Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I'm relatively sure that I've identified a patterned mistake that Google's algorithm makes.

Here's how it goes:

• You write a really interesting article and it makes the front page of Digg
• Your article is provocative enough to draw a steady stream of comments for the good part of 1 week
• You gain dozens if not hundreds of solid, editorial backlinks to your article from reputable sites
• A week after publishing, your article disappears from Google's index, while many of the articles referencing yours remain

So I've noticed that with my last five articles to make the front page of Digg (i.e. a pattern), the article disappears from Google's index completely, even on an exact search for the article title:

http://www.google.com/search?q=The+Ten+Worst+Job+Interview+Questions+Ever

The interesting thing to note is that on such a search, 70-100% of the first 10 SERP results return articles that reference the original. In such a case, you'd think that Google would clearly know the source of the article.

But apparently some penalty filter gets applied. Now, you might think that it's a duplicate content penalty. But hear me out, I don't think so.

Here's my theory:

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