Two weeks ago website suddenly stopped appearing in the Google index
(when I type the url in the google search I receive the message: 
Sorry, no information is available for the URL and the page rank
indicator is grey)  How can I know for sure if my site has been banned
or it is just being re-indexed?

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Request for Question Clarification by dogbite-ga on 06 May 2003 10:59 PDT

Hi makunaima-ga,

  First, as a disclaimer, Google Answers researchesr
  do not have inside knowledge about Google's index.
  We can only provide educated guesses based on our
  own experience and what we have read.  Still, many
  times we are able to help on such questions.

  Can you please provide your website's URL so that
  I can investigate further?

               dogbite-ga

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Clarification of Question by makunaima-ga on 06 May 2003 17:36 PDT

Thank you, www.mexicotravelnet.com

Hi there,

I have identified one major problem and another possible one. 

Please keep in mind that the only people who truly know why your site
was delisted are Google search engineers, and we at Google Answers are
a very separate entity.



Your Link Partner Page
----------------------

This is the big problem. You are running a link exchange program. The
only purpose would be to artificially increase link popularity for
your site and others that participate. Genuine link popularity is one
of the major reasons why Google works so well, and therefore Google
keeps an eye out for any site that attempts to undermine the system.

Quality Guidelines - Basic principles:

- Make pages for users, not for search engines.
- Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. 
- Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's
ranking or PageRank.
- Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check
rankings, etc.
://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Mexico Travel Net Link Partners
http://www.mexicotravelnet.com/linkpartners.htm



Duplicate Content
-----------------

Google also penalizes sites which have "substantially duplicate
content"
://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

You appear to have a number of different travel sites:
http://www.cancun-travelnet.com/links.html

The techniques Google use to look for duplicate content are obviously
not known to the general public, but my educated guess says they look
for:

- a group of sites that all link to each other
- duplicate contact details (like your toll-free number)
- duplicate legal disclaimers
- using the same graphics
- ownership details in WHOIS records
- using the same web host

I am unable to tell if Google has a problem with your different sites
or not. I do however suggest that you distance them from each other as
much as possible.


Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by makunaima-ga on 08 May 2003 08:59 PDT

Hi,
Your answer is very helpfull but the crux of the question was:  How
can I know for sure if my site has been banned
or it is just being re-indexed?

From your answer I assume that in your opinion my website has been
intentionally removed from Google, is this correct?

---

Clarification of Answer by robertskelton-ga on 08 May 2003 17:03 PDT

Using the Google Toolbar, a grey or all white PageRank is the
giveaway. PageRank often changes from one index update to the next,
but normally only up or down by a factor of one, like from PR4 to PR5.

If it suddenly changes from a healthy PR to PR0 (white bar) or
delisted (grey bar), you know that something has gone wrong. In your
case the grey bar means that your site has been removed from Google's
index.

Thank you