it is not wise for a business to just ignore search engines. Their competitors sure as hell aren't.
        Do you know any alternative to them, could you suggest other companies pleas!
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
    People who even consider joining this network are either ignorant, dense or being paid to market this junk. Seriously, after the last debacle where the network was hit and the owners remained silent about what was happening while still accepting new members you will think people would have smartened up to the motives of these "gurus".

    People - wisen up please! $147/month... huh??? You can build your own network with 3 months subscription fees!
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    • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
      Originally Posted by IM Ash View Post

      People who even consider joining this network are either ignorant, dense or being paid to market this junk. Seriously, after the last debacle where the network was hit and the owners remained silent about what was happening while still accepting new members you will think people would have smartened up to the motives of these "gurus".

      People - wisen up please! $147/month... huh??? You can build your own network with 3 months subscription fees!
      I'm neither ignorant, dense, and definitely not being paid for this...

      Again, I'm simply doing a case study..
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Moving along..

    OK, so I checked the stats again - this is about 12-14 hours after I've signed up with the service..

    That 1 post that Google indexed seems to have been immediately de-indexed!

    Nothing else has been indexed by Google since the start of my sign up.

    Stats also show another 14 sites were posted to, so that brings the total up to 28 sites in less than 24 hours. None of which have been indexed.

    Again, the 1 that immediately got indexed last night seems to have been de-indexed at the time of this posting.

    It's almost time for me to post another article to their network, so I'll go dig for some decent content...

    I'll keep the thread posted with any changes.

    Oh yeah, and as for SERPS...

    Obviously, most of the time it takes a while for SERPS to significantly change...This may or may not be true in some cases but I figured I'd post the results anyways..

    Currently, I am in the top 5 for most of my targeted keywords.

    As of my first article posting yesterday, for the keywords targeted in the article..

    MOST of the keywords stayed the same.
    A couple of keywords moved down 1 spot
    A single keyword moved down 2 spots

    ---No.. I didn't target more than 3 keywords in a single article. Rather you spin your links within the article with different variants of targeted keywords/links. Therefore I have about 20-30 different versions of targeted keywords for each article.

    Regardless, not much change in SERPS in terms of anything out of the ordinary - which makes sense since no articles have been indexed yet.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    And BTW, i just went to their homepage and as promised, they closed the registration to new customers.

    So they really did mean "you have 21 hours to sign up".
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      I saw this message from SEOLM in regards to the recent de-indexing. Very interesting, let me know your thoughts...if you have any.
      LOL... you signed the NDA and you are now disclosing this on a public forum... you have just broken the agreement I suggest you delete that post!

      These guys actually sound sincere but the reasoning for making the changes that they have is based on conjecture. Networks are still getting deindexed as I speak. Just a week or so ago over 1000 blogs on a network was deindexed and this network went underground long ago. Google have publicly stated they have developed a tool that can detect blog networks.

      With regard to the themed sites: they haven't really mentioned whether or not they have broken parts of the network and sectioned them to specific categories like one section for finance, another for health, another for home etc. Or is adding categories to all the blogs their idea of a themed site?

      I personally do not know how a grammar checker is going to help determine the quality of a spin - that to me is just more hot air for people to soften to the network.

      The part of slow load times and 404 errors being the culprit is laughable IMO!

      The networks that have been hit recently have not seeing any correllation to IPs and SEO hosting.

      I really think this is one area where people have to admit that Google is one-up and much smarter then some of us would like to believe.

      My personal opinion is that the whole process involves one seed blog that is detected via some sort of tool. Thereafter the OBLs (just the root domains) on that blog are used to create a blueprint which is then compared to all wordpress blogs online. There is probably some sort of threshold like if there is a 50%+ match then the blog should be marked. Then a list of all marked blogs are manually checked, but again this is conjecture on my part.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    What post?
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    OK, time for my next update:

    It's been approximately just over 24 hours since I signed up with SEOLM.

