Big Mouth Media Banned

anonymous321 · #1 02-20-2006

Has anybody noticed that Big Mouth Media one of the UKs top SEOs has been banned by google?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...S earch&meta=

AussieWebmaster · #2 02-20-2006

Interesting but as a single anonymous post I have to recommend someone takes this down.

anonymous321 · #3 02-20-2006

why?

its a single post because I only just signed up to the forum. I would far rather the post was left for open discussion than just be removed on the prinicple it is my first post and at current I do not want to disclose my name.

AussieWebmaster · #4 02-20-2006

Not the best of names for a poster talking about some other company going down... why not let us know who you are???

grnidone · #5 02-20-2006

This was talked about on StrikePoint today. Does anyone have any background info on this company? I'm a damn Yankee, and I've never heard of them.

anonymous321 · #6 02-20-2006

I am intersted in hearing what people may or may not have to say on the subject, who I am is irrelevant is it not??

anonymous321 · #7 02-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by grnidone

This was talked about on StrikePoint today. Does anyone have any background info on this company? I'm a damn Yankee, and I've never heard of them.

They are one of the UKs top optimisation firms, taking on huge corporate clients including sony erricson, playstation, mtv, starbucks the list goes on.

from my research Big Mouth had a large amount of hidden text on their homepage, hidden with a javascript css overide, very crafty!

grnidone · #8 02-20-2006

It appears that google has banned the BigMouth main site...did they also ban their clients?

anonymous321 · #9 02-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by grnidone

It appears that google has banned the BigMouth main site...did they also ban their clients?

As far as I am aware at current non of the clients sites have been banned, but if 'black hat' techniques have been used on their main site it does cry out some questions about their ethics and the optimisation techniques adopted for the client sites

dannysullivan · #10 02-20-2006

Quote:

its a single post because I only just signed up to the forum. I would far rather the post was left for open discussion than just be removed on the prinicple it is my first post and at current I do not want to disclose my name.

Let me explain some of the concern you're feeling about this. First, we have a no spam reporting policy here on the forums. More about that and why is covered here.

You're not really doing a spam report, however. After all, Big Mouth looks to have been banned already. Google apparently knows this. Still, posting under an anonymous name kind of suggests you might have some interest in wanting this to be more publicized. Perhaps you used to work for the firm; perhaps you work for a rival firm. Either way, it probably just feels a bit iffy to people.

In contrast, if you were from another firm and said "check it out, this major UK firm has been banned," you might still have some self-interest in it, but at least it woudn't have rubbed some people the wrong way, that you might be behind a whispering campaign.

I'm not saying you're doing that -- just trying to help you understand some of the pushback you've gotten. Add to this that Threadwatch also has a thread here, that came off a tip, and you can see why there's a sense of unease.

Now all that aside, sure, definitely interesting to discuss. They aren't the first SEO firm to get dinged. iCrossing is a major one that I recall being wiped out years ago but today has earned their way back in (and PR of 7, I see today). Several major French firms including Netbooster were banned in 2004, more details here.

As for the spam, here's an easy way to see it. That's the text only version of the cache at Google.

Normally you can get to that from a link in the regular cache, but the CSS and JavaScript do some redirecting. This tool that DaveN and others turned me on to, is great for disabling all that. Look at the text-only version compared to the regular home page, and you can see all the junk that's been stuffed there. Pretty surprising to see on the site of a fairly well known firm.

Big Mouth is certified AdWords company. Interestingly, while they might get banned on Google for organic listings, this probably will have nil impact on that certification for the paid side.

grnidone · #11 02-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by anonymous321

As far as I am aware at current non of the clients sites have been banned, but if 'black hat' techniques have been used on their main site it does cry out some questions about their ethics and the optimisation techniques adopted for the client sites

ok..dude. This was a cool converstion until you brought up the "e" word. If you were baiting for a conversation about hat colors, I will leave now.

anonymous321 · #12 02-20-2006

Ok advice taken, sorry if I have put out any bad feeling. The reason I am posting under anonymous is that I do work for a rival company, I am not trying to start a rumour mill, I was merely wanting to talk to fellow proffesionals about this rather huge news story.

I know exactly how and why they where banned. I just wanted to hear other third party views on the matter.

I hope that you allow this post to remain?

Kind Regards

AussieWebmaster · #13 02-20-2006

Thanks for the clarification Danny...

anonymous321 · #14 02-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannysullivan

Big Mouth is certified AdWords company. Interestingly, while they might get banned on Google for organic listings, this probably will have nil impact on that certification for the paid side.

On the contrary, in my experience if you are a certified AdWords company and you do for what ever reason find yourself banned from the natural listings you have a little 'weight' to throw around to get re-included rather quickly

AussieWebmaster · #15 02-20-2006

A whisper campaign is hurtful.... remember people work for this company and could be out of work soon.... even if they clean up their act the more bad publicity the greater the chance those who do not deserve it will end up in dire straits...

It would have come here sooner or later.... and there were planty of other sites discussing it -
And I do not know anyone from the company that I am aware of...

dannysullivan · #16 02-20-2006

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting being certified means you can get back into the index. I was pointing out more the irony.

Google will ban the firm from organic results and possibly take action against its clients. Of course, if those are big clients, they'll get back into the index super fast according to the BMW Doctrine, which espouses that important sites simply don't get banned for long for fear of hurting core relevancy.

But bans aside, the Moneyplex side of Google will merrily keep working with the firm to take in those ad dollars. It could be argued that if Google was really serious about spam, they not continue to work with firms also on the ad side, just like they might not continue to work with AdSense partners that scrape content, flood them with spam and so on. But that doesn't happen.

I can see the argument that both sides should remain separate. After all, if you're banned, then ads are the only way you have left to be visible. It's just always odd that the same company that can see so evil to the Googleplex for organic spamming with nonetheless be greeted with welcome arms, swag and heck, 15 percent kickback on ads buys if they're based in Europe by the Moneyplex.

anonymous321 · #17 02-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by AussieWebmaster

A whisper campaign is hurtful.... remember people work for this company and could be out of work soon.... even if they clean up their act the more bad publicity the greater the chance those who do not deserve it will end up in dire straits...

It would have come here sooner or later.... and there were planty of other sites discussing it -
And I do not know anyone from the company that I am aware of...

Like I said I am not trying to hurt anybody, I am a proffesion who was seeking a professional discussion regarding major industry news. I appologise again if you think I am trying to 'hurt' people.

If it would have come here sooner or later, why should I have not bought it here?

anonymous321 · #18 02-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannysullivan

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting being certified means you can get back into the index. I was pointing out more the irony.

No, but I am!

dannysullivan · #19 02-20-2006

Sorry, I misread that!

Yes, the paid relationship is no guarantee of getting back in, but having those ad rep contacts can be a way to get someone to cross the Moneyplex/Googleplex divide and ask for a quick review and restoration, assuming stuff has been cleaned up. But it's got to be cleaned up.

anonymous321 · #20 02-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannysullivan

Sorry, I misread that!

Yes, the paid relationship is no guarantee of getting back in, but having those ad rep contacts can be a way to get someone to cross the Moneyplex/Googleplex divide and ask for a quick review and restoration, assuming stuff has been cleaned up. But it's got to be cleaned up.

They are working on cleaning it up, they had been all day. Although in my opinion it is still borderline when viewed in IE.

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