Spam results in Google

Why doesn't Google remove spam pages from their SERP pages right away?

[Shari]

Hi all--

I have been frustrated by this in Google (and other search engines) for awhile, but it's the most frustrating in Google. I wonder how others handle this situation.

I see a lot of crappy web pages and sites in Google's search results, some of them which are clearly doorway pages or doorway domains. Granted, during the next major index update, the pages no longer rank well, but I'm stuck viewing these pages for 4 to 6 weeks. And it's hard to convince potential clients not to build doorway domains when they see these top search results in Google for an extended period of time.

From my understanding, that's how Google removes spam pages from their index. They change the algorithm so the page no longer appears at the top of the search results. But it really takes too long. Can't they just remove the offending pages and change the algorithm, too, at the same time?

I am probably missing something here. I figured this group could help out with some kind of explanation.

Just so you know, I found over 30 doorway domains, and Inktomi, Teoma, AltaVista, and LookSmart had them removed promptly. Google is the slow one.

And I like the Google Spam Police. They are quite entertaining. I just don't get it.

Thanks for your input.

[europeforvisitors]

Here's one guess: If pages that used spammy SEO techniques were removed manually, it would be harder for Google to tweak and test the "spam filters" in its algorithm.

[Brett_Tabke]

Hi Shari, welcome to the board.

Well, just because a page ranks high and looks like spam, does not necc mean it got all that ranking due to spammy aspects on the page. PR still trumps all.

Anytime I run into what would be a spammy page in other search engines, I check the back links. More often than not, the page has some pretty good in bound links that gave it the ranking.

Sidebar: I was just at a major computer manufactuers site and ran into what was to me a classic kw stuffed page. Checking the back links found 4 links from pr7 and 1 from a pr8 page. Obviously, the kw stuff didn't get it a ranking.

[steveb]

Follow GoogleGuy's repeated advice on this forum. Use the spam reporting form, [google.com...] , show the actual search where the spam shows up, detail why you see it as spam (this should be the easy part), say you read that GoogleGuy suggested you do this on Webmaster World.

If you have a good case the offending page/site can/will be manually penalized/removed.

[caine]

Following from steveb,

remember if your touching on any of the points in your own site, that you wish to pursue via the spam report with google, then you should be careful.

[Jakpot]

"remember if your touching on any of the points in your own site, that you wish to pursue via the spam report with google, then you should be careful."

After the Google update I did a spam report and I dropped from
#2 to #41 - no web page changes - no nothing.

Be careful - you never know who might be the owner or part owner of the site you are blowing the whistle on.