Google Bans www.Auto-Insurance.TV From Their Index

My first--and hopefully last--Google banned website!

Any auto insurance related website that has decent traffic can generate some very nice revenue. I'm into domains, so some months ago I decided to give the auto insurance thing a try. My plan was to build a simple website with lots of unique and useful content; anything that an insured motorist would find useful. I did some research in both the online and offline world, and eventually put up a site (writing all the content myself) that I thought was pretty cool.

The Auto-Insurance.TV website had Google AdSense ads on it. However, the AdSense ads being displayed were either off topic or few and far between (i.e. a 728x90 ad unit would often only display one ad, when optimally it should have been displaying 4 ads.) I was quite confident that my site had enough content which the AdSense genie could use to display relevant ads all the time. But since that wasn't happening, I emailed the Google AdSense Team to see if they could help me (I had emailed them before about problems with AdSense ads on other sites in my empire, and each time they were able to fix the problem.) The Google AdSense Team responded with a standard email letting me know that they were working on the problem and would get back to me soon. I was sure--based on past experience with them--that they would take my case seriously, so I waited.

After about 3 weeks of waiting, I decided to email them again, just to see if they had made any progress with my case. They again replied with a standard email letting me know that they would get back to me soon. I didn't mind waiting, but it was taking them longer than usual to get back to me with a fix, so I was starting to wonder if they had launched some sort of special investigation into my case.

Well, a few more weeks passed and I still hadn't received a reply from The AdSense Team, so at this point I knew (well, assumed is more accurate) that my site had somehow triggered a special investigation. At this point in time, Google's datacenters had just completed a PageRank^TM update, and it is my habit to sample a few sites within my collection after a Page Rank update, to see if their rank has improved, gotten worse or stayed the same. When I checked my Auto-Insurance.TV site, I was shocked to find that every page within that site had no PageRank^TM. This was very peculiar, because the site had quite a few inbounds links from some well ranked sites. I investigated further, checking the PageRank^TM of a very large sampling of my sites, and I found that all my other sites had some PageRank^TM, which is what I expected. So what happened to my precious Auto-Insurance.TV? Could it really be a site ban?

Well, the best way to see if a site has been banned from the Google index is by utilizing the [site:] command, i.e.

site:Auto-Insurance.TV (works with Yahoo! & MSN as well)

If a site has been banned from a search engine's index, then the [site:] command will result in zero hits. Of course, the [site:] command will also return zero hits if a site is very new and hasn't been indexed by a search engine's spider yet. But I knew that it was a ban: the site had been up for a while, and other websites that I had established at the same time that I took Auto-Insurance.TV live were in the Google index.

So I guess Google had a problem with the website and banned it. A fair ban? I don't think so. I had written every single word in that site; no cheesy (and illegal!) copying and pasting from other sites. And more than one person had let me know that they found the site very useful. Not just useful, very useful! However, the ban may have been put in place because someone @ Google thought that the site simply didn't offer any real value to the Internet community; the most likely scenario, in my opinion, because I'm sure that others have tried to make a few dollars by setting up sites that had similar content to my Auto-Insurance.TV. Perhaps the folks over at Google thought, "Bah! Just another car insurance site with tips, tricks and stats that are available at some of the larger insurance websites. No copyright violations, but no real value either." Maybe. Who knows.

I could do a ton more research and spend much time developing the site further; after getting the site all fat and pretty, I could email Google and ask them to remove their ban. But that's not an option for me right now, as I have to concentrate on the development of some other sites in my portfolio. For now, Auto-Insurance.TV will stay parked on AfterNIC, where I hope it can earn enough cover the registration fee for the domain.

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Have any of your websites been banned from the Google or Yahoo! indexes? Feel free to post a comment if you have anything to share. Thanks!

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I Need A Google AdWords 12 Step Program!

Last night, while I was logging into Google AdWords to temporarily pause my one and only campaign (I toggle my one campaign on and off constantly; helps me to feel like I'm in control. A fantasy, of course!) I experienced an epiphany:

I'm an AdWords Junkie, and I need a 12 step program.
Yup. I only use Google AdWords for one of my sites, but this one site provides me with most of my livelihood. AdWords has been delivering some very nice traffic to my flagship site for over 2 years now, and in that time I've become so comfortable and dependant on it that--last night--I realized that I had been shirking my most important duty as a webmaster: to constantly and incessantly create or find fresh, new content for my website.

