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Can you sue
- Thread starter chippyb
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Ultimately, that's the problem with ALL the 'seo' companies - normally india/far east based - who say they'll get you up the rankings by link building.
What they really do is go on a mass comment spamming spree on any and every site they have on their db that allows comments with some inane 'we love your blog, have bookmarked it. visit our site xyz.com' comment, that at best gets zapped by the blog owner (ME!) and at worst results in an indexed link from a non-authority site that when google tots up new inbund links per timeframe results in your site being penalised for spam link-building.
These companies have got away with it for quite a while. Panda/penguin certainly have targetted this link building method... quite rightly to.
So, really, caveat emptor...
What they really do is go on a mass comment spamming spree on any and every site they have on their db that allows comments with some inane 'we love your blog, have bookmarked it. visit our site xyz.com' comment, that at best gets zapped by the blog owner (ME!) and at worst results in an indexed link from a non-authority site that when google tots up new inbund links per timeframe results in your site being penalised for spam link-building.
These companies have got away with it for quite a while. Panda/penguin certainly have targetted this link building method... quite rightly to.
So, really, caveat emptor...
We they did say on the website ranking improvements guaranteed, which when you have about 10 top ten keywords in google and about 15 other keywords ranking and they all fall out of the top 100 so you are left with a site that is now worthless I would say that is very bad going.
you say they have no control but they have some, if they do bad things like that have ie blackhat im guessing they know that is going to ruin someones site
btw it is a UK company as well
you say they have no control but they have some, if they do bad things like that have ie blackhat im guessing they know that is going to ruin someones site
btw it is a UK company as well
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I have received threats of being sued if I didn't remove links from DomainPrices.co.uk
Try it, they don't know if you will follow though or not.
Some sample wording:
Admin
Try it, they don't know if you will follow though or not.
Some sample wording:
Admin
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
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Good luck convincing a court it was the SEO companies fault that your rankings tanked.
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Are they an Acorn member too?
Not that im aware of
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Personally I'd just take it on the chin.
Legal action (if you could find a solicitor who specialises in this kind of thing AND who would be willing to take your case on) could prove to be hugely expensive.
Legal action (if you could find a solicitor who specialises in this kind of thing AND who would be willing to take your case on) could prove to be hugely expensive.
You could sue anyone can would you win I doubt it… …. To win any legal action would be down to the contract and unless they were complete morons... Even if you were to win would you get anything from a limited liability company doubt they’d have any assets...
I guess it would be difficult to prove in law, much of SEO is open to many different interpretations. If you can demonstrate methods used in violation of any of the major search engine guidelines then you may stand a chance. I'd suggest finding that legal someone sufficiently clued up may be the biggest challenge.
To be honest I think it will be hard to win a case - and it is likely that the web site is recoverable.
Have you looked at a report of the links you have built? Even if it comment spam etc the issue is likely to not be type of link, more likely that they have been overly aggressive with a particular anchor text - and if that is the case then it is fixable by building new links with url/generic/branded anchors, though it might take a month or so after the new links are built before it pops back.
If they are not super spammy links I'd recommend you ask that they help you recover by building some new links FOC, but if they are of the forum profile/comment spam type you're probably better off buying a bunch of cheap paid directory links for $10-15 each to dilute the anchor text.
Have you looked at a report of the links you have built? Even if it comment spam etc the issue is likely to not be type of link, more likely that they have been overly aggressive with a particular anchor text - and if that is the case then it is fixable by building new links with url/generic/branded anchors, though it might take a month or so after the new links are built before it pops back.
If they are not super spammy links I'd recommend you ask that they help you recover by building some new links FOC, but if they are of the forum profile/comment spam type you're probably better off buying a bunch of cheap paid directory links for $10-15 each to dilute the anchor text.
- Joined
- May 24, 2012
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That would be the best option but i very much doubt these companies have control over their links. This should really be the first question any person looking for an SEO company should ask:
"In case anything goes wrong, can you guarantee complete removal of every link in less than 3 months?" If the answer is no, i would think very carefully before going ahead. There is not one link on any site that we ever worked on that i am unable to, if needed, contact the webmaster and have it removed promptly.
With regards to legal action, unless its a large company/seo agency, then you might as well concentrate your efforts either rebuilding a new site or working hard at removing the links yourself.
Good luck,
Kate
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- Nov 3, 2008
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Yes going to court is a total pain, we're in the middle of a small claims court action taking a non paying customer to court, and it's a farce beyond belief.
In small claims the judge only needs to be 51% sure in one parties favour or the other to make his/her decision, but you need to be able to prove your case, and if the other party want to they can make it very difficult by trying to obfuscate the truth and make claims that you then need to spend time, effort, and money refuting.
Unless it's cost you a substantial amount of money I wouldn't bother.
On the other hand if you're a member of your local chamber of commerce they have free legal help, so that might be worth a punt.
In small claims the judge only needs to be 51% sure in one parties favour or the other to make his/her decision, but you need to be able to prove your case, and if the other party want to they can make it very difficult by trying to obfuscate the truth and make claims that you then need to spend time, effort, and money refuting.
Unless it's cost you a substantial amount of money I wouldn't bother.
On the other hand if you're a member of your local chamber of commerce they have free legal help, so that might be worth a punt.
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