Penalized for checking rank?

[webmast]

What happens if your site ranks N1 for "buy viagra":
1. You search on Google for "buy viagra" a few times every day to make sure it's still there.
2. Once you see it's still N1 you never click to visit it.
3. Your site's CTR decline
4. Google lower your rankings.

I think it's possible. Anyone willing to try it?

 

[mojamalatajna]

I check my ranks every minute

 

[tzaphoo]

Checking the serps will not get your site de-ranked.

HOWEVER google displays your results for a query based on your interests (previous searches,ip,cookies,etc EVEN if you are not logged in)
You might have the surprise that on your ip/ip range and PC , you will rank higher that on another computer with different ip.

I suggest you check out this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s&feature=player_embedded

 

[Typlo]

"Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Goldâ„¢ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google."

Now if you check your ranks manually, I don't think there will be an issue.

 

[webmast]

Now if you check your ranks manually, I don't think there will be an issue.

Manually vs automatically... the only difference is in the number of queries to Google. I continue to believe that if you check your rankings often you will change the CTR of your site. And that might hurt your SERP.

 

[keeponrocking]

It's true, if you are talking about PR.

It's not true, if you're talking about website position (i.e. rankings).

 

[GreyWolf]

"Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Goldâ„¢ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google."

Now if you check your ranks manually, I don't think there will be an issue.

That will affect you're ability to access google from your pc or ip. It's usually a temproary block, but yes that can happen. Still doesn't have anything to do with what domain your checking in the serp though.

Manually vs automatically... the only difference is in the number of queries to Google. I continue to believe that if you check your rankings often you will change the CTR of your site. And that might hurt your SERP.

Again all your checking is results pages for a search for a keyword. Google has no idea which of the thousands of websites being returned in the serp is the one you're checking out. The only possible result, as mentioned earlier, is that you'll start developing a custom set of results on your ip and pc for that search phrase.

It's true, if you are talking about PR.

It's not true, if you're talking about website position (i.e. rankings).

I'm not actually sure that your right or not about a penalty for checking your PR too often, but at least that's possible. To check the PR of a site you actually need to pass the domain name to google to get the result.

You're absolutely right about the second part though. To check your SERP position you only submit the keywords to google but not the domain name itself, so there's no way for google to know which domain is being checked.