Major google update yesterday?

[Barry]

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I am on the edge today - my main site that brings in all my main business has just been wiped off the internet yesterday!!!

Has anybody noticed a major google shift in their stats yesterday, or do I start to panick now!!

Ta

[Brendon]

G don't do "traditional" updates any more... but they do tweak filters, introduce new data en bloc etc occasionally, which can produce a similiar effect. Even if your site has utterly disappeared, it may just return in a day or 2. If not, you have deeper problems... what does a site: search return?

[tbp]

I`ve actually noticed the opposite over night, a couple of my sites that were doing well and then went down in rank a lot, have now come back into top postitions.

I don't whats happened, buts its been good for me!

[Barry]

Thanks for replying! I feel like I just lost my job, and effectivly have if my pages dont return!

A site search returns all 500 pages that are on the site and none are in supplimental, however when I search google for the unique txt I have on every page nothing is returned in the results. Also my site is no longer listed under the keywords I have been optimising for. And they have been in the results for years now, its a very established site, perhaps 5 years old.

My income also doubled over the last week and then died yesterday

Thanks again

[DioBach]

The time to really worry is when you don't come up top for your own domain's URL - I've had that happen to several of my sites. One is still suffering after a year. Have you been doing anything questionable recently? Buying or selling links, hiding text etc?

Then again, one of my site drops out for a day or two, but then comes back - it could be a temp thing as has been mentioned.

[ian-d]

Barry, if you want me to take a look into it for you, just PM me your url. Will see if i can find anything. I wouldn't worry either though, a blip like this will usually sort itself out in a day or two.

[D-Mac]

It's a complete s*d when that happens. It will probably come back though, as long as you haven't done anything dodgy. It might take a month or more though, so now's the time to work as fast as possible on new sites. There's nothing like your income drying up overnight to give you a kick are the ar$e. It stops you from nodding off Good luck.

[Brendon]

>> its a very established site, perhaps 5 years old.

>> My income also doubled over the last week and then died yesterday

Probably a temporary glitch then, nothing more than a data rollback or update which has left you in the cold for a short spell. Diversification is your friend

[Barry]

Not made any major changes at all to the site, so I guess its time just to hang tight for the minute and pray!

I did have a look at my robots txt file and it had this in it

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
Disallow:

Not sure why it was there or if I added it - reckon this might have effected it?

Ta

[D-Mac]

That's the Adsense Bot. You may as well allow it as some people reckon it helps. I doubt that caused your problem though.

[tbp]

Hi Barry,

I wouldn't panic about this yet. I was thinking back, and it has happened to a site of mine in the past. The site disappeared for a couple of days, and then came back as before. I doubt that this is a permanent thing, Im sure that given a couple of days you`re site will come back as before.

I know its a pain in the arse, as you're traffic dies while this happens, but im sure it will come back.

I can't explain why this happens, haven't got a clue, just saying from my own experience.

I have similar with yahoo on a monthly basis, my page counts start dropping, until it shows 0 pages as indexed, and then it builds back up.

Nowhere near as frequent with google, but I have seen it happen before.

Hopefully, you're site will be like mine, and come back with a higher ranking than before!

Your block in the robots.txt file is blocking the google media bot, that scans your pages to find your keywords so that it can deliver targetted ad's for adsense. Not sure what benefits there would be in blocking it, as you want your ad's to be as targeted as much as possible so you get more clicks.

[ian-d]

I personally use a blank robots.txt file, no information contained at all. Works for me

[cat]

Worth checking Google Webmaster Tools
Useful for finding indexing problems or penalties.

[Elaine]

Google's definitely playing silly beggars at the moment - we've had a bit of a rollercoaster ride since the end of May - lost half the traffic in one day, but some pages bounced back within the week, others limped along slowly - but we're up to about 80% - with some very nice results.

This smells very much like the debacle over Big Daddy which dragged on for months - seeing very similar results in the serps.

There's definitely been a bit of an algo change - I seem to be seeing more emphasis on duplicate content - which is finally making me alter my pages a tad - something I should have done ages ago.

So if you haven't done anything 'wrong' - I'd try not to worry too much - which is a lot easier said than done.

[Barry]

Thanks for the support people!

I am trying to stay calm but its hard when your earnings are few hundred less a day! Its such a shame as well as there have been a few promotions and offers starting today and the site would have converted well.

A few years ago it wouldnt have mattered as I had a few sites, but after a few month off for stress last year I dropped it down to managing 1. Just knew it was a bad idea putting all those eggs in one basket, but after a while you think your keywords and position in google is safe. Just goes to show what a powerfull force google is in my life and business.

The coffee from my google cup definetely tastes sour today!

Still its not like it hasnt happened before - back to the drawing board and the next idea I spose.