Rap Genius returns to Google after link penalty
In 2014, 10 days after being penalized for “unnatural links” that it helped create, lyrics site Rap Genius returned to Google’s search results.
This Day In Search Marketing History: January 4
On Dec. 24, 2013, Google confirmed it was looking into an “affiliate” program Rap Genius created in order to get unnatural links pointing to their website. By the next morning, Google officially penalized Rap Genius for link schemes.
This Day In Search Marketing History: January 4
Anyone searching Google for [rap genius] would not find rapgenius.com on Page 1. However, there were links to their Twitter account, Facebook page, Wikipedia profile and stories like this about them being penalized by Google.
This Day In Search Marketing History: January 4
The result of the penalty: a 92% drop in search visibility.
This Day In Search Marketing History: January 4
Said Rap Genius:
This Day In Search Marketing History: January 4
We effed up, other lyrics sites are almost definitely doing worse stuff, and we’ll stop. We’d love for Google to take a closer look at the whole lyrics search landscape and see whether it can make changes that would improve lyric search results.
This Day In Search Marketing History: January 4
– Rap Genius
This Day In Search Marketing History: January 4
Read all about it in Rap Genius Back In Google After 10 Day Penalty, Ranks For Its Name But What About Lyrics?
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