I have several test sites that I use to test the limits of what Google and other search engines will penalize you for and what they will reward you for. In other words, I want to know where the real limits are.

One such test site had a PageRank of PR=5. (I wasn't selling anything on the site. It was just being used for a test site.) Anyway, about six months ago I went too far and Google dropped it from a PR=5 to a PR=0 and removed all of my backlinks . . . even my link from DMOZ.

DMOZ kept the site listed, but Google ignored it and wouldn't list DMOZ as a link to my site. Google said there were ZERO incoming links to my site.

The site wasn't actually banned because if it had been banned, the PageRank bar on the Google Toolbar would have gone to gray instead of solid white.

I immediately corrected all of my "errors" and sent an email to Google telling them that everything was corrected (like Google says to do if you get banned). Then I waited for Google to put the site back to a PR=5 where it was before.

This past week (after six months of waiting) Google finally put the site back to a PR=3 and listed some of my incoming links. (They still haven't listed my DMOZ link.) The site may NEVER come back to it's original status.

The message from Google is clear: You can't push the limits, get penalized, correct your errors and expect Google to immediately put you back to where you were. I think this is Google's way of saying, "Don't try to push the limits again."

After seeing what happened in this case, if this happened to one of my actual profit making sites, I would scrap the site and start over with a new URL rather than wait for Google to forgive my transgressions.

Bottom line: Make the effort to stay aware of Google's ever-changing rules before you end up destroying all of your hard work because you were relying on out-of-date search engine optimization techniques that caused you to step over the line.

What worked a year ago could get you "shot out of the saddle today."