Spam SEO Company Traffic-Power, aka 1p.com, First Place, Internet Advertising Pros Options

[mikeb]

[Pinning this topic for now so that we don't get other questions about TP]
I found this forum while desperately searching for information. Thank you all in advance for any input.
I own a small e-commerce site. We have been in biz for over 5 years and over those years have done very, very well on Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. In fact, with no outside help but just by learning basic SEO techniques, I have managed to garner some nice Google stats. For example, for the search term "bodybuilding supplements", we have been #1 for over 3 years. Other examples are similar.

In early march we were contacted by an SEO firm who we decided to hire. At the time I felt their techniques were in a very gray area but went ahead with them.
Basically what they did was have me insert some code (all html) at the bottom of our page. The code was links, using 1px images that link to pages they created for us. These pages were ( I guess) doorway type pages that had some decent text and some no so decent text.

These pages actually got crawled and picked up by Google and within 8 weeks we had some good results, most were in the top 10. Once a person clicked on the search result in google, they were directed to this doorway page however the SEO firm used a mouseover so the customer was immediately sent to our home page.

As of Tues night, it seems we have been banned. Our PR5 is now PR0 and we are out of the database.

I am not sure this caused the problem but another of this companies customers is in a similar pickle.

My sales rep at the company said google is fixing a patch an one of their databases is down causing this problem. I frequent a usenet seo group and nobody has mentioned this. It sounds dubious.

I can show more detail on the technique used but this is long enough. My question is this: As I am assuming that what I did was the cause, I have removed the code. What are my chances of writing help or webmaster at google and asking for reinclusion. I want to come clean with them, tell them (honestly) that my intent was not to spam google and see if we can (someday) get our PR or listings back.

Anyone with input please help.

Thank you,
Mike Berg

[Please create a signature in the "my controls" to add your link if you want one.]

This post has been edited by Jill: Jul 13 2004, 10:00 PM

[qwerty]

Welcome, Mike (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

You do appear to be out of Google's index. They have no information on your domain name. Does that mean you're banned? Based on what you've written, it seems likely, but it's not an absolute. The possibility exists (although I guess it's unlikely) that Google just had trouble finding any pages on your site when it sent its robot to crawl it.

If you're absolutely certain you've removed all the offending code, which really does sound like bad news, you can write to Google, explain the situation, admit your error, promise never to do anything like it again, and ask to be put back in the index, but it may be a while before that happens.

[mikeb]

Bob,
Thank you. Yes all code is out. The saddest part (well one of the saddest) is that I am usually very thorough regarding research yet I did not do my homework this time.

I wasn't going to mention the company involved but after finding the following links I feel it's necessary to inform people to not get involved with SEO firm that promote practices like these.

So sad...all this work over the years and now I have to pray Google will help me.

[edited to remove links and mentions of company in question. Please see forum guidelines.]

This post has been edited by qwerty: Jun 24 2004, 05:34 PM

[Alan Perkins]

Basically what they did was have me insert some code (all html) at the bottom of our page. The code was links, using 1px images that link to pages they created for us. These pages were ( I guess) doorway type pages that had some decent text and some no so decent text.

That's a technique known to cause penalties. IMO, it's highly likely that you have been penalised.

So sad...all this work over the years and now I have to pray Google will help me

From their perspective, you were trying to cheat them. You shouldn't expect an instant remedy to this problem, I'm afraid.

I wasn't going to mention the company involved but after finding the following links I feel it's necessary to inform people to not get involved with SEO firm that promote practices like these.

Yes, there are some very bad SEO firms around. You have to be very careful.

[Jill]

Welcome Mike! (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

Sounds like the work of a company with the initials TP... (Is that right?)

Sorry that happened to you Mike, and it's unfortunate that you went ahead and let them do work to your site when you suspected in was in a "gray" area. I assume if it was still working great today, you'd be happy with your decision, however.

Good luck getting everything back. You may have to start over from scratch if you don't see anything in 6 months or so.

