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Google tries to keep its search results as clean as possible. For that reason, they have a variety of spam filters in their ranking algorithm that try to remove low quality web sites.

If your web site gets caught by one of these filters, it will be very difficult to get high Google rankings. In this article series, we're taking a look a the 15 most common Google spam filters and we'll tell you how you can get around them.

Google's -30 filter, the Google bomb filter and the page load filter

Google seems to apply the -30 filter to web sites that use spammy SEO methods. If Google finds out that your web site uses invisible text, JavaScript redirects, doorway pages or similar spam techniques then your rankings will drop by 30 spots.

The Google bomb filter seems to be applied to web sites that get too many identical links in a short time period. If a web site gets many links with exactly the same link text then Google will downrank the page because such an unnatural linking behavior indicates a manipulation attempt.

The page load filter is not exactly a filter. Nevertheless, it can affect your Google rankings. If your web site takes too long to load then the search engine spiders will time out and continue with the next web site in the list. That means that your web site won't be indexed and that it won't appear in Google's result pages.

How to get around these filters

If the -30 filter has been applied to your web site then you must remove the spam elements from your web site. After removing the spam elements from your site, send a reinclusion request to Google.

It is very important that all spam elements have been removed from your site before contacting Google. Otherwise, the reinclusion request won't work. Use white-hat SEO methods to optimize your web pages.

If the Google bomb filter has been applied to your web site then you also have to file a reinclusion request. However, it is better to avoid that Google applies that filter to your site. Try to get high quality inbound links with similar but varying link texts. These links will tell search engines that your web site is relevant to a special topic.

If you want to avoid that a slow loading web page prevents search engine spiders from indexing your page, make sure that you have a reliable web host. If your web host offers 99% uptime then this means that your web site can be down for nearly 4 days per year. If search engines try to index your site when it is down then it will be removed from the index.

Next week, we'll take a look at three more Google filters that can cause ranking problems for your web site.

"Now instead of simply informing webmasters that their sites have been flagged and suggesting next steps, we're also showing example URLs that we've determined to be dangerous. This can be helpful when the malicious content is hard to find.

For example, a common occurrence with compromised sites is the insertion of a 1-pixel iframe causing the automatic download of badware from another site. By providing example URLs, webmasters are one step closer to diagnosing the problem and ultimately re-securing their sites."

Google AdWords to show advertisers exactly where their ads are displayed

"In the next few months, Google’s advertiser reports will begin listing the sites where each ad runs, Ms. Malone said. She added that advertisers on the Google networks would soon be able to bid on contextual ads on particular Web sites rather than simply buying keywords that appeared across Google’s entire network."

Yahoo!'s Panama makes strong debut

"Since making its debut Feb. 5, [Yahoo's PPC ad system] Panama is being credited with an uptick in Yahoo's clickthrough rates for sponsored search ads. [...]

The new ranking model was responsible for a 5 percent increase in clickthroughs for the week ending Feb. 11, and a 9 percent increase for the week ending Feb. 18."

Search engine newslets

• Google explains the robots exclusion protocol.
• Google AdWords Editor 3.0 is now available.
• Yahoo shareholders submit 'Plan B'.
• Some Google deal records blocked.
• Google in content deal with media companies.
• Gmail domain dispute looms for Google in China.
• Google selling PR7 links for $10,000?
• Why Microsoft needs Yahoo!
• Microsoft buys health web search company.
• Google flaw left files open.

"If the Web's search engine industry is the race track, Yahoo has just taken a timely pit stop to try and win back ground lost against the new leader, Google."

Chip expert says Google threatened to blacklist his sites

"A top semiconductor industry analyst says Google threatened to blacklist his Web sites when he complained about a new site of his not showing up in search results.

5 reasons why Google will challenge Microsoft's office monopoly

"Google is now head-to-head with Microsoft in the Office Apps market, as you may have guessed from the recent Google Apps announcement. What you get from Google is word processing, spreadsheet, calendar, chat, web page creation and email.

"I am ranked first on the page on Google."

"This is our position for our Fort Myers real estate keywords in the search engines using IBP and ARELIS:

Google: #1, Yahoo: #2, AOL: #1, Altavista: #2, AllTheWeb: #2, Looksmart: #4

Thanks!"
Dave Sorenson, http://www.FortMyersHomes4u.com

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• 15 Google spam filters and how to avoid them - Part II
• 15 Google spam filters and how to avoid them - Part I
• The top 5 factors for successful web sites in 2007
• The end of Google bombs
• Google's plans for the next weeks
• Will this famous Google SEO guru quit?
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