I jumped over to the website of my #1 competitor and did some reconnaissance. I used the [site:] command to see what they've been up to content-wise. At that website, my worst fears were confirmed: The owner(s) of that website have been adding new content to their site for many months, and they've been rewarded with some truly excellent organic rankings in the search engine results pages (SERP's) of all the major search engines. And it gets worse: the content that my competitor has been adding isn't even that good, yet the discipline of adding fresh content regularly has paid off! Meanwhile, I've been getting fat and complacent, suckling on the teat that is AdWords, and slowly losing ground in the organic SERP's. 2 years ago I ranked #1 and #2 for my most critical keyword in the Google SERP's. Now I'm struggling to stay within the top 25!

I'm shocked that I let this happen. How did I let this happen!? I'm no rookie to this stuff! Well, maybe I am. How depressing! I must admit: working to develop multiple websites has taken its toll. Well, it's time to get back to the basics, and that's exactly what I'm going to do, one website at a time.

To all of you AdWords users out there: learn from my mistakes! I know that AdWords is an excellent program. It is, no doubt (and I'm not just writing that because Google owns Blogger! My blog is hosted on my own server.) But don't lose focus as I did and forget about the content thing. You know that maxim: content is king! Content is king! And it is. And it always will be.

As for me, now I find myself scrambling to create new, quality content for my flagship website. I'm busting my you-know-what, playing catch-up over here, while my competitor is enjoying the benefits that come from having lots of not-so-great--but adequate--content pages indexed by the major search engines. Writing good content that is both pleasant to read and search engine friendly is kinda' stressful. Having to write page after page of good "hybrid content" in a short period of time may just cause me to have a nervous breakdown. Wish me luck!

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Will Dot Travel Be A Winner?

Dot Travel has officially joined the top level domain name club, and according to the Travel.Travel website, the .TRAVEL registry will start registering names some time in October 2005.

Will dot travel be a winner? I personally don't like it; the number one reason for my dislike of the extension is the fact that I can't register any .TRAVEL domain names! Dot travel has way too many oppressive (that's right: oppressive!) restrictions. Here's a taste:

"[.TRAVEL is] restricted to the use of travel agents, airlines, bed and breakfast operators, tourism bureaus, and others in the travel industry..."

OK, now add this:

"You can only register a name that is publicly used by, or associated with, your organization"

So if, for example, you owned a bed and breakfast called "FOO B&B", you would be allowed to register foobb.travel, or some other name that is close to your business name. You would not be able to register the name bedandbreakfast.travel. No generics! Nonsense!

My next reason: too long. I don't think that the average Internet user is going to get used to typing a six character extension any time soon. Fact: I still have friends and relatives who think that .COM is the only extension on the Internet!

Want some more? OK, how's this: scandal! It appears that The International Air Transport Association (IATA) cut a secret deal with ICANN that will result in the IATA having full control over the .TRAVEL namespace. Smells funny, eh? Click here to read more about the scandal...

Ok, so what do we have so far: too many restrictions, too long and an ICANN scandal. Not good! I wish the new namespace well, but I personally don't have much confidence in dot travel.

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Special Name Drop Alert!

Here's a list of some more domain names I'm letting go; the domain names listed below are now expired and should soon be available for registration. This list contains some of the most valuable and brandable names I've ever let expire. Enjoy!

ACCOUNTINFO.WS
DOWNLOADCENTER.WS
EBAYAUCTION.CC
EBAYSTORE.WS
INTERNETINDUSTRY.ORG
INTERNETINDUSTRY.WS
MANOFTHEYEAR.WS
PASSPORTUSA.WS
RANCHUSA.NET
RANCHUSA.US
TRAVELUSA.CC
USARANCH.NET
USARANCH.US
WELLDRESSEDMAN.NET
WELLDRESSEDMAN.US
WELLDRESSEDWOMAN.NET
WELLDRESSEDWOMAN.US
WOMANOFTHEYEAR.NET
WOMANOFTHEYEAR.US


Feel free to post a comment if you decide to take any of the above names.

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Invention.com Sells for $650,300 on eBay? Hmmm...

The eBay auction for the domain name INVENTION.COM has recently ended on eBay with a winning bid of $650,300.00, but the deal looks very fishy to me:

Invention.com eBay Auction

I am always skeptical when I see such a huge final value in any eBay auction when the winning bidder has a feedback score of (0), as was the case with the above referenced Invention.com auction. I'm thinking that some shill bidding may have occurred, but that's just my gut instinct: I could be wrong. But $650,300? Invention.com is a great name, and I'm sure it can earn a very nice income if it were parked somewhere, but $650,300 still seems to high for this name. We'll have to wait a week or so to know if the deal was legit (even if the deal isn't reported @ DNJournal.com, I can always check the WHOIS record for a transfer of ownership for the name. Then again, with such a high final value, a transfer of ownership may in fact be part of an elaborate deception, a la beauty.cc)

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Domain Blog Free Domain Name Contest Is Suspended...

