Weird Manual Penalty In a Blank Redirected Blogspot Site.

[hftushar]

Hey,

I have created a blogspot site just to set a blogger custom domain in November 2013. Today I have got a mail in my Gmail account from [e-mail] about the site quality issue of the blogspot site that I created only to set a blogger custom domain.

I need help about this issue. I don't know why Google has issued a manual penalty in a blank redirected blogspot site. Now, I'm very much afraid about my blogger custom domain which is fresh and updated regularly.

[aakk9999]

I have created a blogspot site just to set a blogger custom domain

in a blank redirected blogspot site

If I understood well, you have created custom domain on blogger which you are redirecting elsewhere?

Where does the redirect go to? And why host the domain on blogger if all it does is redirects?

Or have I misunderstood what your situation is?

[hftushar]

You got it wrong. Let's clear the fact..

As you know that, if you need to setup a custom blogger domain, then you first need to create a blogspot site. Then you have to redirect that blogspot site to the custom domain in blogger. This is what I have done and the manual penalty has been implied on the blogspot site which is blank and redirected to the custom domain.

[hftushar]

Example:- (Just to make it more clear)

I have created a blogspot site just like abc.blogspot.com
and, then to set a custom blogger domain, I redirected abc.blogspot.com to abc.com and started working on abc.com. It's the 5th month of the site.

On 10th April the manual penalty has implied on abc.blogspot.com

[phranque]

welcome to WebmasterWorld, hftushar!


how did you implement the redirect?

[hftushar]

I have implemented the redirection the same way that Google shows for setting up the blogger custom domain

[support.google.com...]

[phranque]

I have implemented the redirection the same way that Google shows for setting up the blogger custom domain

those are DNS configuration instructions.
that's not the same as a redirect.

what response do you get when you request http://abc.blogspot.com/ ?

[hftushar]

Sorry. It was DNS configuration.

Here is the original url which is blank and has got manual penalty. I don't know, Why Google has sent a manual penalty mail in my gmail account. There is no reason for that.

Victim:- example[dot]blogspot[dot]com

when you visit the site, it will take you to the custom domain
.

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 10:59 pm (utc) on Apr 12, 2014]
[edit reason] New members not allowed to post specifics, & no public site reviews [/edit]

[lucy24]

when you visit the site, it will take you to the custom domain

vs.

you've got two different urls returning a 200 OK header response...

These can't both be correct.

If one site has no existence except to redirect to the other one, then it's a bit tautological to talk about "low" quality. The site doesn't really exist at all and therefore can have no quality, good or bad. Contrariwise: If the site's sole purpose is to redirect to a different site, why does anyone --whether owner or search engine-- care about its quality?

Something is missing... Are you sure there isn't a blogger/blogspot rule against this kind of redirecting?

[Planet13]

"...then it's a bit tautological to talk about "low" quality."

Seriously, Lucy? I mean, it's the weekend for Pete's sake...

;)

[aristotle]

I don't understand the OP's situation. You say that Google issued a manual penalty for a "blank redirected blogspot site". Are attempts to go to that site re-directed somewhere else? If so, what difference does it make if it's blank? And why would Google issue a manual penalty for it? I don't understand.

[lucy24]

Oh, that reminds me:

Don't bother looking for the second line I quoted. Turns out the author was deleting his post at the very moment I was quoting it :) But the underlying question still stands. How can google know anything, good or bad, about a site they can't see? That's why I wondered if the redirect itself is against some rule.

Does a wmt email automatically imply a manual penalty? It isn't clear from the OP what the email actually said.

[hftushar]

I'm seeing that a lot of confusions have been created.

Here is the the detail:-

In the month of December 2013, I took a decision to host a site on Blogger as it's FREE. On 7th December, I created a blogspot site (let's say:- example.blogspot .com). Then I bought a domain(let's say:- example.com). Then I added that custom domain on blogger and updated the CNAME and ANAME record by following the below Google guide.
[support.google.com...]

Now, For example; If you visit example.blogspot .com, It will redirect you to the example.com. This is how Custom Blogger Domain works.