Jill

[qwerty]

GG posted over at WMW about this today (www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/24523.htm):

First, you need to make sure that you've removed any redirecting/spammy pages that were on your site. Make sure that every junky page like that is completely gone before you write, then you can send an email to webmaster [at] google.com with the subject line "reinclusion request" as give us as much detail as possible about the situation.
I believe that one SEO had convinced clients either to put spammy Javascript mouseover redirects, doorway pages that link to other sites, or both on their clients' sites. That can lead to clients' sites being flagged as spam in addition to the doorway domains that the SEO set up.

[SearchRank]

Wow, looks like Google did something about spammers using the mouseover redirect to hide ugly doorway pages. I wish they would program an automatic filter to remove any page or site that uses a JavaScript mouseover redirect. Really, what is the purpose but to hide something?

Now I am going to have to check all the clients I have bookmarked for a certain well know spammer to see if they got zapped!

(IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/appl.gif) to Google!

[mikeb]

Welcome Mike! (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

Sounds like the work of a company with the initials TP... (Is that right?)

Sorry that happened to you Mike, and it's unfortunate that you went ahead and let them do work to your site when you suspected in was in a "gray" area. I assume if it was still working great today, you'd be happy with your decision, however.

Good luck getting everything back. You may have to start over from scratch if you don't see anything in 6 months or so.

Jill

Hi Jill,
Thanks for the warm welcome and yes, you are correct. "TP" is the company in question. I don't know which is worse, having all the hard work I've done for five years to become profitable being (as of today) all for naught or that I did not do my homework beforehand.
I plan on emailing Google to explain my story, try to at least get across to them that it never was my intent to spam them and hope that I can crawl my way back up.

And irony of ironies, this dawned on me today: Due to TP's tactics, many sites like myself have been banned yet THEY are not. Obviously because they do not use their own "SEO" on their own site. Another point I'll mention to Google.

Oh, and btw, yes I imagine if it was still up and running I'd be happy but I have to be honest and tell you that in my 5+ years in business I never felt like I had to keep looking over my shoulder until TP came aboard. If only my instincts had been my guide.
Mike

[Jill]

I'm waiting for the first company to sue the spamming companies like that.

You might just win...

[projectphp]

In early march we were contacted by an SEO firm who we decided to hire.

Seems so many times people want to blame the world, but in your case, the opposite seems true. Good to see you are learning a lesson from all this (although I am sorry the lesson came at such a cost).

As a warning to others, can you perhaps write up your experience and what you believe you did wrong? A run down (with no names) with what happenned, what the danger signs were that you either ignored or missed would be invaluable.

It is sad, but many people (see http://www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums/sho...100#post150878) seem to have similiar stories to tell about being bitten, even after doing research. Still, the more armed a consumer is the better!!

This post has been edited by projectphp: Jun 24 2004, 11:32 PM

[Matt B]

My sales rep at the company said google is fixing a patch an one of their databases is down causing this problem. I frequent a usenet seo group and nobody has mentioned this. It sounds dubious.

Now that's original - blame the search engine for the "problem" and yet still claim to have the "inside track" to communication with a Google engineer.

Interesting to note here that a company with a known antagonistic relationship to Google also the audacity to claim close communication ties with said engine . . . . (IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/hmm.gif)

[Jill]

They are really lower than low. Can you imagine.

Yeah, you're banned cuz Google has to patch their database!

(IMG:http://www.highrankings.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/hysterical.gif)

[mikeb]

I'm waiting for the first company to sue the spamming companies like that.

You might just win...

Jill,
This might interest you. Of course, I found this today
Class Action Suit Possibility www.girardgibbs.com/traffic-power.html

Not sure if I'm overstepping the forums guidelines or not but basically it's a law firm looking into a class action suit (of which I'm not a big fan of).
Mike

[Jill]

Interesting. Unfortunately, with class actions, it always seems as if the only one who makes out is the attorney.

[Irony]

Really feel sorry for you Mike.

The saddest of all this is that so many people around get trapped the same way quite innocently for the simple reason that they do not know it is bad.

But the Net just has to pass through all this, in order to become cleaner. The day when the last "SEO" company that resembles that TP is abandoned by the last client, will be the happiest day for all of us, I think.

Does it help?