Have you ever been penalised for excessive/aggressive link building?

Discussion in 'Google' started by WarrenBuffett, Jun 21, 2009.

  1. #1
    I have :(

    To put it simply, I have spent about 12 hours a day during the last 4 weeks creating links any way I can (forums, forum profiles, forum sigs, articles, directory submissions, blog posting(related and unrelated) and other free methods of link building), and google has punished me for it..

    Has anyone else been punished by G for the same reasons, and if so what have you done to rectify the situation, basically I'd like to know which path I should head for so that the G can remove the filter(My sites are hovering around page 5 for respective targeted keywords).

    So far I have:
    • Submited a reconsideration request letting G know I have been too agressive with my linking campaign.
    • Continued to make quality links, however at a reduced rate
    • Add some new content

    Anyone care to share some light on my situation, and provide their good news so I know there is still some hope left.

    Thanks.
     
    WarrenBuffett, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  2. 3jokers

    3jokers Peon

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    #2
    How old are your sites? All sites disappear from google for few days from time to time, you should soon get your ranking back. If you don't it's time to start new sites.
     
    3jokers, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  3. upl0ad.org

    upl0ad.org Peon

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    #3
    Not faced anything as such.
     
    upl0ad.org, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  4. CountryBoy

    CountryBoy Prominent Member

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    #4
    I've been shafted by Google for aggressive link building.
    In particular sponsoring WP themes has caused some of my sites to drop from PR5 -> PR0.
    I also know lots of webmasters who have been penalised for virtually no reason at all.
    PR sucks, as does Google.
     
    CountryBoy, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  5. WarrenBuffett

    WarrenBuffett Peon

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    #5
    Site is 2 years old, PR5.
     
    WarrenBuffett, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  6. ManBearPig

    ManBearPig Active Member

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    #6
    The news may be very bad for you around a year ago I put a link to one of my site on my blog and google took offence to that and penalise my site and a year on despite contacting them many times and removing the link the site is still penalised. You never know you might be alright and your website will return to normal in a few weeks or so but the bad news is google are the most arrogant company in the world and couldn't give a monkey's about your website.
     
    ManBearPig, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  7. wptheme

    wptheme Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Not that exact. I had a PR6 site before and I linked at footer to some of my sites and got penalised top PR0. I requested for reconsideration and removed all the links then I regained the PR6 in the following update.:)
     
    wptheme, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  8. bank

    bank Peon

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    #8
    Yes i have, i've been penalized for scratching myself.. aka no breach of the webmaster guidelines and seemingly just because Google felt like it.

    What have i done? Tossed the domain aside and start pushing another.

    The first few times it happened when i was a n00b, i wasted months fixing this, adjusting that and begging for forgiveness. Months pass and you realize you could of built another one even better in this time but your now sitting there with nothing.

    Unless the thing is pulling 4 figures a day, forget about it and move on then if it comes good consider it a bonus.

    Google isn't perfect, they screw up and do it a lot.
     
    bank, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  9. lightlysalted

    lightlysalted Active Member

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    #9
    It's impossible to say whether your link building appraoch is to blame, but 12 hours a day for 4 weeks does sound excessive and perhaps Google has seen your attempts as spam. Try to post more naturally and organically. Your SERPS rankings will be restored in the long term
     
    lightlysalted, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  10. Bagless

    Bagless Active Member

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    #10
    In a lot of cases there are likely to be a number of factors involved, not just the number of links. If that was the only criteria, then it would be far too easy to do damage to a competitor's site/rankings etc.

    Maybe it was the quality of the links rather than the quantity?
     
    Bagless, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  11. angilina

    angilina Notable Member

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    #11
    I think a site can not get penalized for getting too many backlinks in short period of time, as if google used to penalize sites for getting too many backlinks [quickly], then people will start to do all this for their competitors in order to get them penalized. The worst that can happen is that google will ignore such links, that is, you will get no credit for those links.

    Your site ranking may have been changed and that your site may not be penalized.
     
    angilina, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  12. MervinKoops

    MervinKoops Member

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    #12
    I had this problem too. I hired an SEO Freelancer who built over 20,000 links in 1 month. I went from Page 1 to Page 20, and stayed there. I asked on the Google Support Group and they said that it could have been because the links weren't relevant to my website. So maybe you're having this problem because the links aren't related to your website?
     
    MervinKoops, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  13. DoDo Me

    DoDo Me Peon

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    #13
    If you start a site has more than unique 10k pages and increase unique 100-1000 pages daily, then you can safely get 100-1000 links a day.
     
    DoDo Me, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  14. DoDo Me

    DoDo Me Peon

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    #14
    If you get a link from unrelated site, you better use an anchor related to your site, then you will safe.
     
    DoDo Me, Jun 21, 2009 IP
  15. 3DProf4online

    3DProf4online Peon

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    #15
    Yes, some situations happened with some my sites too. As usual, it is typical for youung domians. For this reason I recommend to perform manual submission only.
     
    3DProf4online, Jun 22, 2009 IP
  16. DPian

    DPian Well-Known Member

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    #16
    never so far, and hope for the same in da future
     
    DPian, Jun 22, 2009 IP
  17. miskecf

    miskecf Peon

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    #17
    Never had time for such agressive link building so im in a way happy about it now :p.
     
    miskecf, Jun 22, 2009 IP
  18. 3DProf4online

    3DProf4online Peon

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    #18
    As a rule, this happens with young domains. They are often jumping up and down.
     
    3DProf4online, Jun 22, 2009 IP
  19. budin

    budin Active Member

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    #19
    Hello there Warren, your name does sounds familiar :)

    Yes, I once been penalised by google for aggressive link building, and I wouldn't want to repeat that again
     
    budin, Jun 22, 2009 IP
  20. 3DProf4online

    3DProf4online Peon

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    #20
    I think that 50 backlinks per a month will be enough for beginning.
     
    3DProf4online, Jun 22, 2009 IP