How high quality domain traffic gets penalized

This was originally a post about how Google inadvertently penalizes some of the highest quality domain traffic as a side effect of fighting click-fraud and poor quality traffic.  I experienced a textbook example.  Over time, I believe this incentive structure will cause new specialized entities that sell advertising directly to end users to flourish -- this is a deeply interesting phenomenon. 

But my post had a righteous flavor to it. My complaining reminds me of the Aesop’s fable I just read to my kids about the dog that falls in the well and bites his owner’s hand when he reaches down to the dog.  I was the dog.

It also reminds me of a great book I just finished called Assault on Lake Casitas about Brad Lewis’ fourteen year odyssey to win the gold medal in rowing at Lake Casitas in 1984.  His mentor Mike Livingston taught him this credo “You must purge yourself of all thoughts of self-importance and all inclination to judge either yourself or others.  You must go to power with humility and deep respect.”

It’s great advice which I should have heeded.  So I apologize sincerely for my lack of humility.  I typically try to stay strictly focused on results and nurturing my business, but this time, I fell to one of the perils of blogging.