    3 sites with 1 article each has been posted.

    There's 42 posts to blogs that have been made.

    0 of the 42 posts have been indexed.

    0 Changes in SERPS

    That was Day 1.
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    • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      What post?
      The invisible one that I replied too

      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      OK, time for my next update:

      It's been approximately just over 24 hours since I signed up with SEOLM.

      3 sites with 1 article each has been posted.

      There's 42 posts to blogs that have been made.

      0 of the 42 posts have been indexed.

      0 Changes in SERPS

      That was Day 1.
      0 indexing - that is bad! Do they have a PR breakdown of the blogs where your article is posted?

      And I was wondering whether one article gets posted to 5000 blogs or is there a limit to the number of blogs that one article is circulated too?

      Thanks!
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        xpirtdesign,

        I think you misunderstood my posts. I was not criticizing you or your case study. I was simply pointing out, for those who are new or never heard of the ****storm known as SEOLM, that people in the past had a LOT of problems with this network, and even if your experiment in using this network has some positive results, that is still just one example versus quite a few bad experiences. My criticism was toward SEOLM.

        Even if your study goes well, people should still be very cautious in using this network. In the past, people posted about having trouble getting refunds that were promised. The network, even after being virtually destroyed by Google, was still sold and marketed as strong as ever and gave unknowing customers no indication that there was anything wrong. While other networks, like BMR, showed general concern for their clients and immediately shut their doors, took down links when asked, refunded clients when appropriate, and quickly communicated with their customers, SEOLM was silent for weeks.

        Also, I saw the message you posted earlier that you know took down which outlined the "changes" they made to the network. That was an old message they posted months ago.

        I hope people realize that there are no changes a public network can make to keep it safe from being deindexed. They can have all the NDA's, hosting accounts, Wordpress themes, grammar checkers, and whatever other nonsense they want. All it takes is for 1 customer to post on a forum somewhere about using SEOLM on a site and either put the site in the post or have it in their signature. From there, Google can pull all the backlinks of that site and identify blog network sites. It's pretty easy. They are the ones with poorly spun articles, 1-3 links in every post, usually multiple posts a day, tons of different categories and unrelated topics, and they normally have a text header, no custom graphic header.

        Then, they take all the sites linked to from those network sites, pull their backlinks, and repeat the whole process. A little time consuming, but not difficult at all.
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      • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
        Originally Posted by IM Ash View Post

        The invisible one that I replied too



        0 indexing - that is bad! Do they have a PR breakdown of the blogs where your article is posted?

        And I was wondering whether one article gets posted to 5000 blogs or is there a limit to the number of blogs that one article is circulated too?

        Thanks!
        They dont display the pr but guarantee a good mix. Cant see if thats true yet but ill soon find out.

        Not sure how circulation works yet
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        • Profile picture of the author scottmacair
          SEO Link Monster was a complete disaster. Badly designed network that got totally slammed by Google's spam team just after it launched. You'd be mad to have anything to do with this network in my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Amazing, people still buy backlinks from public link networks.

    I don't pity anyone that doesn't learn from past mistakes.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    UPDATE after just over 2 days after signing up:

    We've detected that some of your site's pages may be using techniques that are outside Google's Webmaster Guidelines.
    Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank. Examples of unnatural linking could include buying links to pass PageRank or participating in link schemes.
    We encourage you to make changes to your site so that it meets our quality guidelines. Once you've made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google's search results.
    If you find unnatural links to your site that you are unable to control or remove, please provide the details in your reconsideration request.
    If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support.
    Sincerely,
    Google Search Quality Team






    And there we have it. SEO Link Monster is dead. Not only are they dead, but they were still advertising their services, making false claims, and hopefully this will hurt their reputation.

    I hope all of you will spread the news about the 3 "stooges" and really attack this issue.

