Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
Can anyone speculate as to why an SEO company was banned from Google?
[webmasterworld.com...]
> banned
This is kinda moldy news..
Google has 2 red herring NO NO's in the seo world:
1- Claiming you can get client rankings and specifically mentioning Google (eg: if you claim you can manipulate search results on Google - you are toast!).
2- Magically getting 10's of thousands of backlinks in a few months.
Which one did the Inc boys break? Who knows... Pick a card...any card.
I do know that if you break rule 1, it is not a time frame ban, but a manual "beg and plea from your knees to get back in" ban. It is the one golden rule of google and seo firms.
SI made up for it, by bringing the booth babes to AdTech last week ;-)
Any seo firm worth it's salt, won't put all it's eggs in one basket. I'm pretty sure the seoInc boys will survive and be back. On the other hand, they broke the pro seo'ers survival guide rule #1: stay off the radar!
I sure look forward to seeing them at the next show too ;-)
Their business model is extremely well developed and they have very aggressive sales people and many business building channels active or in the works...
They have built out an excellent internal system for doing all the SEO stuff...
They simply violated Google's terms and Google finally caught up with them...possibly devalued their link structure...
Google shows 33,000 inbounds
Yahoo shows 12,000,000 inbounds...this means that the links themselves will drive huge volumes of leads their way....
I don't think it will affect their ability to generate business...they just won't be able to show their own sites listings in Google any more...they can simply show the "excellent" listings of one or more of their clients sites...
No I don't think they failed at a listing - they were quite good at that. They were listed fine for a couple years. What they failed at, was something more difficult to succeed at - a business relationship with Google that could weather some storms. There is a major difference between the following:
a) make money off Google by getting rankings.
b) make money off Google listings by getting clients well ranked.
c) make money WITH Google by getting clients well indexed.
If you are going to be a big seo player, you have to come into compliance with the se's guidelines and live and breathe C above.
It means the story was talked about a month ago and the case has changed considerably since then.
"It means the story was talked about a month ago... "
[edited by: Brett_Tabke at 11:50 am (utc) on May 3, 2005]
[edit reason] no specific sites please [/edit]
They also employed a company in India to send out spam email saying that some worthless links directory would link to them if they linked to the SEO Inc website.
Beg to differ. They had few US based wannabie SEOs who employed south asians for a pittance to do the solicitation (3-way as you said). Side with the big guy was the motive for those SEOs.
I wonder if they still do :).
what do you guys think, was this manual, algo because of so many inbound links or just a minor G burp and they'll be back in a week?
If it was a penalty: In their case they can never remove all the inbound links, but if they could, would they be back?
..In their case they can never remove all the inbound links...
sounds like a business oportunity nowadays ;)
Widget Company Inc. 'de-optimizing search engine spamming'
remove links, modify code & move forward...
But I also noticed couple of other SEO companies dropped from Top 10 at the same time, that were doing a lot of link buys. One of them has a side business of selling Text Link Ads, that many here might know. He used to be Top 10 and now he is Top 30.
My guess is that Google is detecting certain link buys or giving less credit to unrelated links than before.
[edited by: Brett_Tabke at 6:52 pm (utc) on May 3, 2005]
[edit reason] no specifics please [/edit]
If you are going to be a big seo player, you have to come into compliance with the se's guidelines
You're not really "optimizing" the site to do well in the SE's if you do that. You're "optimizing" the site so it will rank exactly where it "should rank" according to the SE... and if that's all you're doing, I can't see you charging any real money!
A search engine guideline promoter does not an SEO make.
They also employed a company in India to send out spam email saying that some worthless links directory would link to them if they linked to the SEO Inc website. Now that is sleazy.
Well, actually there was a long running flame by Gary the CEO about someone doing that in an attempt to $#@% damage their rep and possibly their rankings. Their claim is that they had absolutely no part in that. You can check their blog...
Absolutly it does. Half of the web designers in the world don't know what the se guidelines ever are or how to even get indexed. And these are the people selling sites left and right to newbies. There are a bazillion things you can do within the guidelines. We all know todays game is a links and qualty links gathering is all within the guidelines as I read them.
If you are going to be a big seo player, you have to come into compliance with the se's guidelines
You're not really "optimizing" the site to do well in the SE's if you do that. You're "optimizing" the site so it will rank exactly where it "should rank" according to the SE... and if that's all you're doing, I can't see you charging any real money!
A search engine guideline promoter does not an SEO make.
I think you missed the end of his quote.
IMO they were trying too hard for someone already in the lead. A company with their stature could have supported a much more intelligent text link advertising strategy, as well as a much better natural link development strategy. Instead of spending XXX a pop monthly times who knows how many for some irrelevant PR7's and 8's they could have developed killer tools, resources or something of the like.
Anywho, old news as Brett said.
I am still seeing PR7
I guess it's up to delayed toolbar PR update - the actual PR may be already 0, while toolbar keeps showing 7. Am I right?
If you are going to be a big seo player, you have to come into compliance with the se's guidelines
Breaking the guidelines means sooner or later the site shall be banned. Until it's not so much important, it can survive unnoticed, but algo keep going smarter and also someone can finally notice the site breaks the rules.
At the same time, there are ways to make good ranking within the guidelines, and they are the only solution for long-term web projects.
And considering how much importance Google gives to the age of your site (sandbox, if exists, and many more sophisticated possibilities described in the patent we discussed a month ago), using throw-away domains means losing most of site's potential, not mentioning the ethical aspect.
...but it really only takes 26. ;)
The bottom line is that whatever methods an SEO company uses... as long as they clearly explain the potential consequences and have proper agreements in place, they're doing what the client wants and that's what they're getting paid for.
I'd also say to those thinking this won't affect their bottom line, to think again. I would imagine one of the sourest notes from losing their positioning is the opportunity cost of losing all those press calls/interviews and speaking engagements that were resultant.
If SEO Inc. was using 'blak hat' SEO techniques to optimize their own website, it is more than likely that they were utilizing the same methods for their clients.
Not necessarily, but definitely a possibility. Plans for their site was held hostage by "be my friend" wannabie SEOs who stretched the limits too far in their quest to achieve 3-way links, often diluting the theme and doing all that is required to come under G's radar.
>>>If SEO Inc. was using 'blak hat' SEO techniques to optimize their own website
Hey, he who has not sinned and lives in glass houses and eats tofu etc... The moment you do anything from collecting links to putting a bold tag around your pet keyword you're blacker than coal.
I think the real news is that anyone would WANT to rank for seo terms in the first place.
