Domain penalized by Yahoo! ?

[Fonz]

One of my main domains seems to be penalized by Yahoo (smilingpussylinks.com) I don't know why or when this has happened, only the first page shows up ok when searching for the domain, all the rest shows up very weird.
Can anyone verify it's really penalized? And is there a way I can get it back on the ok list again if it is?

Please let me know.

[Bill]

I think you probably have the fairly well known yahoo linklist penalty, which is a risk for all linklists in yahoo.

No-one knows for sure how it works, but my guess is that it's an actual 'manual' list, to which linklists and certain other types of sites are added manually. There's probably some sort of algo filter that looks for sites that have certain linklists like characteristics, and every once in a while a new batch of domains are manually added to a blacklist, which then limits the number and type of pages that are likely to show up in the yahoo serp.

I say that because 'smiling pussy' is a quite unique keyphrase, but a search for 'smiling pussy' doesn't show your domain in the first few serp pages, altho your domain looks to have 24k incoming links.

But it would be interesting to hear if anyone else has an opinion on the subject.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by Fonz

One of my main domains seems to be penalized by Yahoo (smilingpussylinks.com) I don't know why or when this has happened, only the first page shows up ok when searching for the domain, all the rest shows up very weird.

What does that mean, "shows up very weird"? And are talking about a normal search or a site: search?

Yahoo mangled their search results on July 13/14 with a new anti-spam algorithm and their index is now beginning to recover. They had dropped one my domains from just under 5,000 indexed pages down to around 200. It's back up to over 3,000, but most of the results show the page URL in the title field instead of the page's title. (cocksuckers)

With anything SE, I sit, I wait, and I see what happens. While my shitty lists slowly improve in the SEs, I find it difficult to worry about hypothesized penalties of any kind.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

It's back up to over 3,000, but most of the results show the page URL in the title field instead of the page's title. (cocksuckers)

Am I correct in thinking thats what you see with the site: search or siteexplorer?

Have you been able to find in the ordinary results those pages showing up with just the url instead of the page title?

[Useless]

Originally Posted by Bill

Am I correct in thinking thats what you see with the site: search or siteexplorer?

Have you been able to find in the ordinary results those pages showing up with just the url instead of the page title?

Whenever I do a site:domain.com - Yahoo forces me to login and the resulting page is that ugly Site Explorer thing which Yahoo claims to be part of a wide array of webmaster tools. Damned if I can figure out what the tools are.

Just the URL instead of page title? What I'm seeing is each page's URL in what would normally be the title field in the results. So I see:

http://www.domain.com/foo/bar.html
Authenticate the site to see additional information
http:/www.domain.com/foo/bar.html

instead of the expected:
Free Foo Bar Porn
Colorful description of my free foo bar porn type stuff.
http:/www.domain.com/foo/bar.html

[Fonz]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

What does that mean, "shows up very weird"? And are talking about a normal search or a site: search?

Just look at this and you'll feel my pain

but most of the results show the page URL in the title field instead of the page's title.

that's what has happened to me too

[Linkster]

At least you have urls in there
Ive been banned by Yahoo since they started doing their own SE over two years ago - check this out - you wont even find a single url in there for me:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=www...=sexp-rd&x=wrt

I actually got a reply from them - as did a few other linklist owners (I remember Hoes was another one) that stated we are link farms and wont be listed

[Fonz]

I see, so most of the BS sites out there get listed but quality LL's won't?
At least I'm in good company

Ah well, moving on...

[Useless]

Yahoo is a link farm. Therefore, our existance threatens them. I dare them to ban me!




I was just kidding, Yahoo. Please don't ban me.

[Bill]

Well, Fonz, if you compare your site in siteexplorer and Linkster's site in siteexplorer, you'll get the good news that you aren't on the yahoo hard ban manual list. (However it works.)

But, clearly yahoo doesn't like something about your site - because, like I said, 'smiling pussy' is an odd enough keyword, that with your 24k inbound links you should absolutely rank high for it in an ordinary search.

One of the theories I've heard is that an algo has taken over the role of the manual list (that presumably Linkster is on). Jay was talking about this idea in one of my serach engine chats. That kinda fits what we see when we look for your site in yahoo search.

But, you pretty much have to accept that yahoo doesn't like linklists and linklist type sites, doesn't want them in their results, and has some way of supressing them.

UW, what type of site is it that you have in there, that you've been mentioning? Is it on a linklist type domain? Or is it a blog or some kind of content domain?

I'm still wondering if we could find out for sure that if a page shows up with just the url listing in site explorer, thats how it looks in the regular serps as well. There's that odd line "authenticate this site to see more" that appears in the siteexplorer listings...

[kenny]

I have the same problem. I recently asked them about this and recieved the following response.

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Search.

It has been determined that your site may not comply with Yahoo!'s
Content Quality Guidelines located at:

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearc...etions-05.html

Below are some answers to common questions regarding this issue:

Q: What are some of the common reasons that a site may violate Yahoo!'s
Content Policy Guidelines?