    My case study is solid evidence that the owners of SEOLM and the service itself is as a business unethical in the highest meaning of the word unethical. They are scammers, liars, and cheaters.

    Do not ever do business with the Callens or Dori, or any product they promote in the future.

    Again, spread this out if you can. This is the answer to all the questions.
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    • Profile picture of the author retsek
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      UPDATE after just over 2 days after signing up:

      We've detected that some of your site's pages may be using techniques that are outside Google's Webmaster Guidelines.
      Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank. Examples of unnatural linking could include buying links to pass PageRank or participating in link schemes.
      We encourage you to make changes to your site so that it meets our quality guidelines. Once you've made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google's search results.
      If you find unnatural links to your site that you are unable to control or remove, please provide the details in your reconsideration request.
      If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support.
      Sincerely,
      Google Search Quality Team






      And there we have it. SEO Link Monster is dead. Not only are they dead, but they were still advertising their services, making false claims, and hopefully this will hurt their reputation.

      I hope all of you will spread the news about the 3 "stooges" and really attack this issue.

      My case study is solid evidence that the owners of SEOLM and the service itself is as a business unethical in the highest meaning of the word unethical. They are scammers, liars, and cheaters.

      Do not ever do business with the Callens or Dori, or any product they promote in the future.

      Again, spread this out if you can. This is the answer to all the questions.
      There you have it.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      UPDATE after just over 2 days after signing up:

      We've detected that some of your site's pages may be using techniques that are outside
      OMG that's insane fast. Did you also use other blog networks or is this purely caused by joining SLM?

      I would never trust any service from the Callen brothers but find it a little hard to imagine that Google can catch on that fast, guess they have a moll in there lol. And damn good this happened to the owners. But like they care, they just start something new under a different name
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    • Profile picture of the author QWE
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      UPDATE after just over 2 days after signing up:

      We've detected that some of your site's pages may be using techniques that are outside Google's Webmaster Guidelines.
      Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank. Examples of unnatural linking could include buying links to pass PageRank or participating in link schemes.
      We encourage you to make changes to your site so that it meets our quality guidelines. Once you've made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google's search results.
      If you find unnatural links to your site that you are unable to control or remove, please provide the details in your reconsideration request.
      If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support.
      Sincerely,
      Google Search Quality Team






      And there we have it. SEO Link Monster is dead. Not only are they dead, but they were still advertising their services, making false claims, and hopefully this will hurt their reputation.

      I hope all of you will spread the news about the 3 "stooges" and really attack this issue.

      My case study is solid evidence that the owners of SEOLM and the service itself is as a business unethical in the highest meaning of the word unethical. They are scammers, liars, and cheaters.

      Do not ever do business with the Callens or Dori, or any product they promote in the future.

      Again, spread this out if you can. This is the answer to all the questions.
      This is great to know.
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      • Profile picture of the author iangarstang
        Thanks for biting the bullet for us all... you just saved me $147
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Ash
    Thanks for this Xpirtdesign!

    The fact that none of your articles were indexed tells me either these scammers are still posting to deindexed domains or the domains are so weak that G doesn't even crawl them.

    Amazing how they opened this service up just to scam people even further. They probably thought to themselves: "We've lost some coin on this network let's open it again now that the dust has settled to get new subscribers to help recoup some of our losses".

    Well, at least you now know why we were trying to discourage you from using this network. I hope you didn't use a big money site for this test.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    I thought it was strange that during the first few hours of posting an article, Google at first indexed the article. Then the next day, it was completely gone from their index. That alarmed me but thought it could be a coincidence since it happened so quickly. But it turned out that Google is onto these blog networks and I honestly don't think this method of link building will ever recover.

    I was using SEO Link Vine in the past but have not used it in a long time for this particular site. In fact, a while a go I deleted many articles from the system in order to stop the distribution. I have a hard time thinking SEO Link Vine had anything to do with the recent Google slap.