On 10th April 2014, An email came from [e-mail] in my Gmail account. It's a mail about Sites Quality Issue (Manual Penalty).

My question is:- How can Google issue a manual penalty in a blank redirected blogspot site?

After getting the mail, I got too much scared about my custom domain and I instantly visited the Google Webmaster Tool account of my Custom domain. There is still no message about manual penalty. That means, it didn't affect the custom domain. Is there any chance? I'm now afraid to lose search engine rank.

[Robert Charlton]

hftushar, thanks for that clarification. You haven't answered phranque's question, though, and that concerns a possible point of error....

what response do you get when you request http://abc.blogspot.com/ ?

Since we're using "example" instead of "abc", what do you get for...

http://example.blogspot .com

Also, double-check your DNS entries to make sure that you've gotten "example" consistent all the way through.

[hftushar]

what response do you get when you request http://abc.blogspot.com/ ?

I didn't understand this line.

Are you saying that if I browse http://abc.blogspot.com/ then what will happen? If it is the question then the answer is http://abc.com/

[edited by: aakk9999 at 12:01 pm (utc) on Apr 14, 2014]
Edit reason:Unlinked URLs

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 5:10 pm (utc) on Apr 14, 2014]
[edit reason] Unlinked additional URL [/edit]

[aakk9999]

What phranque means is that you tell us what is the response code the server is returning (200 OK, 301 Moved Permanently, or some other).

WebmasterWorld has the right tool for this. Go to this URL:

http://freetools.webmasterworld.com/tools/header-checker-tool/ [freetools.webmasterworld.com]
Enter your example.blogspot.com URL and wait for the result.

Then tell us what does it say under the Result heading (replacing your domain name with example).

[hftushar]

It's 301 permanent redirecting

[Robert Charlton]

My additional concern was that "example" (or "abc") be the same in both cases... and I gather that it is, but I'm not precisely clear about that from the answer.

Grasping at straws here... have any links been pointed at the example.blogspot.com url?

[hftushar]

I have used both "example" & "abc" just as an example. Both are same.

No links point to the example.blogspot.com.

[lucy24]

Are we allowed to ask what, exactly, the email said?

[aakk9999]

Are we allowed to ask what, exactly, the email said?

hftushar may paraphrase the email from Google, and we would welcome getting some more information on what Google said the problem is, but unfortunately due to our ToS #9 [webmasterworld.com] the email cannot be quoted.

@hftushar

A few posts above Robert Charlton asked you the following:

My additional concern was that "example" (or "abc") be the same in both cases.

It is very important to have a clear answer to this, because Google says:

How do I use a custom domain name for my blog?
https://support.google.com/blogger/troubleshooter/1233381?hl=en [support.google.com]

Blogger offers two publishing options for your blog: hosting on Blogspot (example.blogspot.com) and hosting on your own custom domain (www.example.com or foo.example.com)

Just to make it absolutely clear that you understood Robert's question properly, could you have look at this example where I am using bluewidgets.com domain as an example to avoid the confusion:

a) You have created bluewidgets.blogspot.com

b) You have purchased bluewidgets.com domain (and names in bold are identical)

c) When you request this bluewidgets.blogspot.com, it redirects to bluewidgets.com domain (and not to cheapbluewidgets.com, for example).

Can you confirm this - that the names in bold are all identical and redirect is set up and working?

[hftushar]

In the email, Google has said that some of my pages may be using techniques that are outside of Webmaster Guidelines. As a result of my site having pure spam, Google has applied a manual spam action to my site.

@aakk9999
Thanks for using "bluewidgets" to avoid the confusion

YES, the names in bold are all identical and redirect is set up and working

[netmeg]

Maybe it's me, but I don't think the "pure spam" thing has anything to do with domain redirects.

[aristotle]

Well I still don't fully understand this. But let me ask a question:

Is the manual penalty being transferred to the final destination website, or is it restricted to the blank blogspot site? If it isn't being transferred, then it isn't having any effect on anything anyway, at least by my understanding

[hftushar]

I don't know whether the manual penalty being transferred to the final destination website or not. But, I have checked the Google Webmaster Tools account of that custom domain, there isn't any message about manual penalty.