How long does it take?

after linking campaign

[GranPops]

A search term that was No.1 in G against many millions, without backlinks.
Ran a link campaign from Oct 1 to Oct 30, which worked very well and we reckon is of great benefit to both sets of visitors.
Producing lots of traffic.
Dropped right out of SERPS.
Came back Feb. 7

Another similar term, campaign Nov 1 to Nov 30.
Producing lots of traffic.
Dropped right out of SERPS, and still out.

[creative craig]

A search term that was No.1 in G against many millions, without backlinks.

There must have been backlinks pointing to the page for it to rank. May have been some real obscure links but there would have been a few.