    As soon as I submitted articles into SEO Link Monster, and those articles were distributed to about 84 sites, all spun articles (I manually spun the articles rather than using the autospin feature which is absolute trash IMO), just 3 days later, no sites are indexed, and a disheartening message from Google.

    As for SERPS rankings have dropped in some keywords - as time goes on, I will be keeping a close eye on my SERPS for this site to see if Google will tank the site.

    Now I'll probably start a new case study on ways to RECOVER from the Google Slap.

    For now, what really matters is that SEOLM does not work. And not only does it not work, but no matter how you well you write articles and how well you spin articles, signing up for SEOLM will get your site flagged by Google and you WILL LOSE your current SERPS, and that my friends, is a FACT.

    What's sad is that the Callens and Dori are still promoting the site. Both SEO Link Vine and SEO Link Monster are still online and taking money from subscribers. When confronted with the issue, they respond with "keep doing what you're doing" and that translates into "keep paying us for a service that not only doesn't work, but will get your site flagged, penalized, or even worse, banned". What they are doing is very unethical and the entire SEO community should shun them, and their future products.

    I hope this case study helps other people considering using any of their products.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    The problem with paid public link networks is, they are public, If I know about the network from public forums or searching Google then obviously Google can easily find the same networks (without much effort).

    A true private link network would still be successful, as long as they don't leave footprints.

    Just because a network owns all the sites in the backlink network doesn't make that network private, again, If I can find them (advertisements, etc...) so can Google.

    A real private link network will never be mentioned on this forum or any other forum & you won't find it searching Google for people selling links.

    The link networks aren't the problem, the problem is everyone knows about them.
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    • Profile picture of the author QWE
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      The problem with paid public link networks is, they are public, If I know about the network from public forums or searching Google then obviously Google can easily find the same networks (without much effort).

      A true private link network would still be successful, as long as they don't leave footprints.

      Just because a network owns all the sites in the backlink network doesn't make that network private, again, If I can find them (advertisements, etc...) so can Google.

      A real private link network will never be mentioned on this forum or any other forum & you won't find it searching Google for people selling links.

      The link networks aren't the problem, the problem is everyone knows about them.
      Here is a problem with any private network. It doesn't matter whether you make it public or not. Google is extremely good at detecting patterns. BMR was deranked because Google was able to trace its class C subnet. All you need is just one IP.

      In order to make any link building strategy work, you gotta leave no footprint behind. This is why black hat software or techniques do not work in the long run.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by QWE View Post

        Here is a problem with any private network. It doesn't matter whether you make it public or not. Google is extremely good at detecting patterns. BMR was deranked because Google was able to trace its class C subnet. All you need is just one IP.

        In order to make any link building strategy work, you gotta leave no footprint behind. This is why black hat software or techniques do not work in the long run.
        BMR was NOT a private network. Like Yukon said, it was very public. That was the problem. Not to mention that the structure of sites in any of these public networks is easy to identify.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Anyone have any suggestions or know of any good threads that can show me how to recover from this?
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      Anyone have any suggestions or know of any good threads that can show me how to recover from this?
      You can try having the links removed, but I think the way Google is treating these sites, and this is just my opinion, is they caught you red-handed doing something against their guidelines. Even if the links are removed, you were blatantly trying to game the algorithm. They have the majority of this blog network on their radar, and they know that anyone posting links there is trying to do the same thing. I think your site will probably be blacklisted for some time unless you can really, really improve upon its authority quickly.

      Of course, this opens the door to negative SEO, but that is another discussion.
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      • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        You can try having the links removed, but I think the way Google is treating these sites, and this is just my opinion, is they caught you red-handed doing something against their guidelines. Even if the links are removed, you were blatantly trying to game the algorithm. They have the majority of this blog network on their radar, and they know that anyone posting links there is trying to do the same thing. I think your site will probably be blacklisted for some time unless you can really, really improve upon its authority quickly.

