Quote:
Originally Posted by Darrell
If you don't mind me asking, what do you think were the points of commonality to most of your sites that google picked up on?
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To be honest, it's been 6 months and I'm still carefully trying to de-construct exactly what the penalty is and why it was applied.
Near as I can tell it was a combination of tracking ID's along with a very similar (but NOT identical) contact form and tos template used across the sites.
It has also occurred to me that I may have fallen under a blanket 'affiliate' penalty, whereby google determined that the sites in question were adding 'no real value' and therefore didn't belong in their SERPS - and used the points of commonality listed above to find them all.
Example:
- 8 sites with unique designs / original content which employ all discussed 'stealth factors' are in promotion of sponsor site A.
- 3 of these sites are on the first page of Google (with the other 5 in the top 100) along with sponsor A's site.
- Google notices these 8 sites have subtle points of commonality (ref codes, similar text, cms signature, etc) - and seem to talk a great deal about Site A.
- While these 8 sites break no Google Webmaster Guidelines, it's clear that there sole existence is simply to get the visitor to sponsor site A - and as quickly as possible.
- Big G asks the question "Why do we have 3 listings in our top 10 that are, for arguments sake, the exact same thing - this isn't helping our users"
- Big G also notices that these 8 sites have a lot in common with these 32 other sites - and that these 32 have a lot in common with these other 84 sites...and so on...and so on...
-You know the rest.
Of course, sites like these make up half the internet...lucky me getting caught.
I'm taking what happened as a glimpse into the 'future' of how Google will list results. The Big G is getting smarter and is relying more and more on factors such as bounce rates, time on site, and other 'user experience' type data.
In my mind, the Search Engine of the future (whatever or whoever that might be), will be a highly evolved machine that ranks sites heavily based on USER EXPERIENCE. This is likely the hardest thing for an SEO'er to manipulate, and it makes sense that a smart SE would key in on it.
Now, don't get me wrong, Content is STILL king, and on-site optimization, backlinks, and a sprinkle SEO 'magic' here and there all play a clutch role. And, if done right, can still get you to the top of the SE's...for now.
I guess the moral of the story is that websites that offer no real value (affiliate or otherwise) have got their work cut out for them.