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Made for AdSense Sites Can Get You Delisted

A very interesting Google Groups thread has many bloggers, including SEO Buzz Box, DaveN, and Search Engine Journal voicing their reactions.

The background is that the webmaster of AlkenMRS.com realized that his 10+ year old site had been delisted from Google. With help from his friends, he addressed what he thought were technical issues related to his site. But even so, his site was not reindexed and the Google crawler had never come.

Adam Lasnik of Google explains that his site might have been the problem after all:

Imagine this scenario. You walk into a store and some guy -- surprisingly the owner -- grabs you by the shoulder.

"How'd you like some beer? Oh, hey, we also sell coffee. Hmm... you don't want something to drink? We specialize in air purifiers, too! And you know what... after you drink some beer next to your new air purifier, I bet you could use a date, right? No, no, not the eating kind... I'm talking a really nice lady! And if she ends up stealing your identity, well, no problem! I sell Identity Theft protection services... and... wait! Wait...come back!!!"

How much would you trust that guy? Or his store? Sure, he may have small leaflets on a zillion topics, but he's not an expert in any.

He then mentioned that site owners need to put that into perspective online -- because it's no different.

If you, as an independent observer, came across such a store online, would you trust it anymore? If not, why should Google see this as an important and relevant site?

Oops. So his site has, as Loren Baker put it, a "lack of quality, focus and trust." Most importantly, as Dave Naylor points out, the site was Made for AdSense. Essentially, Google is looking for relevancy and nothing but. Otherwise, the site has no value to visitors and won't be crawled.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.



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posted Tamar Weinberg in Google Search Engine at July 11, 2007 10:01 AM Comments (5)

Comments

Who cares if it’s a “Made for AdSense” website or not?

Google has supplied advertisers with all the tools they need to see where their ads are displayed and if those ads are converting or not. If the advertisers don’t like the placements, they can & will cancel them.

It stands to reason… The ads displayed on the site must convert because the advertiser has not blocked them. If the article has enough information to make the consumer want to learn more & click on my ad and then buy something from me… Where is the harm?

If the publisher stops making money, they will likely improve the site or it will eventually slip down the results as better quality articles begin to receive the attention they deserve.

 

I've blogged a few times about content bragging, and this is exactly the type of situation I mean to head off when I recommend it. By bragging about your content/readership/userbase, by mentioning site accolades front and center, by reassuring the visitor that they are visiting a quality, worthwhile, site that others trust... you also influence any human reviewer a search engine sends your way.

 

"Who cares if it’s a “Made for AdSense” website or not?"

Well obviously Google. They have always said it is not a good experience to search Google and then land another set of search results.

 

If you are an "Adsense Site" persone, the best way to continually let Google know you are relevant it to keep a blog going on the site or to completely reupload a new version of the site every few weeks. This will help make your site appear more relevant and new. RSS Feeds don't hurt either, but Google is catching on to this technique.

 

It would be nice to get a warning message from Google before getting your site unlisted, specially a ten year old website.

 

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