        Of course, this opens the door to negative SEO, but that is another discussion.
        The site has many good quality backlinks and currently is an authority in the niche. In the top 10 for all related keywords for sure and has been for years. I wonder if Google will simply devalue the bad links or they will actually penalize the site altogether.

        But you do bring up a good point...

        Negative SEO, which is going to cause a huge problem for Google if they continue down their path..
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    • Profile picture of the author xxxJamesxxx
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      Anyone have any suggestions or know of any good threads that can show me how to recover from this?
      You didn't actually use one of your decent sites did you? A bit stupid if you did!

      James Scholes
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      • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
        Originally Posted by xxxJamesxxx View Post

        You didn't actually use one of your decent sites did you? A bit stupid if you did!

        James Scholes
        A site I had for a while that had established rankings, but not a money site.

        I wanted to use a somewhat of a decent site that had some age and content, and decent links for the test. However, a site that I was willing to let go of.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    You know what, a couple months ago this site in particular was hacked with some sort of malware that spammed emails and also created hundreds of thousands of non-relevant back links to the site.

    The site has been cleaned professionally since then, and its also been hardened with certain file permissions and such. But nevertheless there's still 150,000 + links showing in GWMT that are totally non-relevant to the site as a result of the malware.

    Now, I didn't think much of it then because my rankings were holding steady and traffic stayed the same, and I figured Google knew what was up with the site and decided not to penalize.

    On the other hand, I'm wondering if this has something to do with the recent "Unnatural" message. I did send a reconsideration request after the site was cleaned up, which is confusing.

    Let me know your thoughts or experiences with this?
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I think people use the negative SEO as a crutch too often. If the sites/pages are still indexed, build new quality links as If the page never had any links.

    Before I messed with the old pages, I would create a new test page on the same domain with quality backlinks, rank that page for an easy to rank keyword in Google SERPs, this way you'll see results quicker/easier.

    If the page ranks with no problems, repeat the quality links on the old pages.

    The only way to know what's going on is to get busy testing new pages/links.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    You know, I feel that is within my rights to disclose information sent to me by SEO Link Vine, especially since the information is highly questionable at best in that it conflicts with what Google implies as well as other advice displayed across the net in regards to the issue at hand. Therefore, here's the email that was sent to me in response to a ticket I submitted asking SEO Link Vine/Monster to remove any back links created during my subscription with their service as a result of the infamous "Notice of detected unnatural..." message in Google Webmaster Tools.

    The message is as follows:

    Hi, if you have recieved the "infamous Google Letter" that 700,000 other people did across the internet in just the last 30 days (though it started last summer), know you are in good company and Google is trying to do whatever they can to "scare people" into not doing any SEO to their sites. In our opinion and from experience, we think the best thing to do with this letter is delete it. If you answer it, you will most likely experience a large amount of audits on your website, as you have just admitted to trying to "build links".

    Responding to or changing your linking strategy actually appears to make things worse than better in this case. Our inclination is to think if you stop your link building, and your link juice goes dry, then it will be more apparent to Google, meaning that if you stop linking, then Google will consider it an "admission", and thus make it a basis for penalizing your site. The consensus will all of the SEO's that we know and have read from is to DO NOTHING, do not change anything that you were previously doing, otherwise it is like a self admission to your wrong doings. As long as Google is not sure that it is indeed you who is linking to your own sites, then they should not touch your site. If the opposite were true, then it would be VERY easy to take down our competition by building links to their sites.

