hello,  I was able to locate my website using Google.  I no longer can
find my site using key word searches and I am not even in your "data
base".  What has happened, why and how do I fix this problem?  thank you,  Joe

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Clarification of Question by niish-ga on 21 May 2003 05:36 PDT

http://www.smokinjoespipes.com is my site.

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Request for Question Clarification by robertskelton-ga on 21 May 2003 20:06 PDT

Have you ever used Web Position Gold or any other software for
checking how well your site is ranking?

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Clarification of Question by niish-ga on 21 May 2003 21:27 PDT

hello, For several months I was able to locate my website thru many
key word searches using Google.  I could even type smokinjoespipes in
the key word search and bring up my site,
(http://www.smokinjoespipes.com).  I added my url several months ago.
One key word, "tobacco rollers" would pull me up in the number one
spot. Now all of the key word searches fail to locate me and even when
I type in smokinjoespipes or smokinjoespipes.com in the key word
search, I get, (Sorry, no information is available for the URL
smokinjoespipes.com).  I feel that I have been sabotaged.  It is if I
do not exsist on the net any more. I can't figure out what has
happened. Thank you sincerely,  Joseph Nunn

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Clarification of Question by niish-ga on 21 May 2003 21:30 PDT

I could understand if I fall back on page 999 and can't be up front, 
but I should be able to type in smokinjoespipes in the key word search
and still be in the data bank.  thank you,  Joe

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Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 21 May 2003 22:07 PDT

Joe,

In the last few months, have you done any of the following?

- changed your website
- added links to your website
- gotten someone else to add your link to their website
- purchased software or used services which provide SEO
  (Search Engine Optimization) such as auto-submittal to
  Search Engines, auto-rank-checking, link exchanges, etc?

For any of these things which you *have* done, if you can provide
specific details (what changes, which links, what other websites, what
software or services, etc), it will assist Researchers to better
Answer your Question.

Thanks,

aceresearcher

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Clarification of Question by niish-ga on 22 May 2003 06:59 PDT

hello, yes I have added things to my website.  I didn't think that
would take me out of the data base though and was trying to optimize
my sites ranking. I added Google, and Yahoo to my menue, main page. I
have added other pages with links also. Last night I ran position Gold
but was having this problem prior to that. I got the Position Gold
software idea from one of the clarifications below to this problem.
Was that a no-no? What should I do at this point to get back into the
game and stay there? Thank you,  Joe

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Request for Question Clarification by aceresearcher-ga on 22 May 2003 11:13 PDT

Joe,

Researcher robertskelton wasn't *suggesting* that you use WebPosition
Gold; he was asking if you *had* used it, because when we get
Questions from Customers as to why their site has dropped in the
rankings or disappeared from Google, the use of WebPosition Gold is
frequently the reason.

From Google's Guidelines for Webmasters:
"Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check
rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate
our terms of service. Google does not recommend the use of products
such as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries
to Google."
://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html

Please stop using WebPosition Gold immediately. If you paid any money
for it, immediately request a refund (many states have laws which give
you the right to back out of a purchase within 3 days), and notify
your credit card company that you are disputing the charge and want it
removed from your bill.


Can you provide a specific list of the links and the additional pages
which you recently added to your site? In your case, it's going to be
very difficult to pinpoint the cause of your problem without knowing
exactly what was changed.

Thanks,

ace

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Clarification of Question by niish-ga on 22 May 2003 19:51 PDT

hello, one page I have added was
http://smokinjoespipes.com/main/collecting.htm which has a link to 
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/arcadia.bell/tradenames.htm. The link
http://smokinjoespipes.com/main/collecting.htm was added to my main
page. I also added to my main page a Google and Yahoo search engine
link.  I changed part of my meta tag on the index page also. I have
been trying to resubmit my URL also,  probably to many times since
this has happened. It is starting to sound like I have made a mess of
things. I thought of starting a new website with a new .com. I
appreciate the info on software to check my ranking, I will never do
that again keeping in mind that I never did this before the problem
began.  Starting completely over,  "is that a bad idea"?  Will my site
as is be able to get back into the game?  I noticed that I can find
myself on "MSN" and "all the web" and some other search engines but
not as good as I had it with you all and search engines that use the
Google data base.  Also, is it possible for someone else to submit a
URL not their own and cause this?  thank you,  Joe

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Clarification of Question by niish-ga on 22 May 2003 19:58 PDT

hello,  I read your guidelines and I did another no no.  I noticed
that I had a page show up in a key word search which I didn't like and
change the content of the URL to the same content on my index page.  I
can delete this page completely. Here is the URL,
http://smokinjoespipes.com/singlepapers/straw.htm.  thank you, Joe

Dear Joe, 

First of all, and that is very important - Google Answers is not
linked with the Google Index, and I am not a Google employee. I am,
though, sort of an expert on search engine submission, and in
particular in Google submission.
  
There could be several reasons, why a site that has been previously
indexed, ceased to appear. Since you admited that you've done several
of the "no-no"s written in the Google guidelines for Webmasters, the
reason is probably these violations of the guidelines.
 
There are several reasons for Google to remove manually your site from
their index. Google discourages (or maybe I should say - bans)
cloaking and link exchanges, and other "artificial" methods that would
make it look as if you are linked to many sites, that are actually not
linked to you. Since you've mentioned you've used some of the
placement programs, it could be that one of them is using these banned
methods.
 
Google have added to their manuel for Webmasters this page, that warns
you of the crooks out there: ://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
(some of them are "real" crooks, ones that take your money, while
others might cause harm to you, although being free, by inserting
elements that might ban you from Google index): "Be careful if a
company is secretive or won't clearly explain what they intend to do.
Ask for explanations if something is unclear. If an SEO creates
deceptive or misleading content on your behalf, such as doorway pages
or "throwaway" domains, your site could be removed entirely from
Google's index. Ultimately, you are responsible for the actions of any
companies you hire, so it's best to be sure you know exactly how they
intend to "help" you." (Source: Google Information for Webmasters,
Search Engine Optimizers, ://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html ).
 
In any case, whenever you feel that the removal was "unfair", you can
address your grievances to Google, at and mailto:help@google.com. They
do not "promise" to tell you why you have been removed, or to
reinstate you, but explaining what happen might just help.
 
You can also use their FREE user support forum 
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=google.public.support.general 
  
You can find more information on Google's index at  
://www.google.com/webmasters  
   
I hope that answered your question. Please contact me for
clarifications on the answer. I'd be pleased to clarify my answer
before you rate it.