As newsworthy events go, it probably isn’t quite up there with the latest current affairs events around the globe, but management at Interflora, the UK’s largest flower delivery service, will be delighted today to know that they have recovered – at least partially – their ranking in Google’s search engine less than two weeks after they disappeared altogether in what was presumed to be a penalty.
Interflora is back ranking again when you search for the brand name and the business Google+ box is visible once more alongside the relevant search results. As of yesterday, a search in Google.co.uk returned Interflora as the number one result for the search term “florists”, but there are a number of other key phrases and terms for which the company is not yet back ranking in the same position it was before the site was penalised.
Prior to the penalty being imposed Interflora ranked in the top three results for a variety of other key phrases including “flowers”, “mothers day flowers”, “flower delivery” and “roses”. At the current time it ranks in the bottom half of page one for them, suggesting the penalty has not been completely removed. Google made no official announcement after Interflora’s removal from its results, but perhaps significantly, just a few days after the penalty took effect, Google delivered a warning against the use of Advertorials designed to pass PR.
All things considered perhaps Interflora should consider themselves to have got off quite lightly. The penalty did not come into effect until shortly after Valentine’s Day and their rankings have been at least partially restored in time for another major day in the calender for all florists – Mothers Day!
Image: Freedigitalphotos.net