68581 14 3 econsultancy_xml <p>Recently, <a href="http://www.gocompare.com">GoCompare.com</a>, a large car insurance comparison site that most of us see in TV adverts every day, was apparently hit by a penalty moving them from number 1 to page 7 for the search term <em>"car insurance"</em>.</p> <p>Google has yet to comment on the story but most search experts agree that the site appears to have been given a penalty for buying links, a tactic against the Google guidelines.</p> <p>Normally a site being penalised in Google isn't major news (it happens every day) but in this case Hitwise has done some <a href="http://weblogs.hitwise.com/robin-goad/2008/02/google_blacklists_gocompare.html">research into the effects of the penalty</a> and offered some interesting statistics.</p> <p>Apparently before the sudden drop in rankings, 1 in 6 visitors to GoCompare.com found the site by searching for <em>"car insurance".</em></p> <p>Afterwards the traffic dropped 87%.<br /><img alt="" src="http://weblogs.hitwise.com/robin-goad/UK%20Internet%20searches%20for%20car%20insurance%20and%20traffic%20to%20go%20compare%20%20gocompare%202007%202008%20chart.png" /><br /> Traffic to <a href="http://www.confused.com">Confused.com</a> has increased a staggering 77% in recent weeks as it gained the number 1 ranking.</p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph>Recently, <Link URL="http://www.gocompare.com" Window="Self">GoCompare.com</Link>, a large car insurance comparison site that most of us see in TV adverts every day, was apparently hit by a penalty moving them from number 1 to page 7 for the search term <Quote>"car insurance"</Quote>.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Google has yet to comment on the story but most search experts agree that the site appears to have been given a penalty for buying links, a tactic against the Google guidelines.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Normally a site being penalised in Google isn't major news (it happens every day) but in this case Hitwise has done some <Link URL="http://weblogs.hitwise.com/robin-goad/2008/02/google_blacklists_gocompare.html" Window="Self">research into the effects of the penalty</Link> and offered some interesting statistics.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Apparently before the sudden drop in rankings, 1 in 6 visitors to GoCompare.com found the site by searching for <Quote>"car insurance".</Quote></Paragraph> <Paragraph>Afterwards the traffic dropped 87%.<LineBreak /><Image Source="http://weblogs.hitwise.com/robin-goad/UK%20Internet%20searches%20for%20car%20insurance%20and%20traffic%20to%20go%20compare%20%20gocompare%202007%202008%20chart.png"></Image><LineBreak /> Traffic to <Link URL="http://www.confused.com" Window="Self">Confused.com</Link> has increased a staggering 77% in recent weeks as it gained the number 1 ranking.</Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2008-02-14T10:44:00+00:00 14 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>Getting a top organic ranking in Google can drive a huge amount of customers to a website, resulting in large profits. </strong> </p> <p>Break the rules and this traffic stream can be turned off overnight.</p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Getting a top organic ranking in Google can drive a huge amount of customers to a website, resulting in large profits. </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Break the rules and this traffic stream can be turned off overnight.</Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 2178 365066 GoCompare feels effects of Google penalty false 2008-02-14T11:28:00+00:00 gocompare-feels-effects-of-google-penalty 2009-04-30T05:54:14+01:00 2009-04-30T05:54:14+01:00 1528