    It has also come to the point where we suggest that you do NOT use Google Webmaster Toolkit or Google Analytics. It appears that many sites being affected tend to have one thing in common. They are in some way connected to the tools Google wants you so badly to use. We're not totally certain about this, but a lot of the data across the SEO world is highly suggesting this to be the case. From this point forward, until we can prove otherwise, this is our stance on this. For an alternative to Google Analytics, we suggest
    piwik dot org

    I hope this helps and clarifies the issue a bit for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author retsek
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      You know, I feel that is within my rights to disclose information sent to me by SEO Link Vine, especially since the information is highly questionable at best in that it conflicts with what Google implies as well as other advice displayed across the net in regards to the issue at hand. Therefore, here's the email that was sent to me in response to a ticket I submitted asking SEO Link Vine/Monster to remove any back links created during my subscription with their service as a result of the infamous "Notice of detected unnatural..." message in Google Webmaster Tools.

      The message is as follows:

      Hi, if you have recieved the "infamous Google Letter" that 700,000 other people did across the internet in just the last 30 days (though it started last summer), know you are in good company and Google is trying to do whatever they can to "scare people" into not doing any SEO to their sites. In our opinion and from experience, we think the best thing to do with this letter is delete it. If you answer it, you will most likely experience a large amount of audits on your website, as you have just admitted to trying to "build links".

      Responding to or changing your linking strategy actually appears to make things worse than better in this case. Our inclination is to think if you stop your link building, and your link juice goes dry, then it will be more apparent to Google, meaning that if you stop linking, then Google will consider it an "admission", and thus make it a basis for penalizing your site. The consensus will all of the SEO's that we know and have read from is to DO NOTHING, do not change anything that you were previously doing, otherwise it is like a self admission to your wrong doings. As long as Google is not sure that it is indeed you who is linking to your own sites, then they should not touch your site. If the opposite were true, then it would be VERY easy to take down our competition by building links to their sites.

      It has also come to the point where we suggest that you do NOT use Google Webmaster Toolkit or Google Analytics. It appears that many sites being affected tend to have one thing in common. They are in some way connected to the tools Google wants you so badly to use. We're not totally certain about this, but a lot of the data across the SEO world is highly suggesting this to be the case. From this point forward, until we can prove otherwise, this is our stance on this. For an alternative to Google Analytics, we suggest
      piwik dot org

      I hope this helps and clarifies the issue a bit for you.
      Here's facts:

      1. If you received an unnatural links message, your site has already been "audited". A human already analysed your site and its backlinks and determined that it should be manually penalised. Any penalty that appears through WMT is manual. They may have used automatic detection and flagging, but the final decision to send the notice is manual.

      Not responding to the message, will not do you any good. You are already caught.

      Deleting WMT won't do any good. Not having WMT on the site doesn't stop from gathering information or applying manual penalties. Deleting or not using WMT, just keeps YOU in the dark.

      2. Google isn't trying to scare anyone from doing SEO. They want to people to stop spamming and stop using overly manipulative tactics. That's what this service is.

      3. The rest of the message has already been debunked lots of times. Google does not use Analytics data except in aggregate. (That's what you agreed to when you signed up). ...and even then: They allow you disable all data sharing in your account.

      Less than 20% of all websites use GA and WMT, it's not a good source of data that can be used to rank or penalise sites. If that were true, then we can probably claim that google rewards sites with good metrics which they see through GA & WMT and we know that ain't true either.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      It has also come to the point where we suggest that you do NOT use Google Webmaster Toolkit or Google Analytics. It appears that many sites being affected tend to have one thing in common. They are in some way connected to the tools Google wants you so badly to use. We're not totally certain about this, but a lot of the data across the SEO world is highly suggesting this to be the case. From this point forward, until we can prove otherwise, this is our stance on this. For an alternative to Google Analytics, we suggest
      piwik dot org
      This is the kind of **** I find hilarious from people. Google knows where your links are coming from whether you use GWT or not. You are not providing them with any extra data about your links.
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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        This is the kind of **** I find hilarious from people. Google knows where your links are coming from whether you use GWT or not. You are not providing them with any extra data about your links.
        Agreed, that's the tin-foil hat conspiracy SEO method, lol.

