Google lifts Rap Genius search results ban

Lyric website Rap Genius have had their punishment lifted by Google for what was previously deemed as improper SEO practices by the company.

The site, something of an online hip-hop bible, had been banished from the search engine’s top results after they “offer bloggers exposure through its social media accounts in exchange for links to its website on their music blogs”.

The move would have hit Rap Genius hard, as they depend on search results for a large part of their traffic, but now they’ve reached an agreement with the search giants.

“It takes a few days for things to return to normal, but we’re officially back!” the founders wrote. “First of all, we owe a big thanks to Google for being fair and transparent and allowing us back onto their results pages. We overstepped, and we deserved to get smacked.”

This follows recent news that the site have signed licencing deals with Sony after being accused of copyright infringement.

[via Pitchfork]