Limited time to check for ban

A method for checking if a website has been banned or penalised has been discovered but the flaw may only remain unaltered for a limited time to check its effect on search engine optimisation.

In a blog entry for Search Engine Watch, Frank Watson stated that Marcus Tander has uncovered the security hole and that by adding "hyves" as a subdomain ahead of the domain will allow the browser to reflect where the page ranks.

Entering it through a PR toolbar will bring up an error page that does not usually show this information, he explained.

"So if you are getting a PR 7 all is right with the world. If you get a PR 4 there is a penalty involved and if it is PR 0, well, you have been banned," Mr Watson added.

Google Operating System recently announced a new penalisation feature that the search engine is testing, Search Engine Roundtable recently reported.

Entering a list of preferred subdomains or domains will allow Google to "bump up" the listing in rankings to the top of search results, it was noted.

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