Site dropped in the SERP and later got PR=0

[Lenchen]

On April 1, 2008 most of my sites dropped in the SERPs, about 30-60 positions. With that, the Adsense earnings dropped 90%. I have tried every possible way to tidy my domians, even though I regarded them as clean from the beginning. All eventuelly duplicate contents were removed, like titles, metadesciptions etc. I often tend to copy one page to make a new one and then sometimes 2 pages get the same title and description. I also removed a lot of linking between the sites, but not all of them as I think some are very relevant linking.
Nothing has happened. Until now, half a year later, when all pages on all 1-15 domains got a PR=0. Earlier they had PR=2 to PR=4.

I realize this is some kind of penalty, but can't understand for what.
My biggest competitor, who copied my site after 1.5 year, was out of the SERP from Feb - May/June, could they have cursed my sites in some way? I don't want to think so, but...

Any hints, remarks, suggestions are most appreciated!

// By mistake I posted this in the wrong category, hope this is more appropriate //

[tedster]

Have you checked in your Webmaster Tools account for messages? Also, have a look through our Hot Topics area [webmasterworld.com], which is always pinned to the top of this forum's index page. You may find some ideas there that help.

[Lenchen]

Yes, I have checked the Webmaster Tools and also made a few Reinclusion requests in June, and some new ones today. No response - yet! The Google Adsense guidelines are read so many times now, and I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. I don't intend to do anything wrong, but something is defintely regarded as wrong!

After 7 months it is not fun anymore, and I don't think the sites will come back " by themselves", I need to act but how?

Any suggestions are appreciated!

[tigger]

have you considered a new site! - I know it means starting from scratch but lets face it had you done this back in April you could be well into the SB and maybe starting to come out the other side

After having more than my ups and downs with G I no longer keep all my "income" eggs in one basket and have multiple sites, then if one drops you have others to fall back

[tedster]

The Google Adsense guidelines are read so many times now, and I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. I don't intend to do anything wrong, but something is defintely regarded as wrong!

If you're concerned about organic ranking, then the Adsense guidelines are not the place to look for guidance.
Again, read our Hot Topics threads about various penalties and ranking problems, and read Google's Webmaster Guidelines
[google.com]

[Lenchen]

Yes, I started 2 new sites a few months ago, but this week I saw that ALL of my sites are set to PR=0.

WHich means something is wrong, but what? I have spoken to a few friende, and no one understands what's happening. All topics are very decent and normal.

If I start a new site, I need to know how to avoid this. Not placing all eggs in the same basket would mean not to be so dependant of G, but that is hard! On msn.com and yahoo.com my keywords are still in the top.

Can G trace all sites from an IP address and ban all sites coming from there?
Can someone speak bad about you and your sites, and by that get your sites banned?

This is so insane....

[tigger]

PR0 doesn't automatically mean something is wrong - I've got 2 sites both hitting competitive terms both sites have PR0's one is number 1 the other 5th for their main terms and have been like that all year

All you can do is spend sometime reading the forum before you start building again

[Lorel]

Yes, I started 2 new sites a few months ago, but this week I saw that ALL of my sites are set to PR=0.

Ahhhh. That might explain why those two sites dropped in rank. Google promotes new sites for a while and then drops them. I would ignore the PR as it's not as valuable as it once was and many think Google's trying to get rid of it.

Have you interlinked your sites for the purpose of promoting the new ones? that could have caused a problem. I would remove the links if that is so. Each site needs to stand on it;s own if you are the owner of all and they are all on the same host/IP address.

If you haven't broken any of the Webmaster Guidelines Just continue to build your site and gather links and it should start to rise in the SERPs after a few months.