Organic Web Ranking Tool Blacklisting My IP?

[steveareeno]

I used Advanced Web Ranking to track both organic and PPC words and recently, when I do a "normal" Google search by going to Google.com and entering a search phrase, I have been greeted with a CAPTCHA form asking me to run antivirus and spyware software. Others in my organization are experiencing the same problem as we have one IP address for the company. Is this because of the reports I run once a week that queries search engines for words we wish to track or some other glitch? Of course, my reports that come back to me show a sparse showing for Google which is to be expected. I really dont track that many words (less than 50) which is probably much less than many other companies so I am really puzzled.

Second question...is there a way to determine if our IP address has been blacklisted with Google?

Thanks to all for your thoughts.
Steve

[wige]

Google posted a FAQ a while back regarding their response to the use of automated systems to run queries for purposes such as tracking your rankings, and what you are describing does seem to follow their posted response. It is possible that the AWR software now routes requests through a proxy server, but your IP has already been banned.

Unfortunately, the only URL I could find was Webmaster Help Center - Automated queries.

[incrediblehelp]

Steve are you using Google API key with AWR?

[steveareeno]

Incredible....
I had not been as of late since I had read that both Google and Yahoo's API's were not the most accurate way of doing things. I was thinking of trying with them in place to see if that makes a difference. Also, I am thinking of extending the amount of time between searches which is a setting within AWR.

An interesting link on the subject which I can neither confirm nor deny is below. According to them, Google has been cracking down on SERP software since July 2007.

Google Blocks SERP Tracker for Bad Behavior - Sitening Blog - Nashville SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Web Design

[sitening]

Originally Posted by steveareeno

An interesting link on the subject which I can neither confirm nor deny is below. According to them, Google has been cracking down on SERP software since July 2007.

It's true. We had a bug in our software that made our server hit them relentlessly. This was completely accidental, but they banned our IP nonetheless. We've fixed this issue, but it was sad when we got that message from them and it kept our SERP Tracker down for the count until we were able to setup a different solution.

[chowell]

We are constantly seeing poor results from our reporting software for the same reasons described above.

While our IP hasn't been blocked at Google yet (it has by Yahoo), we know that the results Google is reporting back to our software tool are inaccurate.

This may be another way for Google for stop the use of the reporting tools. Afterall, if the results aren't accurate, what good is the report??

[sitening]

Originally Posted by chowell

While our IP hasn't been blocked at Google yet (it has by Yahoo), we know that the results Google is reporting back to our software tool are inaccurate.

We're having difficulty with Yahoo! too. I think the best way around this is a legitimate commercial license, but none of them offer it or make it easy to get one. Very frustrating.

[incrediblehelp]

Steve do you have all the updates from AWR?

[Clarrie]

Originally Posted by steveareeno

I used Advanced Web Ranking to track both organic and PPC words and recently, when I do a "normal" Google search by going to Google.com and entering a search phrase, I have been greeted with a CAPTCHA form asking me to run antivirus and spyware software. Others in my organization are experiencing the same problem as we have one IP address for the company. Is this because of the reports I run once a week that queries search engines for words we wish to track or some other glitch? Of course, my reports that come back to me show a sparse showing for Google which is to be expected. I really dont track that many words (less than 50) which is probably much less than many other companies so I am really puzzled.

Second question...is there a way to determine if our IP address has been blacklisted with Google?

Thanks to all for your thoughts.
Steve

Seems very likely to me. I've once been caught out like that - forgot to set the time delay between queries and promptly got blocked in a similar way. Fortunately we have a dynamic IP connection so I was able to reconnect on a new IP without disrupting anyone else too much.

Like you, we only check a small number of keywords at a time (and not that often), so it appears not to be the volume of terms, but the speed/frequency of query delivery from a particular IP.

Don't know what you can do about clearing the block though - would be interested to know if anyone else has any ideas.

[Wildman93]

I have used AWR over the past three years for only organic tracking. We have run into trouble with Yahoo as well some time ago, but fortunately became unblocked. The latency is critically important as it mimics a user browser search. I have found a 5-12 second latency to be effective for small searches and a larger number and spread for bigger lists. Obviously, while marketshare dictates Google/Yahoo/MSN, I have found that adding more engines ( 8 ) adds another layer of latency. Lastly, the deeper you go in rankings, the more risk you take. As most people do not go past page 3, the risk/reward becomes increasing after page 5 in my opinion. Lastly, there have been occasional glitches with the software. It is advised to shut down and restart the program every so often for "engine updates". The maintenance plan is critical for big updates, although I was taken back when suddenly after an expired maintenance plan could not suddenly pick up Google rankings. Algorithm change or Marketing Ploy? Hmmm. Nevertheless, AWR's email support is top notch.

Good Luck!

-Wildman

[steveareeno]

Thanks all for your help and suggestions. Incredible...I believe I have the latest updates but I believe adjusting the latency as was suggested may help. I am going to through caution to the wind and try it tomorrow as the ban was lifted after about 6 hours of being punished by the almighty. I shall let all know what I did and if I get banned again.

[TrafficProducer]

I have been greeted with a CAPTCHA form asking me to run antivirus and spyware software

Shoulds like a con job.

You may find so handy links here:-

Page Rank. Website Review, Ratings and URL listing tests

[wige]

This error message, I believe, was coopted from an older system Google used in 2005. At that time, a virus was making its rounds which caused the infected computer to run automated queries against Google looking for vulnerable servers. Google was able to spot the virus-originated queries and would show this error message.

It looks like they updated that old system to detect automated activity, but give visitors the benefit of the doubt by displaying a somewhat cryptic error message that insinuates the block is due to a virus or malware rather than an SEO tool.

[steveareeno]

All - As was suggested by a couple of posters, this problem was solved by adjusting the random delay between queries. I used a minimum of 5 secs and a maximum of 15 and once again, I am using Advanced Web Ranking. You have to click the "BE NICE TO SEARCH ENGINE" box first. Of course, this dramatically increased the amount of time required to run the report but at least the entire company does not get upset with me for getting Google and Yahoo mad at us. Also, I did not use the API keys for Google or Yahoo. Thanks to everyone for the input!