        Also, most of the guys that believe that GA & GWT are setting them up, also run Adsense, that part is just hilarious. They won't run GA or GWT, but they will run Adsense all day long with no thought that Adsense is tracking every little move the site/pages make.

        Funny stuff.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Received another message from them:

    At SEOLinkVine, we do not own the websites in the network. They are owned by other people across the web. This is disclosed prior to purchase. There is no way for us to remove those articles once they are published to the network sites, since those sites are owned by other people and we only have "publishing" access to their sites. Once they're published, the only thing you could do is try to find the links that Google has indicated as "unnatural" (if this is the route you want to take), and then contact those website owners to remove the links.

    If this was a network of websites that we owned, then we certainly could remove those posts. But SEOLinkVine is a network of sites owned by others who want guest authors posting onto their blogs.

    If you are also a member of SEOLinkMonster and need those posts removed, then please go to (a link was here) and submit a ticket to the SEOLinkMonster department there. They should be able to do that for you no problem since that network is owned by Dori.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Agreed.

    So far though, it seems Google only discounted the offending links as I only dropped 1 spot in my first page rankings. I didn't built many links using this service at all, so if they only discount or devalue the links, I should only drop 1 spot if anything at all.

    Now the question is, will Google stop at a devaluation? Or, will they apply a nasty penalty in addition?

    Your thoughts?
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    • Profile picture of the author retsek
      Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

      Agreed.

      So far though, it seems Google only discounted the offending links as I only dropped 1 spot in my first page rankings. I didn't built many links using this service at all, so if they only discount or devalue the links, I should only drop 1 spot if anything at all.

      Now the question is, will Google stop at a devaluation? Or, will they apply a nasty penalty in addition?

      Your thoughts?
      I had three sites that used BMR extensively when it was around. All three received the notice.

      Site #1: Was an entertainment site, had about 8 to 12,000 uniques from search traffic per day. It had a forum, lots of likes and shares, was generally an authority on its subject. It received the notice, but never lost any positions.

      Sites #2 or #3, were getting around 800 uniques and 2000 uniques per day respectively. They both lost their rankings. Site #2 lost it right after receiving the notice, and Site #3 lost it 2 weeks after.

      I requested reconsideration for Site #3 since I was able remove all the BMR links and it had alot of good natural links. Reconsideration was approved and they replied with a "Manual Spam Action - Revoked" message. It took 3 weeks after approval before the rankings returned, but not at the same positions since I removed all the BMR links.

      Site #2 used BMR in addition to alot of spammy blog comments and article directories. I couldn't remove all that, so I moved the site to a new domain without a 301 redirect. It's now getting 200% more traffic since I added new content as well.

      Going on three months now since the notice and Site #1 hasn't moved. That indicates that the levels and types of penalties applied are varied.

      So my general advice is to:

      - Wait to see the effect on rankings
      - If you loose rank, remove bad links and file a RR
      - If you are unable to remove all the bad links, move your content to another domain. Don't waste your time (and Google's).
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      • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
        Originally Posted by retsek View Post

        I had three sites that used BMR extensively when it was around. All three received the notice.

        Site #1: Was an entertainment site, had about 8 to 12,000 uniques from search traffic per day. It had a forum, lots of likes and shares, was generally an authority on its subject. It received the notice, but never lost any positions.

        Sites #2 or #3, were getting around 800 uniques and 2000 uniques per day respectively. They both lost their rankings. Site #2 lost it right after receiving the notice, and Site #3 lost it 2 weeks after.

        I requested reconsideration for Site #3 since I was able remove all the BMR links and it had alot of good natural links. Reconsideration was approved and they replied with a "Manual Spam Action - Revoked" message. It took 3 weeks after approval before the rankings returned, but not at the same positions since I removed all the BMR links.

        Site #2 used BMR in addition to alot of spammy blog comments and article directories. I couldn't remove all that, so I moved the site to a new domain without a 301 redirect. It's now getting 200% more traffic since I added new content as well.

