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Can it be that my whole server IP got banned / penaltized?
A few days ago I moved a PR 4 domain to my server and now 2 days later after the DNS change it's PR 3. Is that because of the double content penalty or the google dance right now?
I would really appreciate some help, thanks.
Avoiding the dupe content filters is easiest by adding unique content to every individual site. A few sentences should be enough.
The drop of the PR is unlikely to be caused by the move from another server. I'd say it's just the normal PR update that took place last week. Nothing else.
I'd try to avoid complete crosslinking of the domains and try to link like in a circle with 5-10 links on every domain. That way it's pretty hard to detect and the sites don't look too spammy. :)
Avoiding the dupe content filters is easiest by adding unique content to every individual site. A few sentences should be enough.
It won't be enough.
I agree, it won't be enough. Only those few sentances will be taken as unique, the rest will probably be ignored for ranking purposes. Google seems to have stepped up the duplication filter, and even if you avoid having the page pr0, you will not rank well.
Having been trying to figure this out for months, the conclusion so far is that the choice is made at run time and dependant on supporting occurances of the search phrase and relevant pr. My theory is that all text is counted for an initial search, then all duplicate pages with duplicate text surrounding the relevant words is clumped together. Apart from the surrounding text, perhaps 4 or 5 words either side, overall word frequency is another factor and ip addresses of sites. Once this clump of sites is established, perhaps pr, anchor text in or many other factors determine which site is chosen. IP is probably a big factor, google only taking one site from each ip.
In short, if we knew how to get our duplicate content above everyone else its time to order the new ferrari :)
Considering that you limit the links to 5 and you have 5 sentences with at least 8 words each of unique content describing what the domain will be about it should be ok imho.
Should I start linking them from other sites or won't that help?
Anybody knows how long a double content penalty normally takes?
Remove all the cross-linking and any duplicate content from ALL pages. Then from the time when Google again spiders those pages, wait 30 days --your PR will be back.
I had a dozen PR7 sites receive this penalty. If you remove the cross-links then write several groveling letters to Google, they will switch the sites' GoogleBar PR back on -- just to make you think something was done -- but the real penalty will remain unchanged. The GoogleBot will continue to ignore your sites for-ever-more.
My overly-bitter conclusion ;) is that Google is evil and they never forgive cross-linking -- so don't risk it. And now that you've made this mistake, be ready to toss all 50 domains.
