This is one the most bizarre things I’ve seen come down the pike in a long time. Let’s see if you agree:

According to this post on Mediadonis, you can check if Google has penalized a domain or not by simply adding the word hyves as a subdomain and then checking the PageRank of that subdomain. Use my two primary blogs as examples:

http://hyves.smallbusinesssem.com/ – doesn’t exist, but will show toolbar PR7 http://hyves.hyperlocalblogger.com/ – ditto

According to the post, using “hyves” as a subdomain will produce one of three results:

PR7 means that the domain is perfectly fine
PR4 means that the domain got penalized by Google
PR0 means that the domain got banned in Google

So, the fact that my two domains show up as PR7 when “hyves” is added as a subdomain means they’re not penalized. In all the domains I’ve checked, this works. But at least one comment on the original post, and one in the discussion on our sister site, Sphinn, says it doesn’t always work as described.

What’s your experience? Does it hold true for domains you’re aware of that have been penalized by Google?

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Google: Toolbar

About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGee

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