Forum Moderators: martinibuster
how can i tell if my site is penalized?
and if it is penalized, how do you get it unpenalized? contacting google?
if you remove what is objectionable, can you get unpenalized?
or just quit and start over?
thanks all
Some of them try to apply "cloaking" technology, where they try to act like a human visitor, adding delays between queries. Some of them can use multiple proxies - a different one for each query. Some even chose a random user agent for each query, Even though this seems like a pretty foolproof approach to me, it STILL VIOLATES THE TOS!
So again - use at your own risk! If you get caught by Google, you should be aware that there might be consequences.
Interestingly enough, there is a perfectly "legal" way to do it, and funny enough only WebCEO so far implemented it (as far as I have seen). You can regsiter with Google to get a Google API key. This key allows you to make 1000 automated requests per day. WebCEO can use YOUR OWN Google API key to make the requests: in consequence it's faster (because it can run at full speed instead of camouflaging as a slow human) and it is in accordance with the TOS.
But in the end, it's YOU who is responsible. If you decide to do it - so be it. If you decide to play by the rules - then this also is YOUR choice!
Just do not use your urls....or if you are worried if you have to use a comparison url, use your competitors:)
So I would say arelis can be a decent choice, depending on your market. It gets a little hairy when you are in extremely competitive markets and the results aren't that great.
I would suggest you use the good old fashion techniques of manual linking. Use customized personal emails and not some copy/paste that nobody is going to take seriously.
As for arelis' site PR. I may be wrong, but I think they have done some url restructuring and that could possibly be the reason. If you didn't already know, business.com lost its pr for a short time in the same reasoning.
If you go to arelis.com and click the arelis navigation, you will quickly see that they still have a PR6. What they have done is changed their navigation structure so it will take a small bit of time to transfer over the pr.
Want proof? check out the pricing url from the arelis tab. It will go from a PR6 page labeled pricing.html to a forwarded page of pricing-u.html
So I would not suggest running out to buy arelis because it can be done better manually. If you want to save some time and don't want to do it manually, it might be right for you
KG
You can regsiter with Google to get a Google API key. This key allows you to make 1000 automated requests per day.
Sadly I've come to conclusion that this API is more of a joke rather than useful thing.
You can't use that API for commercial purposes, plus 1000 requests per day is not exactly a lot. If Google has sensible license fee for more queries then it would probably be okay, but there is nothing on their site about it (because its just too small of a fish for them to bother or they really want people doing that kind of queries for SEO purposes).
How can you get penalised? You are just searching for link partners.
Yes, but big-G wants you to do it manually. Whether that's a valid reason or not, whether it makes sense or not - they have it in their TOS. Period. And ALL software of this kind I have seen so far violates that TOS. Period.
The rest is a moral discussion, where you need to weigh your stick-to-the-rules-attitude against your "criminal" energy", and an efficiency discussion where you need to weigh your gains (in time, quality and quantity) against possible losses (in being penalized).
You can't use that API for commercial purposes, plus 1000 requests per day is not exactly a lot.
Well, using the API for searching link partners is - when you get down to it - a commercial purpose. However I think that the TOS has room for interpretation here. I think that commercial use is more intended to prevent someone digging results and then selling them for example for a printed catalogue or a DVD-hardcopy of the web <grin>.
I have yet to do the test with WebCEO to see how far you get with 1000 queries. It might be too few for somebody working 8 hours a day with such a tool. But these hardcore-SEO'lers have better tools and strategies to get the job done. My understanding of Arelis, WebCEO and the others is that it is intended for small to medium sites - the typical "advanced Mom & Dad shop site" who do SEO whenever they have a spare 30mins. And for this purpose, 1000 queries a day seems sufficient to me. I assume it would work for me - yet I have to test it (when I find some spare 30mins... within the next decade or so...)
However I think that the TOS has room for interpretation here.
I don't think so, here is what they say:
"The Google Web APIs service is made available to you for your personal, non-commercial use only (at home or at work)."
Do they enforce it? Probably not as they already crippled service by only allowing 1000 queries per account, however to me it seems more of a honeypot than genuine desire to provide API to Google for reasonable money - I remember sending request for terms but received no response.
Do they enforce it?
I have yet to hear about a case where they did. And even if somebody claims they did, it might be to completely different reasons altogether (assuming someone who is power-using such software does other debateable things as well).
My personal opinion: they try to scare the timid enough so they either don't use or very cautiously, and the less timid enough to keep a low profile. Certainly worked on me... The bold can't be scared and I guess when they catch one who overdoes it, they might try to state an example... On the other hand, seeding a little scaryness is a smart approach too...