A: Yahoo!'s Content Quality Guidelines (link above) outline what we are
and are not looking for in pages that we index. Listed below are some of
the more common reasons that a site may violate these guidelines:

- Cloaking (showing crawlers deceptive content about a site)
- Massive domain interlinking- Use of affiliate programs without the
addition of substantial unique content
- Use of reciprocal link programs (aka "link farms"
- Hidden text
- Excessive keyword repetition

Q: If my site has a judgment against it, can I use the SiteMatch
inclusion program?

A: All pages submitted to SiteMatch are editorially reviewed. If a site
has a judgment against it, it is likely to be rejected by the SiteMatch
program.

Q: If my site has a judgment against it, can I use the Yahoo! Express
directory inclusion program?

A: Yes, the Yahoo! Directory and Yahoo! Search Index are different
systems. Inclusion or exclusion from one does not affect the other.

Q: How can I have my site re-reviewed?

A: Please review our content quality guidelines to make sure that your
site meets all of them. When you feel the site is ready, please complete
the form located at:

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/ysearch/cgi_rereview

requesting a re-review of your site. You may wish to include an
explanation of unique features on your site, or details of changes to
your site's content that may assist our editors in their evaluation.

Please allow several weeks for the review process, YST indexing, and a
complete refresh of the database before checking http://search.yahoo.com
to see if your site is listed in the Yahoo!Search Index. We do not offer
specifics detailing how an individual site is not in compliance with our
guidelines, but we will review your site individually. You will not be
receiving further notification regarding your request for a second
review, and we are not able to offer the option of another review.

Thank you for taking the time to make the Yahoo! Search Index better.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

Regards,

Dustin

Yahoo! Customer Care
25664934

[kenny]

My response:

That is a very vague reply.

I have no idea which infraction is taking place.

Is this a manual penalty or a automatic one?

Does this penalty remove it's self if the infraction is corrected?

Can you give me a clue on whats wrong with the site? Besides a list of

possible reasons?

[kenny]

Yahoo's response:


Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Search.

We do not offer specifics detailing how an individual site is not in
compliance with our guidelines, but we will review your site
individually.

Please review our content quality guidelines to make sure that your site
meets all of them. When you feel the site is ready, please complete the
form located at:

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/ysearch/cgi_rereview

You may wish to include an explanation of unique features on your site,
or details of changes to your site's content that may assist our editors
in their evaluation.

Yahoo!'s Content Quality Guidelines outline what we are and are not
looking for in pages that we index. For more information about Yahoo!'s
Content Quality Guidelines, please visit:

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearc...etions-05.html

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

Regards,

Dustin

Yahoo! Customer Care
25664934

[Bill]

It's been said that yahoo considers linklists to be link farms, one of the things mentioned in your reply.

Fonz, you should write them and see if you get back the same reply.

Linklists haven't been a good way to get yahoo traffic pretty much from the beginning of their new database and search. Small young linklists can show up for a while but sooner or later as they grow they trip the algorithim and get the boot.

Nobody knows for sure except a few yahoo engineers, but I would bet money that when they started there was a manual list, and that folks like linkster and jay got put on that manual list. But, they added to that an algo that looks for certain behaviors and that algo does most of the work of culling linklists and the like now.

[kenny]

my latest reponse:




I'm not going to alter my whole website in a desperate attempt of removing this phantom penalty.

Lets go over your "Content Quality Guidelines"

Pages Yahoo! Wants Included in its Index

1)Original and unique content of genuine value

I have many returning vistors which would indicate that my site includes content which they value.


2)Pages designed primarily for humans, with search engine considerations secondary

My site is easy to navigate and provides descriptive and categorized links to content in which they are looking for. This would explain the high ratio of bookmarkers

3)Hyperlinks intended to help people find interesting, related content, when applicable

The only way I know how to connect webpages is via hyperlink. I build webpages which provide content to retain bookmarkers and to upsell vistors. I'm not in the buisness of building webpages for the sake of building webpages.

4)Metadata (including title and description) that accurately describes the contents of a web page

I don't use metadata

5)Good web design in general

My site design looks better then the sites you have listed when searching for my own site.


What Yahoo! Considers Unwanted
Some, but not all, examples of the more common types of content that Yahoo! does not want include:


1)Pages that harm accuracy, diversity or relevance of search results

My site is as advertised. It's a adult website.


2)Pages dedicated to directing the user to another page

My site features zero redirects. If you mean trying to upsell my visitors for commission then yes I'm guilty. Virtually every webmaster does this. Yahoo does this.


3)Pages that have substantially the same content as other pages

My site provides hand reviewed content split into categories which again spawns bookmarkers.


4)Sites with numerous, unnecessary virtual hostnames

I don't do this.


