Only pages linked from index are being picked up

pages not being picked up

[bhomis]

Hi,
I am new to this site, so I hope I am asking the right stuff.
Through my own trial and error, I noticed that Google was not picking up any of my page content that written in JavaScript. I had some good text (with useful keywords) that was in a JavaScript, and that text was ignored in Google's crawling. So, in the noscript tags, I added the text. Google then picked up all the text. I hope this does not count as hidden text. Everything was running cool for a while. Please know that my index is still on Google with a PR 5 ranking.
My site has a few hundred HTML pages on it, and I have a JavaScript menu to each of them on my index. To work around the JavaScript problem, I added a link to a site map on the bottom of the index. That initially worked very well. Every page was picked up and things were fine. This was around December.
Over the past month or so, Google is no longer going through the links on my site map page. It picks up the site map, and any other page that is linked from my index - and that's it! If I want to add a new page, I now must link to it from the index. And if I do link to something on the index, Google only picks up the first page of that particular site.
I have less than ten links on my index. All the pages that were initially picked up, but are no longer being crawled through, can still be found on Google. So, I don't know if I am being penalized for something, if Google's crawling methods have changed, or if I'm doing something wrong.
Any help or insight is appreciated.
Thank you
Bhomis

[bhomis]

Okay, fine. That much I understand.
But if my site was being penalized, wouldn't it be removed or have its PR lowered? Instead, it has gone up higher on Google's directory page, and Google still accepts links from the index. It just doesn't accept pages beyond the pages that are linked from my index.
If my index is a level 1 page (for example), and the pages linked from it are level 2 pages, pages that are linked from level 2 pages are not being picked up. These would be level 3 pages. This wasn't a problem about six weeks ago. Google was picking up my level 3, 4, & 5 pages. Google hasn't removed them either. They still have PR too.
What do I do from here?
Thank you for any suggestions.
Bhomis

[webdoctor]

If Google decide it's hidden text then it's hidden text. They are, after all, the internet police and, it seems, answerable to no one.

As people pointed out in your other thread, surely it's OK for Google to be the (only) ones who get to decide how Google should function. It would be pretty scary if that was not the case...

webdoctor

[khuntley]

bhomis,
I have read countless entries about new pages going back as far as Feb 15th and earlier currently not showing in the index. My 750 page site was published a little after that and I have currently two pages in the index with about 50 backlinks to the site. I would bet the rent money that this is the case with you also. Don't worry until the next update has completed. Then worry (just kidding). Actually it's probably nothing.

Although out of curiosity, do you mean that your new pages aren't appearing in the index or that you can tell from logs that they aren't being spidered? That may be informative.

Kevin

[bhomis]

Khuntley,
Thank you. If I decide to add a new page, I add a link to it on the site map (I keep the links on the map to less than 25). I'll do a search for the new page a week later and it doesn't appear. Even a month later - still nothing. When I update an older page that is linked through the site map, it still appears on Google, but Google won't cache it. It appears on Google as the older version.
It's annoying!
If you need more info, please just ask.
Thank you for your help,
Bhomis

[khuntley]

bhomis,

Yes, that's exactly what everyone is seeing. You are so not alone. Again, give it no thought until after the next update as of course there is nothing anyone can do. Only then will anyone know whether for sure exactly what the outcome is. Much guessing around here, but it is all speculation. Only one thing is concrete...there are a ton of people around here with pages three months or less old that are nowhere to be found in google. Too many to be a wide spread ban of some kind. That and other weirdness such as high PR sites greyed out. Don't take anything personally to think that there is a problem with your particular site; it is bigger than that and the problem is at google and not with us.

Kevin

[bhomis]

Kevin,
Thank you for the advice.
Quick question though - When is the next update?
Thanks again,
Bhomis

[khuntley]

bhomis,
People are guessing around mid-June...emphasis on "guessing" although it does make sense when everything is considered.
Kevin