we all have faced this sort of situation and i think its just a normal thing but if we cannt find him from john chow...that is a bit alarming but else if he is dropped from rankings he knows very well how to get on top and we all know this .
http://www.google.com/search?q=info:www.johnchow.com will give you the description and cache link, etc. Without the www, the result is different: http://www.google.com/search?q=info:johnchow.com I'm seeing posts about Google dumping him ranking well...
Most posts about Google dumping him refer to lost rankings for the term "make money online". A site not appearing for a search for its own name is much more serious. Its going to be interesting to watch. Hopefully it will only be temporary.
I suppose it could be a really bad case of Googlewashing... http://www.google.com/search?q="Wou...he+rest+of+the+time+to+do+whatever+you+want?"
This has been occurring temporary over the last few weeks.. Not sure if this is the real outcome now.. If this is, then its a link bait strategy turns bad.. IMO
He isnt the only one thats getting hit. I know of a few sites that have been tanked. Andy Beard is another one that dropped spots for keyword dofollow but not as major as John Chow.
That was his post about not ranking for make money online. This issue is that he doesn't rank for John Chow.
I think personally he made one huge mistake, Google tries to allow grey areas but will take out high profile sites that make a very obvious play to game them. As Matt mention on Marketing Chat Google's take on it seems be "Does Yahoo sell text links in their directory?" No, they vet the directory submissions and can reject applications. Does John Chow sell text links - Yes - he will disable the "no follow" attribute on comments if you pay him leaving the "no follow" for those that don't, thats as clear as clear can be and is link selling openly for a few dollars and as such with the previous warnings, well it was in the wind. Dance with the devil and you'll get burned
I don't think anyone should be surprised, especially John Chow. Google gave plenty of fair warning and then they went ahead and made "examples" of some of the most highly visible sites in order to send a "message" to the community. I am not sure whether John Chow has a death wish, an over abundant ego, is totally out of it (it doesn't take any algorithm to blacklist a site), or just so bored of the site, that he decided to go out with a bang (I quit reading his blog a long time ago, because if I want to hear someone brag about making money I can listen to video recordings of Donald Trump). In any case, I am sure that there are many other highly visible sites that are going to get tagged for similar practices. If a webmaster wants to sell links to non-relevant sites, at least be smart enough not to do it in full view of the world. And this guy makes money? Well, on the other hand, so does Paris Hilton. Did anyone catch Larry King's interview of that ding-bat? Rich
A perfect reason why nobody should follow his practice when it comes to SEO or link selling. He has been caught and is now paying for it.