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How A Third Party Can Remove Your Site From Google SERPs

Posted by on 21st Aug 2007 Search Engine Optimisation 6 comments

I came across an interesting article today and I thought I would bring it to the attention of all of you guys (the article was posted 5 days ago).

The article was written by Dan Thies of SEO Fast Start and in it he explains how there is a bug in google which allows a web page to be completely taken out from the google search results.

In June of 2006, while working to resolve some indexing issues for a client, I discovered a bug in Google’s algorithm that allowed 3rd parties to literally hack a web page out of Google’s index and search results. I notified a contact at Google soon after, once I managed to confirm that what we thought we were seeing was really happening.

The problem still exists today, so I am making this public in the hope that it will spur some action.

I have sat on this information for more than a year now. A good friend has allowed his reputation to suffer, rather than disclose what we knew. I continue to see web sites that are affected by this issue. After giving Google more than a year to resolve the issue, I have decided that the only way to spur them to action is to publish what I know.

I’m surprised that this has not been fixed by Google yet, let’s hope the information being released to the public will give them the kick up the ass they need to go and fix it.

If you are interested in Search Engine Optimisation then I recommend reading this.

Article Link : Google Proxy Hacking: How A Third Party Can Remove Your Site From Google SERPs

Kevin Muldoon is a webmaster and blogger who lives in Central Scotland. His current project is WordPress Mods; a blog which focuses on WordPress Themes, Plugins, Tutorials, News and Modifications and useful resources such as 101 Places To Find Images For Your Blog Posts.

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6 comments - Leave a reply
  • Posted by Rhys on 21st Aug 2007

    Scary.

    It's logical. I noticed on the digital point forums there's a thread half of it is blind panic, and half of it is "death to google".

    Why though did the guy not go straight to google though?
  • Posted by Dan Thies on 21st Aug 2007

    I did go straight to Google. That was more than a year ago. :mad:

  • Posted by Kevin on 21st Aug 2007

    I hope they do something about this. I'm surprised they didnt cover this hole a year ago when you brought it up with them
  • Posted by The Buxr Widget on 21st Aug 2007

    Great job Dan – I read your excellent post too. It's especially frightening when you have significant part of your income online.
  • Posted by Rhys on 22nd Aug 2007

    My mistake Dan. I must admit, I must've missed that part of the article. I apologise :)

  • Posted by Dan Thies on 22nd Aug 2007

    No worries, Rhys – it's a very long post with a lot of comments. A lot of people aren't catching every point the first time. It's easy for me to talk, I've been writing it for months…