Google has had to apologise to a number of Webmasters who saw their rankings drop, after the search giant mistakenly classified their sites as being parked domains. There has been much discussion over whether this was, in fact, the implementation of the highly publicised over-optimisation penalty but Google has said that this definitely isn’t the case. Through Matt Cutts, the chief anti spammer at Google, they also said that the problem has been rectified and steps are being taken to ensure a similar situation won’t occur again in the future.
Google Changes
The search giant has implemented a number of changes to its search algorithms in recent months, with special attention being paid to the practice of buying links on other websites. In a recent interview, Matt Cutts of Google, said that they would be introducing what amounts to an over optimisation penalty some time during this year. Inevitably, perhaps, it was this penalty that was being blamed for the recent problems in rankings that were being heavily discussed and debated on numerous webmaster forums.
Algorithmic Indicators
According to Google, though, the problem arose from indicators that are used to highlight parked domains or placeholder websites. Such websites typically include little or no useful information and are instead packed full of advertisements; pages that Google definitely does not want to promote in its results. These indicators were incorrectly flagging some sites as being parked domains and the resulting pages experienced a drop in their rankings.
Forum Discussions
As is usually the case when websites drop their search position, webmasters took to forums and discussion boards, including those belonging to Google, to vent their frustration and air their grievances. As a result, Google found it necessary to explain what had happened in the shape of one of Google‘s most public figures, Matt Cutts.
Correcting The Problem
The search giant has said that the algorithms and indicators have been corrected so the ranking drops should have been rectified. They also said that they are looking at ways in which they can improve systems so that such errors and problems will not occur again the future.