5)Pages in great quantity, automatically generated or of little value

My pages have value as each one serves it's own purpose. I don't create webpages for the sake of creating webpages. I am not about to elminate my own webpages for the sake of Yahoo.


6)Pages using methods to artificially inflate search engine ranking

If I knew how to do this we wouldn't be having this conversation.

7)The use of text that is hidden from the user

I don't do this. Anybody with half a brain knows this is how you get banned from search engines.

8)Pages that give the search engine different content than what the end-user sees

I don't do this and don't even know how.

9)Excessively cross-linking sites to inflate a site's apparent popularity

I'm not going to stop linking to my own webpages nor am I going to tell other people to stop linking to me. In my buisness we exchange traffic. I'm not going to kill the life blood of my website for Yahoo's sake. Prehaps inflated popularity actually translates to actual popularity.

10)Pages built primarily for the search engines

I build webpages for my surfers.

11)Misuse of competitor names

I don't do this.

12)Multiple sites offering the same content

You already said this in number 3.

13)Sites that use excessive pop-ups, interfering with user navigation
Pages that seem deceptive, fraudulent or provide a poor user experience

My website is popup free. Again, I create webpages to retain bookmarkers.


Now that I have gone over Yahoo's gudelines can you please inform me of the problem?

If not I'll take it as a fault in Yahoo and not of my own site.

[kenny]

Originally Posted by Bill

It's been said that yahoo considers linklists to be link farms, one of the things mentioned in your reply.

Fonz, you should write them and see if you get back the same reply.

Linklists haven't been a good way to get yahoo traffic pretty much from the beginning of their new database and search. Small young linklists can show up for a while but sooner or later as they grow they trip the algorithim and get the boot.

Nobody knows for sure except a few yahoo engineers, but I would bet money that when they started there was a manual list, and that folks like linkster and jay got put on that manual list. But, they added to that an algo that looks for certain behaviors and that algo does most of the work of culling linklists and the like now.

It's the way link lists use recips.

I am sure of it.

[kenny]

yahoo's response:

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Search.

The re-review process takes several weeks to complete. At this time, we
cannot give you specific details why your site has been penalized.
Please check http://search.yahoo.com to see if your site has been
included in the index. You will not be receiving further notification
from Yahoo!.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Customer Care.

Regards,

Dustin

Yahoo! Customer Care
25670106

[kenny]

my final response:

Thank you for your time and quick response.


I don't consider my site a website that merits such a penalty.

I consider this a flaw in how Yahoo handles websites. A flaw that must have a negative impact on how surfers find the content that they are looking for.

I won't hold my breath regarding the re-review process.

Kind Regards,

Kenny


------------------------------------------

I apologize for all the posts. I was posting as the messages were being sent/received.

Didn't mean to spam this thread or anything.

I consider the issue with Yahoo a lost cause.

[Fonz]

Originally Posted by sleeper

I apologize for all the posts. I was posting as the messages were being sent/received.

Didn't mean to spam this thread or anything.

I consider the issue with Yahoo a lost cause.

I found your post very useful so no worries

Bill, I will write them and see what they respond. I got a few ideas to make the site less "linkfarmy". I didn't say it'll get me back on Yahoo's 1st page but if you don't try you don't succeed.

[pornhitzman]

I´m going to bump this thread because I have the same problem and would really like to know if there are any news regarding this issue. I´ve been searching back and forth to find someone that got their site reincluded, but I haven´t found anything yet. This is something that affects most LL owners sooner or later and we should try to solve this problem together if that´s possible. I know that hoes, link-o-rama and richardsrealm aren´t banned so there must be some way to get indexed again.

[bluebrit]

I had a domain pulled by yahoo back in november and since then i have gone through the site from top to bottom removing redundant code, checking descriptions to cats and making sure all of the links were valid. No popups exist and there are no viruses either. I re submitted the site for re-inclusion just a couple of days ago and got the same reply

"Hello, Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Search. It has been determined that your site may not comply with Yahoo!'s Content Quality Guidelines located at..." btw yahoo's email did say the site was reviewed manually.

I did have over 500 links on yahoo so the loss sucks but in truth the traffic i got from yahoo was pretty low. I can't do anymore so i'll have to live with it and forget about being listed by yahoo, which to me is no great loss. All the more for google and msn etc.

[pornhitzman]

I see today that penisbot got their domain unbanned from yahoo. Kit, how did you do it?

[oldbrad]

When i originally read this thread i searched yahoo for a couple big sites, penisbot was one of them and saw many listings, so it has been in for a while.

Posssibly it has to do with the number of links per page. Having 1,2,3,4,5, etc pages with listings instead of 1 huge page may possibly be corelated?

[Linkster]

I dont think so - he's always had those extra pages - and has been banned for about as long as most of us

[pornhitzman]

Originally Posted by Linkster

I dont think so - he's always had those extra pages - and has been banned for about as long as most of us

Yepp. It has always been like that.