Current State of the "Google Sandbox"

[gomer]

I would like this thread to be aimed at sharing information of sites that have recently got out of the Google sandbox.

To clarify 'recently', lets use the time frame that your site got out of the sandbox in the last 6 months.

If your site got out of the sandbox in the last six months, it would be great if you could share the following information:

-when the site was launched
-when the site got out of the sandbox
-how many pages the site has
-the topic area of the site
-what link building methods (if any) were used; if none were sought, describe how the site gained links
-whether the site's content is human generated (authored by people) or is machine generated (templates filled with data from a database or elsewhere)
-how frequently the site is updated with new content
-approximately how many links the site currently has and the type of links (i.e., we got links from .edu's etc)
-anything else you feel like sharing that you think is important

One thing I am interested to know is: do sites get released from the sandbox in bunches or one at a time.

Lets stick to newly launched sites (as opposed to old sites thay may have been temporarily penalized, penalites were removed and the site is ranking again etc.)

There are people who do no believe that the Google sandbox exists. That is fine, but please don't turn this thread into a debate of the existence of the Google sandbox. This thread is for believers only ;-)

[stakaman]

does this fall under the 'teach me how to be an seo' thread?

[stakaman]

All i mean is that overcoming the sandbox is possibly one of the most valuable attributes of an SEO. Taking a corporate FTSE100 website with PR8 and getting it to rank is a piece of cake. But getting Jo Bloggs brand new budget site to rank for competitive stuff in 3 months?

This is what I call SEO.

[plasma]

But getting Jo Bloggs brand new budget site to rank for competitive stuff in 3 months?

Where's the problem? :)

OP: There is no sandbox. Create a site, get some good links and you can rank almost instantly.

[stakaman]

Instant rankings for competitive terms instantly?

plasma you are hired!

:)

[grant]

There is no sandbox.

I launched a new domain in September to sell Christmas widgets. I had the site ranking on page one of Google by early December for enormously competitive terms.

How? I bought high PR links on really good sites. Worked like a charm.

[ashear]

I agree, unless you launch with a huge level of scale. That can really tank things quickly. Keep the site under 1k pages initally to ensure credability.