The Google ‘We’re Sorry’ Message Just Keeps on Coming…

To those that use Google every day, every hour and probably every 10 minutes, you’re sure to be very familiar with the dreaded ‘We’re Sorry’ message that seems to appear for no reason at all. You think you’re doing nothing wrong, but Google seems to disagree. So why do you keep seeing the ‘We’re Sorry’ message? Here are the reasons:

The Main Reason – Google thinks you’re tying to ‘spam’ and automate your search requests. As you know, Google is all about being natural, and if you send repeated search requests to Google Towers, they think you’re a robot with a very mean intention of spamming Google. Of course, the reality is that most of us are just innocent searchers, and spamming Google is the last thing we would want to do.

There’s Multiple Search Requests From The Same IP Address – If you’re an SEO bod working in a busy office, chances are that there will be many of you using Google for your optimisation work day in, day out. But imagine if 20 people are all using Google at the same time, from the same IP, sending repeated search requests. This is like a big red flag to Google, who will generally block all of you from searching for anything up to a couple of hours. In most cases it is 15-30 minutes, but keep ‘spamming’ and who knows what will happen.

Google 'We're Sorry' Message

So, here is a useful way to try and rid yourself of the Google ‘We’re Sorry’ message, for any serious but genuine Googlers out there. We use Firefox in the 9xb Marketing department, but the same principle pretty much applies with every browser:

•    You get the ‘We’re Sorry’ message
•    Delete your cookies
•    Close the tab you have open
•    Open a new tab, or a new browser
•    Do a Google search
•    Enter the captcha (which will usually appear)
•    Voila! You should be able to keep Googling for a bit longer, but don’t be surprised if you get the same message later on; this is just an instant quick fix rather than a permanent one.

The Google ‘We’re Sorry’ message is indeed frustrating, and the important thing you should remember is that you shouldn’t be trying to take a shortcut round Google’s spam protection. It is there for a reason, and although you might not be spamming, others in the world most probably are.  Of course, the best advice we can give here is the following:

•    Don’t send repeated search requests to Google
•    Don’t search for things too quickly – this immediately rings alarm bells at Google’s end.
•    If you’re doing competitor research or checking rankings, do a few at a time and then leave it for a while. I know it’s tempting to keep going when you’re in the middle of something, but it won’t do you any favours in the long run.

Follow these simple tips above and you should be able to prevent the office uproar of ‘you broke Google’ when everyone gets the ‘We’re Sorry’ message on their screens.