My decision is a regretful one but I have no choice: The Domain Blog Free Domain Name Contest is hereby suspended indefinitely. Cause? Well, during a routine audit of the last free domain name contest, I discovered that a contest participant used IP cloaking to fool my system and enter the contest twice. This is against contest rules, as it is not fair to everyone else who entered. I hate getting cheated--yeah, we all do--so I'm going to have to do something about this vulnerability. Until I've worked out a new system for the contest, I am hoping that my various ramblings and musing about webmastering and domaining can keep visitors to this blog entertained.

Please stay tuned to The Domain Blog for more news regarding the free domain name contest. Thanks.

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Results of The Free Domain Name Contest Part VIII

The winner of the free .INFO domain name is: "TROJANDONKEY" who was the closest to the winning red Powerball number 37. Congrats to you "TROJANDONKEY"! You can click here to jump to our email form that you can use to send your full name, the .INFO domain name you want registered, your email address and your eNom account ID (an eNom account ID is required for any "push.") You should also click here and read the terms of this contest. As soon as the above is accomplished, I'll register your name and "push" it to you.

I hope "TROJANDONKEY" will do the right thing and link to this blog!

Thanks to all for playing. If you haven't done so already, please click here to vote in one or more of my polls. That's all I ask in return for offering a chance to win a free domain name. Thanks!

The next free domain name giveaway will be posted soon.

To all those who didn't win this time around: you are welcome to enter the free domain name contest as many times as you like, until you win!

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Free Domain Name Contest Part VIII: FREE .INFO DOMAIN OF YOUR CHOICE!

Summer doldrums? Don't despair! The Domain Blog Free Domain Name contest is here to rescue your summer! Welcome back to all!

This week's prize is a free, one (1) year registration of a .INFO domain name of your choosing, registered at eNom (free transfer of ownership!) Whoever wins this contest pays absolutely nothing for the free .INFO domain name until it comes up for renewal next year, at which point the winner can either pay the prevailing eNom domain name registration fee to renew the name, or simply let the domain name expire.

As usual, anyone and everyone--except previous free domain name contest winners--can participate in this contest.

How can you enter to win a free .INFO domain name of your choice? To enter this contest:

1. Click here to read the free domain name contest terms and conditions.
   
   
2. Click Here to vote in one or more of our fun online polls.
   
   
3. Pick a number between 1 and 42.


4. Post a comment to this post with a sentence clearly communicating your interest in this contest and include the number you have picked. You also need to let me know which poll you voted in.


The winning number will be the winning red Powerball number at next Saturday's (August 13, 2005) Powerball drawing. Simply stop by the Powerball website next Saturday night (or Sunday morning) to see what the winning red Powerball number is for August 13, 2005. Whoever guesses the correct number--or whoever gets closest to the correct number--wins! If 2 or more contestants are equally close to the Saturday, August 13, 2005 winning red Powerball number then the person who is closest to the Wednesday, August 10, 2005 winning red Powerball number shall be declared the winner of the runoff.

To be fair to everyone, previous contest winners are ineligible to participate in this and any future free domain name giveaways. Also, I will not contact you if you win. If you are the winner of this week's free domain name, you need to check back at this website in order to claim your free domain name.

Don't forget to click here to vote in one or more of our online polls. That's all I ask in return for this opportunity to win a free domain name. Thanks!

The deadline for submitting your number is Saturday, August 13, 2005 @ 6:00pm (EST.)

Thanks in advance for participating in the latest free domain name contest and good luck to all!

Confirmed Entries for the (NOW CLOSED) Free Domain Name Giveaway Part VIII:

Aznremix: 5
luaplevap: 7
IHACKEDME: 18
David K: 20
omnia: 21
SabreHstng: 22
Andrew: 23
Ricky Lau : 26
SecondVersion: 27
mann3r: 28
trojandonkey: 38 - winner!
wouter: 39
A W Eglinton: 40

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"Beer Goggles" Domain Name Registrations

Ever registered a domain name, and then later say to yourself, "What the heck was I thinking?" Heh. It's happened to me, no doubt, and the last time I registered a true dud of a name--it was a spelling error on my part--I just retracted from the keyboard and laughed at myself for a spell.

NamePros regular "slaughterbeck" started a funny thread on the topic.

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