Strange happenings... Need Help

[davef]

Hi guys,

I was informed today from a concerned customer that our site was no longer showing up in Google. Further details reveal that www.ascendacoustics.com has been completely removed from Google's index -- EVERY page!

The forum shows up but the main site is gone. Googling "www.ascendacoustics.com" does not lead to our site.

Something is up and we need your assistance. I am not quite sure how this could happen (we have been listed for 8+ years) or how someone could actually accomplish this. We were not informed. Obviously, this can be very damaging and a full investigation is now being conducted.

Our site has not changed.

We have noticed another company attempting to cash in on our popularity and reputation by running Google ad campaigns using our company name and linking to their own site. This type of activity will not be tolerated and immediately shut down. Could our removal from Google be related to this less-than-respectable behavior? Any information anyone can provide us will be greatly appreciated. A full investigation is now underway and any information that you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Please contact me privately if you do have information that you feel is worth sharing with us.

We need your help….

[Gov]

I did notice that a few months ago when I "Googled" Ascend, it seems to not come up with many hits like it did in the past. I was kinda of wondering why. This is interesting..............

[azanon]

The easiest way to do that would be to upload a robots.txt file to your server root (say, by a webmaster, or someone else with access to the server). I'm not saying that's what was actually done; just saying that'd be a really easy way to do it; the easiest way really. I'd eliminate that possibility first.

[GirgleMirt]

Hi David, weird to see that... You might want to read this: http://www.bigoakinc.com/seo-articles/banned-by-google.php

Sounds similar. They have a solution at the end where it allows you to get back in google if you were banned.

[BradJudy]

Whoever runs your website should get registered with Google as a webmaster for the site (see http://www.google.com/webmasters/). To do this, they'll have to place a file on the website that Google will look for. Once registered, you'll be able to look at the indexing status of your site as well as have access to a few other tools.

As mentioned, a bad robots.txt file can prevent your site from being indexed.

It's much more likely this is a Google hiccup than a malicious attack. Someone else cannot request that you be removed from the index, that can only be done by adding a robots file or being a registered webmaster for the site.

The above link is good, although it seems unlikely the other items are an issue. Start by registering as a webmaster and asking Google questions.

[davef]

I have been following up on this most of the day. It appears that the main site has actually been banned from google. Nothing on our site has changed and it is not possible to actually talk with someone from Google regarding this.

I have read over every reason for google to ban a site and to the best of my knowledge, our site fully complies with all Google "rules".

It is a sad day --- this is devastating. Anybody have any contacts at Google so that we can at least find out why? The only way to be re-indexed is to admit to breaking Google rules and explaining to them what rules were broken and what was done to fix them. I am not one to admit to wrong doing when there was no wrong doing.

A search on "CBM-170" brings up hundreds of links on Google, but not one from ascendacoustics.com.

[BradJudy]

As I mentioned, someone should register as a webmaster for ascendacoustics.com with Google, then you should be able to view information like indexing errors and hopefully the reason for the ban. It should be a simple process for anyone at the company who can upload a file to the site. I just did it for my site and it took about two minutes. It lets me see things like errors, keywords, top hits, etc.

[davef]

As I mentioned, someone should register as a webmaster for ascendacoustics.com with Google, then you should be able to view information like indexing errors and hopefully the reason for the ban. It should be a simple process for anyone at the company who can upload a file to the site. I just did it for my site and it took about two minutes. It lets me see things like errors, keywords, top hits, etc.

Hi Brad,

It was done earlier today. Google "WON'T" index the site... "Sorry, no information is available for the URL ascendacoustics.com" Google also doesn't list a site as banned, it simply removes all information.

I must say that this seems all too coincidental with another company running a Google adwords campaign using our company name and linking to their site.... Formal complaints are now being filed and they will get what they deserve (you know who you are ;) )

[BradJudy]

Hi Brad,

It was done earlier today. Google "WON'T" index the site... "Sorry, no information is available for the URL ascendacoustics.com" Google also doesn't list a site as banned, it simply removes all information.


Did you only try ascendacoustics.com or did you do the full www.ascendacoustics.com? Also try the really full http://www.ascendacoustics.com.

If using a company name in an AdWords ad got the company mentioned banned, then every major company from Ford to Microsoft to Sony would be banned from Google.

[davef]

If using a company name in an AdWords ad got the company mentioned banned, then every major company from Ford to Microsoft to Sony would be banned from Google.

You are probably right, it just seems quite coincidental. I have someone working on this now. There could be many different possibilities.

[JackT]

When I google "ascend acoustics" or "cbm-170", my first hit in both cases is forum.ascendacoustics.com.

The rest of the hits are for pages AV websites (hometheatersound, soundstage, audioreview, audioholics, etc.) but at least they are reviews (and good ones too!)

[JasonColeman]

That's really strange and potentially very damaging, too. I hope you're able to get to the bottom of this Dave.

J.

[GirgleMirt]

What is the other company running the ascend adword? (pm maybe?)

[rogerm]

It's been like that at least since July when I made my first inquiry to Ascend.
I didn't have the full company name, so I searched for Ascend loudspeakers.
The forum finally came up midway in the page, followed by an Ascend review that I read. The reviewer had the link to Ascend Acoustics which brought me to the site.

[pegleg]

I know this won't help DaveF, but I never use google. I use clusty.com (no www). It's much better, and easier to find things. After all, whether or not you search 600,000 sites or 800,000, it really doesn't matter after 20 or so.

Pegleg (dying to know what company is doing this to Ascend)

[JasonColeman]

I use clusty.com (no www).
The problem is that most people do use google and most people have probably never heard of clusty. Not a knock, just an opinion (and maybe some fact, too :) ).

J.

[clarke68]

Hey Dave,

Here's an article for 'ya, although you've probably already read (something like) it:

http://www.pandia.com/features/banned.html

...although that article is more targeted towards online marketers who are often trying to get away with stuff. I took a look at the code of your home page, and nothing fishy stands out. I've got a couple buddies over at Google I can talk to tonight...I'll let you know if I find anything out.

FWIW, you still turn up 1st in a search for "ascend acoustics" on both Yahoo! and MSN, so you're not 100% out of the game.

Hope that helps!

- Clarke (who became a Yahoo! employee about a week ago)

[davef]

That's really strange and potentially very damaging, too. I hope you're able to get to the bottom of this Dave.

Thanks Jason,

We are getting to the bottom of it. Should take a few more days (we hope!)


What is the other company running the ascend adword? (pm maybe?)

This issue has been quickly resolved. Please forgive me but I don't feel comfortable giving out any additional information regarding it


I know this won't help DaveF, but I never use google. I use clusty.com (no www). It's much better, and easier to find things. After all, whether or not you search 600,000 sites or 800,000, it really doesn't matter after 20 or so.

Nice search engine! I didn't even know that existed. Thanks for the tip!

[Jonnyozero3]

This is very interesting, and possibly disturbing.

That said, the google searches are working for me. This site is the #1 hit for "Ascend" and "CBM-170" for me.

I hope you get fully to the bottom of whatever happened...

[davef]

Hey Jon,

We are slowly coming back up in Google. I have had someone working on this for a few days now. I suppose he knew some shortcuts and such, I don't really know, but I do know that pages are finally coming back up. Good to see results.

I have also learned the hard way that is just not possible to determine exactly what happened. I thought it was difficult trying to get support from ATT, you should try to contact someone at Google :o I can't blame them though, when you catalog something like a billion web pages, if they offered technical support of their listings, they could not possibly hire enough people to handle that kind of volume.

[JasonColeman]

You guys are #1...at least with Google! :)

Congrats on getting this solved so quickly.

J.