Trapped in the Google Sandbox?

1. 95

   Anthony Altorennaposted 9 years ago

   Like many of the former Squids whose traffic has declined since the transition, my traffic also dropped from ~ 10,000 views per week to around 2,200 weekly visitors. I chalked this up to the new domain, and I've spent a lot of time updating (or deleting) nearly all of pages to better fit into the HubPages format (which I really like!).
   
   Today, I updated a how-to Hub on making christmas memory ornaments. But when I tried searching Google to find my Hub using a very specific search, the results showed many other pages but not mine. I checked the Search Engine Genie tool, and was unpleasantly surprised to receive the following  message:
   
   "Your site is still in google Sandbox. Contact support@searchenginegenie.com to get you out of Sandbox."
   
   I checked several of my other formerly high performing pages, and I was shocked to receive the same notification on many of my Hubs.
   
   Is this a result of the 301 Redirects? The latest Panda update? (though I'm not sure why these specific URLs were targeted, while other less visited Hubs were not...) Or perhaps because there are old back links out there that still point to my former Squiddo URLs?
   
   Any thoughts and potential solutions are appreciated. You might consider checking your pages with declining views to see if you're trapped in the Google Sandbox too.

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2. 76

   Country-Sunshineposted 9 years ago

   I'm a former Squid, and my traffic has declined tremendously!  I just checked several of my pages - both with high views and declining - and most are in the Sandbox. 
   
   The longer I'm hear, the more discouraged I become!

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3. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   How do you know if hubs are in sandbox?

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   1. 95

      Anthony Altorennaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Linda,
      
      I used the Search Engine Genie tool that was recommended in a previous post:
      
      https://www.searchenginegenie.com/sandbox-checker.htm

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      1. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         It's a scam site which wants to charge you for "getting out of the sandbox".  I just checked a couple of my sites which I KNOW are not in the sandbox and got the same message.

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4. 79

   KarenHCposted 9 years ago

   Hmmm.   Every hub of mine that I've used the Google Sandbox Checker tool with I've gotten the message that it's still in the sandbox.  I get that message for my business website too.
   
   I wonder what kinds of hubs are not in the sandbox?

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   1. 64

      jeffryvposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Take seo "tools" with a large grain of salt
      http://www.funtechtips.com/2013/05/be-c … ker-tools/

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      1. 95

         Anthony Altorennaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you, Jeffery.
         
         Interestingly, the Search Genie tool showed that only a few of mine were in the sandbox....  Is there a legitimate tool that shows why a URL or keyword search is actually being punished by Google?

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5. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   My Christmas hub and one that gets most traffic is in the sandbox. So, I guess they all are. What is going on? None of my hubs are 301 redirects.

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6. 61

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Thanks Jeffryv!    I tested.  I put URL of a page one in Google search engine into the sanbox checker. It said still in sandbox.  Okay, will stop wasting my time on that one.

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   1. 84

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It seems that the "sandbox" is not a proven entity.  People think it exists, but Google disagrees.

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The site is a scam, ignore it.

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7. 74

   Shorebirdieposted 9 years ago

   This is strange because I searched for my most popular lens on that site you mentioned and it said it was in the Google sandbox.  But, when I search for it on Google, it comes right up pretty easily.

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   1. 74

      Shorebirdieposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      However, I did find some site using my site title and description to redirect people to his fishing site.

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