Drop in traffic correlates with recent alerts

[dgswilson]

I don't like starting new threads but I really want to know what's going on with this. I've had a recent drop, almost half. in traffic. At the same time I've been getting alerts that tell me I'm listed at places like http://saverohingya.com/search/dgswilson+com.

What are these places and do they effect traffic? The links on the site don't go to my site. They go to different pages on their site. There is no contact email on the site. I want my stuff off of these sites. How do I do it?

[martin b]

hey, once a viagra site linked to one of my sites and it damaged my ranking badly

but it was temporary thing i think you have nothing to worry about

[wordgeist]

i often see it with my blogs there is a cycle of 2 months of good search engine traffic then it suddenly drops then is back up again maybe search engines updates in the results i think

[dgswilson]

It's more the sites than the traffic. I understand that there is natural fluctuation. I'm really interested in how to deal with sites who have my name and content on them. They all have pages with linked excerpts on them. One of them "Thoora" has a page "Profile for dgswilson.com". I've never been there to make a profile, so how can I have a profile. They also show up in search results.

[alienpest]

Such things usually sort themselves out pretty quickly, I just wish there was a way to prevent them to begin with. I once had a site copy a page including all the template code, and everything else. Sent things on a downward spiral for a while. I contacted the webmaster, and he removed it, then things got back to normal.

[davidmg]

Its normal to see a slow down this time of year. We are getting our lawn mowers out, doing winter clean up in the yard, going to the kids baseball game etc. After cabin fever everyone gets outdoors. It will come back after the 1st and everyone will start Mothers Day shopping etc.

[PhilipDunn]

If these sites are using your content, either your site or theirs can get penalized by Google for duplicate content, that results in a drop in ranking.
The other search engines don't seem to mind as much, but Google really notices those things. You should be able to file a complaint, I think through Google webmaster tools, but there is probably someone here that knows more about that..

[williamc]

If these sites are using your content, either your site or theirs can get penalized by Google for duplicate content, that results in a drop in ranking.

While that is a common misconception, it is still false. Duplicate content 'filters' can 'discount' one page or the other, but there is no actual penalty that affects rankings directly for it that anyone has been able to prove.

[williamc]

It does indeed look like some has been doing a bit of reverse SEO on your site dgswilson. And they obviously have a decent list of 'bad neighborhood' sites in which to use for it. While many still do not think it possible, it can affect sites in the short term quite well IMO.

I would be interested in a complete list of all sites that just cropped up with this crap on them if you do not mind, it would help with an article I have planned. :)

[PhilipDunn]

right, just one page will notice a drop in ranking..
and in my experience, its been substantial - but I've only seen that occur in Google..

[Lorel509]

dgswilson

You can also rewrite the content on your website if only a few pages are affected. That might be an easier avenue to pursue than trying to track down the owner of the site. Also as your site gains age and rank it will be less affected by scrapers.

[Milo]

You cannot control 100% of what other websites write about or link to on your site. It is logical to assume that Google worked this out a long time ago and it will not impact on your site in the long term. I only say "assume" as I have no hard proof, but its not logical to be penalised for another sites actions. I have myself noticed a fluctuation in traffic and rankings in the last week, so its more than likely related to other factors. If not, it can only be temporary at the very most.

[nelsonez]

It may be a matter of semantics, but if your page gets discounted or does not get let's say 'full credit' because of other pages that have scraped and duplicated your content isn't that really a penalty. You are correct in that it is a misconception to say that Google will subtract points from your rankings score ie. penalize you, but not getting the full score is in essence a penalty and could hurt your rankings.

I am starting to see some evidence of this problem as well and it is hard to know where it is coming from and why.

[williamc]

nelsonez, yes and no. It can affect any rankings the particular page might have gotten by being discounted, but would only hurt other pages rankings, or the sites rankings in general, by the loss of one link on the duped page being discounted IMO. That is not enough, or even close, to what the OP described in his initial post of a noticeable drop in overall traffic. As to fixing that little issue in the first place, the OP can simply file DMCA notices with google stipulating that the content is his original content, and sooner or later google should credit his pages as the originals and not filter them if it is doing so now. Personally, I do not think scraped content is the cause, I still see evidence that he has been attacked in a way that is obviously working. Tho this method of attack is generally short lived, it seems to be working in the short term at least.

The ClooFone is ringing...
What nobody seems to have picked up on, and should have immediately, is the fact the attacking sites are not doing so via links to his site, which is what we would expect. They are doing so by making it look as if he is a spammer, thus decreasing his reputational (trust) value.....

