Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
In my case mycompanyname is a single word, which I invented. The only references to it online are links to my site. For the last couple years, when I search for mycompanyname, I was always #1, and then all the folks who link to me are refenced below.
Since Allegra, mycompanyname.com is not in the SERPs at all for a search on mycompanyname. I also don't appear in searches on directory.google.com, although you can SEE mycompanyname.com listed in the directory! What on earth!
Some facts:
- My PR recently went from 6 to 3 as of Allegra.
- for the last month I had a 301 redirect on / to route it to /cityname/
- if I search: mycompanyname site:mycompanyname.com I get a couple hundred hits, which is right
- if I search: allinurl:mycompanyname I see something really weird: first SERP is someone that links to me, 2nd SERP is blank (yes, blank - there's a 1 inch space!), then I get a couple more SERPs, then my /cityname page appears
Something is really weird here....
Comments anyone else?
"My PR recently went from 6 to 3 as of Allegra.
did you lose a lot of links, or it went down on "its own"? It could be a manual (very rare) demotion
[edited by: walkman at 9:42 pm (utc) on Feb. 8, 2005]
Re your question, my suspicion is yes, but how would I know?
Lets all hope this update is not over.
I'm pretty sure that it's over, or at least done enough to draw conclusions.
We need to focus on what this might be, so let's first figure out the common parameters.
My site dissappeared on Feb 2nd, had 9k pages or so indexed with 1700+ backlinks.
It now has 9k+ pages indexed with site, reports 1000 links or so with link: - but it doesn't rank for mycompanyname either, which it has been doing fine for over 1 year. In fact, Google didn't even have our brand name at all in the beginning. If you typed in the name it would say "did you mean.." Now if you type it in, it corrects you to the right version, however that's useless because my sites doesn't rank for ir. Alexa'a "Related Info" information page is the 1st thing listed - that's just wrong.
Always.
As to whether this is a permanent indication that Google quality is deteriorating, I highly doubt it. Stuff like this can kill a brand, and these are very smart engineers. I am keeping the faith that they will fix it before too long (one month?).
A couple of directory listings with redirected URLs:
e.g. www.example.com/visit.asp?URL=http://www.mydomain.com&RecordNo=99
Also, I have www.domain.com/ and www.domain.com/default.asp (homepage) listed.
Maybe something has been set up on the server incorrectly? They should look at the same file, default.asp
"Do you see redirects when you do an allinurl search"
Always.
I am also seeing movement on searches my unique name. Number 1 is now on multiple DCs that have made it out to google.com is a Japanese forum. When I see this site as number one I am also seeing a return of placement for a few keywords.
Whereas sometimes a site who only links to me was amazigly ranked ahead of me. Also, where a site who illegally copied a small part of my content ranked in front too.
Blame it on stupid programming by the SE's I guess to allow that to happen.
There are only about 6-7 outbound links on the site which to go to relevant "big company" site. I have never optimised it for SEs in any way, all the content is there to be of interest to the user.
I have sent all the information to Google but dont expect it to do any good. What have I done wrong, open to all suggestions.
So, essentially, it's adding insult to injury. Not only do you not show up in the SERPs for your own unique company name, but people also think you are stupid for not showing up. Great.
Has anyone figured anything out? I'm not hard core like some of you but I would love to know what happened and why my site (see my profile) has gone to Google Outer Siberia.
One thing I notice when I search on the company name (i.e. x.com minus the .com) is that there are a zillion sites linking to me. Most of them are search engine scraping spam sites and then there's one evil site www.excite.co.jp that stole our entire site.
My new theory is that it's the scumscrapers (is there an official name for these loathsome sites?) out there who have tanked my legitimate site - all those links to my site probably set off alarms at Google. But we had nothing to do with it.
If anybody wants to help me figure out what happened, the site that got (unjustly) detonated is in my profile. Thanks for any help.
Whoa - were any of the sites that your wife mentioned names that we would recognize?
I'm not going to do anything about it... unless I can prove it inflicted a revenue loss upon my company, in which case it will move off the web and into the courts.
If I find that scumscrapers are the sole reason that my ranking droped (and can prove it, almost impossible!), then that should be enough to constitute significant compensation - no?
I wrote as polite an email to google as I could, explaining how my customers
can no longer find my web site using my company’s name. Google was kind enough to reply
suggesting that if I want better ranking I should sing up for AdWords
Google was kind enough to reply suggesting that if I want better ranking I should sing up for AdWords
Ha ha ha - I hope you replied and told them where to go.
If a company were not even capable of matching companyname.com with a search for "companyname" (where it's a unique term), then can you really trust their abailties in matching your ads successfully - with your money in their hands?
No.
- my site (now #14 on its own unique name) is a great site for users with awesome content enjoyed by millions
- we've done absolutely nothing wrong in terms of optimization
- the engineers at Google are smart and can figure this out
- Google is motivated to fix problems like this - it has to maintain legitimacy in the market and not lose share to MSN and Yahoo
- I am wasting entirely too much time thinking about what I did wrong or can do to fix it, when in fact it likely has more to do with scumscrapers, hijackers and other external factors.
- The opportunity costs of even thinking about this issue far outweight any positive outcomes that come from thinking about it.
So, adios, my friends. I wish you all the best and hope your sites get back in -- if they deserve it!
To the folks at Google, never settle for mediocrity. Right now, it appears you've done that. I'm counting on you to prove that you can do better.
Cheers!
When I do the allinurl:mydomain.com
I am getting the page below showing up with a full desciption of my homepage, it is however now Supplemental.
site.com/modules.php?name=Web_ Links&l_op=visit&lid=1151
Is this a problem?
Starting to really like Yahoo.
[edited by: GodLikeLotus at 2:25 pm (utc) on Feb. 11, 2005]
This just gets weirder and weirder...
Exactly, If an engine can't find a uniquely named company website when searching by that unique name... it's broken. Especially if other engines have no problem finding it then it's not a webmaster issue at all and there is nothing to do or fix.
Joe Surfer is not the sharpest sometimes... I will agree to that. But he will eventually learn to go somewhere else to find what he is looking for... eventually. Unless everyone buys adwords for their own name... in which case Joe Surfer won't know the difference to start with. ;)
