Your SEOinc article is a little off.

There Pagerank still shows, however Google dropped them from the cache.

So that is why they are not in the Google index.

I have to post under a fake name, because Google is just a bunch of EVIL assholes. They lie to people and randomly punish and unfairly penalize sites.

So Google should delete 80% of all the top ranking sites for any major keywords as everyone buys and trades links.

Just go down the list of the top listings for "search engine optimization. BruceClay.com buys links on www.internet.com. Google does nothing about this.

HighRankings.com is full of crap and she is a liar. She cliams she gets all her links naturally. That is Total Crap.

I could go on here for hours.

Everyone with top rankings break Google vague and stupid rules. Googles enforcement of these vague rules is a joke.

Google needs to fix this.

Why has Google Not penalized www.text-link-ads.com or www.linkadage.com ?

Selling links is okay, except for SEOinc??

Does anyone know for a fact that Google have intentionally dropped SEOInc from their index?

I've seen sites before where their home pages have disappeared from Google's index (with all other pages still intact) only for them to appear again the following month with exactly the same page rank and results positioning as before they disappeared!

(I just assumed that it was something to do with the server in question being down or having network problems when Google was doing its dance...)

I'm not saying that's the case here, but unless anyone knows any different, it is a possibility...

Google did it on purpose. It is a penality.

I am certain.

So what next then. If it's a certain penalty , does it mean that SEO Inc will never retain a rnaking on Google.

I personally think that this is stupidity on Google's part , if they deindex or ban websites for life. Everyone does link exchanges...I think SEO Inc is paying the price just coz they were #1 on Google.

It's like Google warning the SEO Industry using SEO Inc as their guinea pig.

woah guys thats a lot of extrapolation based off what could be a legit mistake on google's part or maybe the website has done something else that dropped it from the index. w/o google specifically saying they dropped it there's really no confirmation that google has done anything intentionally.

Personally I don't believe Google did anything manually, except changing algorithms that resulted in SEOInc being ranked lower/ being penalized (for example, they may have changed what concerns a linkfarm). They're always trying to improve general algorithms, as those work on everything, not just a single site. Manually penalizing single sites would be ridiculously inefficient when you look at the size of the web.

> Manually penalizing single sites would be ridiculously inefficient when you look at the size of the web.

Monitoring sites and manually penalizing every site that breaks the rules would be ridiculously inefficient – but manually penalizing just a few high profile sites to make a point wouldn't be so hard to do...

Are there any other sites that have disappeared too?

Bill Smith's comment demonstrates that he has a lot of opinions but little knowledge. High Rankings get their results from good copywriting and planning, not quick SEO gimmicks. I have been following their work and results for years. No lies, no "Total Crap". I am not affiliated with High Rankings in any way.

I know people who trade links with highrankings.com . Yes she tries to make it appear that important sites just link to her naturally. She puts a lot of effort into trying to make it seem like a perfect World where no one should trade and buy or sell links. What do you think goes on at all these SEO conferences. People party, talk about SEO links and trade links, etc. Jeanne is the one with "little knowledge" of how things really work.

Futhermore it is only Google who has made this an issue or concern. In none Internet promotion, marketing and advertising businesses trade, partnet and buy / sell all the time. It would be impossible to stop it totally on the Internet. It can also be a good thing. Most to the businesses ranked well for major keywords trade, buy /sell links. They are still good companies and relevent for the searches. They is some what of an natural order. Darwin on the Internet. Only the best and strongest stay around long term.

SEOinc had more links than Microsoft does. They sent out mass emails asking for complex 3 way links, etc.

So really it is a case of them over doing it. I can understand why Google is making an example out of them as stated by Tony Ruscoe above.

So the best SEOs know to be secretive about their link trades, partnerships and buying and selling of links.

Copy of a comment from another blog below. I think this tells the true story.

Blatant link-spamming

"blatant link-spamming techniques designed to game Google's rankings"

LOL – that's some funny stuff. Have the Stepforth guys looked at the backlinks for the top 10 results returned for "search engine optimization"? How the hell else do you get in there than by pouring on as many links as you can?

Those guys are there because they know how to game Google's rankings...

Ya know, there was an interesting point made above about why Google hasn't banned text-link-ads or linkadage, and the truth is, this is a very important question that I am surprized no-one offered any responce to...

If Google makes it so clear that buying links to minipulate pagerank is the biggest no-no, then why would they let these sites operate with no interference in ranking?

Now at first thought you could say that they are selling advertising, but the entire sites operation revolves around PR level...

Prices and sales obviosly are classified aound pagerank...

Now, I honestly think that these services are run by sopiticated individuals that are good at what they do, and have vast knowledges of what works and what doesn't, but it's strange to see them base their entire business on something hat Google says not to do...

But who am I to judge, their not getting penilized for it... So, there are so many unanswered questions here...

I know both of these site owners and think they provide great services, so personally, I'm gald to see that they haven't had any problem, and hope they never do, but it definetly doesn't make it any easier to figure out Google....

maybe it's just the link trading that Google doesn't like, but the actual Text Link Ad Space Sales is legitimate in thier eyes...

Good comments by John above.

What's wrong with trading links, or even buying them?

I don't happen to do that for my own site, but we do it for client's sites all the time. There's nothing wrong with it, and you don't get banned for it.

Jill

I have seen emails where Google has asked sites that were penalized why certain sites have linked to them. This is not fair, as webmasters can not control who links to them. Why would a Google engineer ask questions like this?

Also in this Google email it is implied that only related sites should be linking to you. I know many SEOs believe and try for relevent links. It is not that simple. Why does the Sports sections of major newspapers have ads for Cialis and Meet Russian wives? It is not natural for advertisements to be so tightly themed as Google would like. Some advertisements are and some are not.

I have also seen replys from helpgoogle.com stating your web site may have been penalized for buying links and that Google is against that practice. I could copy the email here.

Anyway I think Google needs to be clear and very specific about what is allowed and what is not allowed. There is a lot of confusion in the SEO industry and Google says and takes actions or does nothing in a random and confused way.

I really do wish that Google would be a bit clearer about what they want from the web and what they do not.

I have been a huge Google fan for a very long time. As a matter of fact, I have spent many years studing Google and letting MSN and Yahoo take a spot on the back burner, but with Google getting somewhat out of character, it seems my best friend at any moment, could become my biggest enemy.

I just don't know what to make of them... Will I tell you that I have never bought an inbound link to my website? Of course not...

That's my job. As an internet marketer and believer in search, I do what I can to get "high rankings" in search engines. Where and when did that become wrong?

Do I base my entire existance on it? No, Of course not. Do I spam or use blackhat tactics to try and fool the search engines? Never!

But I do advertise... So if this is something I shouldn't be doing, I really wish that Google would give all of us a fair shot at nkowing the rights and wrongs before turning off our entire business.....

I've seen some decent sites get blacklisted and you never really know why... All we can do is watch what happens around us and do our best to use honest practices.....

That really should be all that is required of us....