BMW.de removed from Google index

illegal javascript redirects

[jetteroheller]

Okay, normal no URLs, but in this case, this appears in worldwide news and it's the URL of a big car producer in Germany.

So it seems Google applies the time out penalty regardless of the size of a web site, regardless of AdSense income or not.

[bluewidgets]

entschuldigen Sie mich für mein schlechtes Englisch

[Pico_Train]

But BMW does not depend on web traffic and they are fully aware that cloaking is not kosher so the what ifs are pointless.

I understand your point entirely my friend but web traffic dependence or not, certain tricks are not cool and they are reminding EVERYONE of that.

[arbouzas]

The truth about the bmw.de removal is:

- At first it was noticed by some bloggers and the new was duplicated in a thousand of blogs. This happened about 1st of February.
- BMW removed the links BEFORE they were removed from Google. The day was 3rd February.
- Google removed bmw.de from search results, this was 4th February.

why did Google removed bmw.de?

[europeforvisitors]

nd if this portal I'm speaking of would not show up at all in the search result, then search engine users would not be able to find it.

And the search result as a whole would not be as good as with those search results included.

Two things:

1) No site is indispensable. (As BMW.de has just learned.)

2) Sometimes you need to consider the larger picture, as Google has done in this case.

[mrMister]

Is there an official response from BMW out yet?

The BBC quotes a BMW representative in this article:

[news.bbc.co.uk...]

"We did not provide different content in the search results to the final website," Markus Sagemann told the BBC News website.

"However, if Google says all doorway pages are illegal we have to take this into consideration."

[taps]

We did not provide different content in the search results to the final website," Markus Sagemann told the BBC News website.

Of course they did. Some people simply don't get it.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

why did Google removed bmw.de?

Well it didn't just happen. It happened while Google was receiving bad press about the China Syndrome.

Coincidence? I think not ;)

[jecasc]

why did Google removed bmw.de?

Well it didn't just happen. It happened while Google was receiving bad press about the China Syndrome.

Matt Cutts anounced recently on his blog that Google would put more focus on the non english part of their serps. A few weeks ago it was automobile.de, one of the larger german used car market places that was removed. Now it's BMW.

This is simply a warning: If you are still using black hat SEO in Europe modify your pages while its not too late.

It was about time this happened. Techniques that where of no use in english serps and can be considered as obsolute are still working in german and other european language serps.

[FromRocky]

It's back.

A reinclusion request has been received and bmw.de is back to business. How quick it is. Two days not 30 days for mom & pop sites.

[lammert]

Also the second site Matt Cutts mentioned, ricoh.de, is back in the index. Google probably did a very good job to warn black hat SEO's in Europe with these actions.

I think that Google has choosen these two targets carefully. On one hand it didn't harm these two companies too much because they are such well known brands that the majority of their traffic is probably from links and typ-in traffic and not from the SE's. On the other hand these brands are so well known that every spammer now knows that if Google is not affraid to catch such large companies, then their small spamming sites may also be in danger.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Isn't it all a bit frightening this power that Google is developing? After all BMW make good cars, they did not break any laws and their company name is being dragged through the mud. There are much worse things happening at corporate level that go unreported.

People who read the headlines and don't really understand the situation will just associate BMW (and Ricoh) with some sort of wrongdoing.

Is it right that this should happen?

please don't pillory me, I am only philosophising ;)

[66sore]

I was thinking the same thing. The power of Google and of the controllers of the internet is something we as webmasters should be very aware of as our livelihoods are at stake.

[taps]

Yes, they are back - with the same javacript redirect as before. Just check for "bmw neuwagen". Maybe there was some rollback?

[gstewart]

BeeDeeDubbleU asks

Isn't it all a bit frightening this power that Google is developing?

IMO it's absolutely terrifying. BMW and their design/marketing folks were reckless and pretty daft to do what they did, and certainly deserve the penalty. But until the competition, whether Y or MS or (preferably) some new player altogether, provide a real alternative we're stuck with an effectively monopolistic situation. In the long run a solution to that problem that may need government intervention.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

It could happen.