1script - 4:04 pm on Dec 19, 2007 (gmt 0)

@potentialgeek:

Having such site live while the main site is doing OK is a recipe for disaster - think dupe content. However, after the main site is hit, it looks to be handy to be able to put up a site that can be 301-ed into so you can salvage some links and maybe get some of Google traffic back that way. Of course, it's not going to help you much if you spent years promoting the name of the original site because by 301-ing it into something else you basically negate all your past promotion efforts.

Bottom line: even though you may be able to salvage some traffic, having this penalty sucks immeasurably and makes most sites non-profitable (whatever the source of revenue) to the point that it makes most sense to simply abandon them.

More to the point: I heard it said many times here that you should not build your site around Google's traffic. I think that's just wishful thinking. Google is such a dominant monopoly these days that you simply cannot build ANY viable business on the Net without them in mind. I honestly think that they've gotten to the point that they should be broken down much in a way AT&T was back in 1984. Look at what that divestiture done to the telecom industry, in fact even advancing the Internet itself as a byproduct of the huge growth that resulted from AT&T break-down and increased competition. Internet now is like telecommunications in 1983 - there is no competition except in small niche areas.