Can A Competitor Manipulate Your Ranking in Google Search?

[PhoneMistress]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Originally Posted by Greenie

Not sure if this applies or not, but if you're seeing duplicate results in google due to w & w/out the www. you can set up a google webmaster account & specify which you want (and then the rest just vanish)

Right. I did that on the 23rd. Under settings you check the preferred domain which in my case is “www.” Keep in mind you have to add the non-www first.

Originally Posted by walrus

...The latest theory I've heard is that inbound links can only help, not hurt your site as you are not responsible for those that link to you.

But yet I am.

My site is 10 years old. The 301 redirect was set in 2002 or before. Every link on my site is uniform which includes “www”. This canonical issue is not something having to do with my site or server. It has to do entirely with how an unknown site linked to my root. I no longer buy the search engine screed that a competitor can not screw with your rankings. I have had the number one listing for my search term for about 8 years. So maybe that makes me a target. I am satisfied in my research to say (in my case) that if the preferred domain isn’t checked in Webmaster Central, then another site can create enough links to your landing page that will not only confuse “the Google” but also undo all of your hard work.

For 10 years I never had a canonical issue until last week when this Romanian webmaster’s nearly 1K shady links (which are about 30 days old) to my root were picked up.

If you have not set your preferred domain, do it now.