Detecting a banned site

Is this a good method?

[Guillermo]

To check a banned site I enter the whole URL (starting with www) on Google's search box. Then I get ONLY the following message: "Sorry, no information is available for the URL www.mydomain.com". When the site is not banned then I get the following message too: "If the URL is valid, try visiting that web page by clicking on the following link: www.mydomain.com". Is this a good method?

[ariff44]

How old is your site?

[Guillermo]

We have several sites. Two major sites are 1 year old. I am sure that our sites have been banned because our webmaster had made any bad things (hidden links and crosslinking) to promote their own pages. Now we are cleaning our sites and I hope they can be reincluded anytime.

But I am asking about my method to detect banned sites. I think it is good and you neednīt install the toolbar. Could anybody confirm this with your own banned domain?

[ariff44]

to be honest, I am not sure....but if it is, then you have come upon something interesting

[korkus2000]

Lets just say if you getting that, your site is banned.

[Guillermo]

I know it, Korkus. I was wondering why the people here always is talking about the toolbar blank, grey or pink to detect a banned site if with this method you can check it in a second.

[HitProf]

Not true, you can also get this message if your site has simply fallen out of Google for some reason. Happened to one of my sites last month. No penalties and got back in with the last update.

[DaveN]

I agree with Korkus2000 he if you are getting that your banned.

Hitprof you may want to look at your site you could be in the edge of something that google tighten in there algo but slackened it off again..

DaveN

[tigger]

I don't think this is a true method I've a clients site that’s was offline for 2 weeks, as the hosting company decided to shut up shop, this is also showing "Sorry, no information is available for the URL".

I know the sites not banned it just missed the crawl

[Guillermo]

Itīs possible... My host changed the IP for these domains two weeks ago I think. Other domains with the same "spam" (hidden links) but without IP change havenīt been dropped (or banned).

[HitProf]

DaveN, thanks for warning but I'm sure it wasn't a ban. Probably timed out during crawl (very very small site with few incoming links, we're working on it).

[HenryUK]

Hmm. It seems to me that many respondents are not reading the original post carefully.

The distinction is drawn between "Sorry, there is no information...[etc.]" message, which will come up if there is no information for whatever reason, banned or not.

This is usually accompanied by an invitation to click on the URL if it is valid.

What Guillermo is saying is that where a site is banned, the invitation to click on a valid URL is ABSENT.

There may be something else at play, or some other explanation, but I have tested this with two sites. One is mine, is just a personal site for fun, has no links in and is not indexed. This returns the following message:

Sorry, no information is available for the URL www.mydomain.com

If the URL is valid, try visiting that web page by clicking on the following link: www.mydomain.com
Find web pages that contain the term "www.mydomain.com"

On the other hand, I know of a major site, a competitor as it happens, who has definitely been banned for a variety of offences. Searching for their URL brings up this message:

Sorry, no information is available for the URL www.theirbanneddomain.com

Find web pages that contain the term "www.theirbanneddomain.com"

Spot the difference. Unless Google change it this could become the definitive tool for answering the query "Has my site been banned?"

well done Guillermo - great spot.

[DaveN]

Has I said HenryUK if you are getting that you are banned.

DaveN

[trillianjedi]

I have tested this with half a dozen sites - 3 banned, 3 not, and it does seem to be accurate.

I've run out of banned sites that I know - but worth testing further.

Fantastic spot Guillermo - many thanks for sharing the info.

TJ

[Guillermo]

Thank you, HenryUK. You have explained it better. :) Yes, I think it is a good method. I am not sure 100% but all my tests have been positive.

[HitProf]

HitProf bows deep - I missed that bit of the info.

Great find Guillermo!

And thanks for pointing it out HenryUK.

I tested it with a banned and a new site and it works.

[trillianjedi]

Guillermo,

I thought your original explanation was crystal clear.

TJ

[korkus2000]

Just a note that it doesn't last forever. There is a time period when it returns to normal and the site is still banned.

[trillianjedi]

Do you know what that time period is?

TJ

[HenryUK]

And is the "return to normal" an indication that a ban is nearing its end?

I'd be interested to see an example of a site where this test does not work and which is still definitely banned. Sticky me any examples, anyone.

[madweb]

Just to add some more evidence...

I regularly paste URLs into the google search box because it then shows up the link on which you can right click and "save target as...." or "download with X download managaer". I do it when trawling through source code or other obscureisms where there is no link to click on or where bizzare javascript mousovers prevent normal usage.

I regularly do this on obscure files - images and such which aren't crawled by google - and always get a link to use (although often not the blurb about show me the cache etc)