Irwin Mitchell temporarily removed from Google’s search engine

Google temporarily blacklisted Irwin Mitchell's domain names last week after the firm was found to have unnaturally influenced its search results.

It is thought that the internet giant de-listed the firm from its organic search engine for hyperlinking to its sites via a high number of blog and forum posts, which is against its rules.

The Lawyer reported that Irwin Mitchell's troubles were discovered on 24 January by an online marketing agent called Matt Weeks, who tweeted, David Naylor, director of search marketing at digital agency Bronco, asking if the firm had been given a link penalty by Google.

After some confusion, Irwin Mitchell confirmed the de-listing and released a statement saying that it was aware of the situation and that it was "working closely" with its digital agency to deal with it.

In a blog on the David Naylor website, SEO expert Alex Groves wrote: "Irwin Mitchell are considered to be one of the biggest solicitors in the UK today but that hasn't stopped Google from doing something that we have seen happen countless times over the past few years, completely eliminate a brand from their organic rankings."

Irwin Mitchell has now returned to its former status with Google.  

Mark Dugdale