[mjtaylor]

It may be a matter of semantics, but if your page gets discounted or does not get let's say 'full credit' because of other pages that have scraped and duplicated your content isn't that really a penalty. You are correct in that it is a misconception to say that Google will subtract points from your rankings score ie. penalize you, but not getting the full score is in essence a penalty and could hurt your rankings.

I am starting to see some evidence of this problem as well and it is hard to know where it is coming from and why.

The problem with calling the effect of duplicate content "a penalty" is that there are 'negative ranking factors' that are penalties - for keyword stuffing, for example, or invisible text. On the other hand, there may be a negative impact from duplicate content issues, but it is because Google returns only one page (generally) of dup content - that which it deems to be the best version - and if your page is not returned, that can feel as though you are being penalized.

I know this seems like splitting hairs, and semantics can feel like that, but precision in communication is very helpful. And particularly so in a field where so little is known for a fact and where rumors and legends run rampant.

[Rudy - SEO]

My proposed solution may not be feasible for all, but in cases like this I usually :

1. Go on a fact finding mission that includes determining the owner of the bad web site(s); Try and get a name, address and phone number;
2. Get the name, address and phone number of the ISP that is hosting the bad web site;
3. Send a "friendly" email/letter requesting that all references to my domain be taken down at once, from the offending domains;
4. If no reply, then have the Legal Department send a polite letter to the ISP asking for a "Cease and Desist" action on these particular domains;

All of this is much more possible if the domains are hosted with an ISP in the United States or in the country where you are. International law is somewhat vague. (understatement)

The bottom line is....this is a serious issue for you and you need to address it every time situations like this arise. In Public Relations, we call this "Reputation Management".

[dgswilson]

Thanks William. You're writing an article on reverse SEO? I need to read it when you're done.

Here is a list from AwStats that I see no explanation for (no relevance) . At least one will open a virus, so be careful


www.intl-alliance dot com/store
www.nicmebel dot com
www.socialdynamics dot cz/forum/viewtopic.php
www.biebrzaadventure dot pl
www.vpn-privacy dot org/index.php
vigera.buyvigravigara dot info/site_map.html
robocup.webege dot com/index.php
postclass dot com/list/19538,110.html
baza-rdot com/ru/author9
join.hqtube dot com/track/qx4DABkR/
verden.abcsok dot no/index.html
qucesuyi.t35 dot com/1Gr4Bx.html
sonomasoda dot com
www.novijsvet dot at.ua
tattooiworld dot com
www.w9escort dot com
yamzy dot com/country.ca/city.vancouver/id.ca7783226373.view
wszystkie-projekty dot pl
aboutmovie dot net
sfo-userportal.dc.skyfire dot com/
anywherebangers.doras dot us
www.penizenlargement dot com
yamzy.com/country dot us/city.worcester/id.us3475951626.view
www.intl-alliancedot com/store/
debtsettlementz dot com/repayment-mortgage/
connect.cleveland dot com/user/vertuklad/index.html
thoora dot com/f/21365902
xbox-varcus3.free2hostsite[\ dot com/index.html
memyar dot com
rabota-i-trud dot com.ua
www.goldencards dot ru/13.php
cc.bingj dot com/cache.aspx

[williamc]

I work in linux anyways, so no worries about viruses, thanks for the warning tho :)

[dgswilson]

Just to clarify on the duplicate content issue. I have thousands of pages that have been duplicated by other people. Most are legitimate and give credit and viable links. I stopped worrying about that some time ago. This is something else. Of course I'm not sure exactly what that something else is. My goal is to find out and find a remedy, for myself as well as others.

[williamc]

It's not duplicated content. Do you happen to have analytics stats of where your rankings were and what keywords have dropped off drastically?

Do those correlate to the anchors found on the crap sites?

[dgswilson]

Some of the sites will have a "profile page for dgswilson.com" even though I've never been to the site to set one up. Most of these sites I've never explored for anchors (links to me). I don't really keep track of rankings and keywords rankings. I just watch traffic - "How many, where they come from and what are they looking at".

[williamc]

Ok, I am putting together an email to Matt concerning this along with my ideas of why it is happening, amd a few questions, we shall see if it is what I think, if so it should get corrected.

[deepsand]

I don't really keep track of rankings and keywords rankings. I just watch traffic - "How many, where they come from and what are they looking at".
You can still use AW and GA to look for the beginning of a trend, and then drill down to keyword data for selected time slices surrounding the beginning of such trend.

[dgswilson]

Keywords look the same.