        Going on three months now since the notice and Site #1 hasn't moved. That indicates that the levels and types of penalties applied are varied.

        So my general advice is to:

        - Wait to see the effect on rankings
        - If you loose rank, remove bad links and file a RR
        - If you are unable to remove all the bad links, move your content to another domain. Don't waste your time (and Google's).
        I've already duplicated my site to a new domain and new server - the domain is 5 months old with initial content on it to avoid the godaddy splash page. I'm keeping the old site until I know for sure what the situation will be. So basically I have 2 of the same site with the same content. I've blocked search engines to the 2nd site until I change the content. Then i'll be ready to do some high quality SEO

        1) Did you change the content when you did the switch to a new domain?
        2) Were the keywords you were targeting on the new domain competitive?
        3) Did you deactivate the old site prior to launching the new one?
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        • Profile picture of the author retsek
          Originally Posted by xpirtdesign View Post

          1) Did you change the content when you did the switch to a new domain?
          Nope. Same content and also added new items.

          2) Were the keywords you were targeting on the new domain competitive?
          Yep.

          3) Did you deactivate the old site prior to launching the new one?
          I deleted the site completely. But to ensure quick removal you should probably leave the blank pages up with a "noindex,follow". If you outright block the googlebot with robots.txt, that actually delays the "de-indexing" of the site since it won't be able to see that you no longer want the pages indexed.

          You can also use the "remove content" feature in WMT if you want to deindex something fast.
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      • Profile picture of the author Trabalhodigital
        Originally Posted by retsek View Post

        I had three sites that used BMR extensively when it was around. All three received the notice.

        Site #1: Was an entertainment site, had about 8 to 12,000 uniques from search traffic per day. It had a forum, lots of likes and shares, was generally an authority on its subject. It received the notice, but never lost any positions.

        Sites #2 or #3, were getting around 800 uniques and 2000 uniques per day respectively. They both lost their rankings. Site #2 lost it right after receiving the notice, and Site #3 lost it 2 weeks after.

        I requested reconsideration for Site #3 since I was able remove all the BMR links and it had alot of good natural links. Reconsideration was approved and they replied with a "Manual Spam Action - Revoked" message. It took 3 weeks after approval before the rankings returned, but not at the same positions since I removed all the BMR links.

        Site #2 used BMR in addition to alot of spammy blog comments and article directories. I couldn't remove all that, so I moved the site to a new domain without a 301 redirect. It's now getting 200% more traffic since I added new content as well.

        Going on three months now since the notice and Site #1 hasn't moved. That indicates that the levels and types of penalties applied are varied.

        So my general advice is to:

        - Wait to see the effect on rankings
        - If you loose rank, remove bad links and file a RR
        - If you are unable to remove all the bad links, move your content to another domain. Don't waste your time (and Google's).
        Retsek, or any other "warrior"...
        In case someone received the unnatural links message from Google,
        Could not delete all bad links and Did it some , Sent the reconsideration to them,
        Received the "manual spam action revoked" message... from them.

        Tough, rankings still didnt come back ... ( after 8 long days )
        What to do then ?
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        • Profile picture of the author retsek
          Originally Posted by Trabalhodigital View Post

          What to do then ?
          If the penalty was revoked, you need to get fresh links.
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  • Profile picture of the author xpirtdesign
    Another email:

    May we please ask when you have received the Google Notice?

    With regards to the notice, Google have been sending out hundreds of thousands of link notices since earlier this year but according to Matt Cutts himself, the notice do not really have anything to do with bad link networks (link was here). In addition, we suggest that you do not reply to the notice as this would serve as an admission of guilt and removal of links could further lower down your rankings. Dori made a post regarding a case study of the Panda and Penguin updates plus a discussion of the Google notice that have been going around. I highly suggest that you read the post here: (link was here)

    Please let us know how you would prefer to proceed.
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