Yahoo is gaining in popularity and some webmasters are concerned about real or imaginary bans of their sites in the Yahoo index. Here are a few tips for checking your site in Yahoo and dealing with a possible ban.
Yahoo Is Slow To Index
Compared to a Google, Yahoo can be slow to spider and index sites. As is the case with Google, incoming links count for a lot in determining how long it takes for a site to appear in Yahoo. If your site has never been in the Yahoo index then it is unlikely you are banned, most likely you just need to be more patient.
Look in your site's log files for the "Inktomi Slurp" robot (spider). If you see this spider visiting pages on your site then you probably need to wait longer for your site to be indexed.
You can try submitting your site to Yahoo at http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request but don't expect any miracles from this form. Your time is much better spent developing incoming links using a tool like ARELIS . Also see the index of our Yahoo articles at the bottom of this page.
Dropped From Yahoo: Am I Banned?
If you were in Yahoo's index in the past but now you aren't, you may be banned by Yahoo. You can ask Yahoo for the status of your site using this URL Status Review Request form http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/ysearch/cgi_urlstatus. This form page details how to verify that your aren't in the index and provides links to helpful Yahoo pages.
Before submitting the URL Status Review Request form you should review Yahoo's Content Quality Guidelines and also check your site's robots.txt file to be sure you haven't accidentally blocked Yahoo's spider (Slurp).
Avoid Possible Banning Issues
The best way to deal with a possible ban by Yahoo (and the other search engines) is to avoid practices which are likely to get you banned in the first place. Read the Yahoo Content Quality Guidelines and realize that violating these guidelines can get you banned.
