>>The web sites are two separate entities run independently of each other (like Chevy & Cadillac).
Do you mean headquarters in different buildings, completely separate corporate officers and employees? Or did you really mean "not at all like Chevy and Cadillac".
>They have completely separate accounting budget, P&L, GL, etc.
This isn't an argument for their independence...
>>The same corporation handles credit cards processing in order to gain economies of scale in fees.
...and this isn't an argument for their relationship.
>>They are operated on separate hosts, with completely separate full web sites independent of each other.
This is completely irrelevant to us, except that it is such a common concern of big-time spammers that it raises red flags. (The opposite situation, multiple unrelated sites hosted on the same ISP's server, is too common even to notice.)
>They are not affiliates of each other in any way, shape or form.
Sorry, but we've had that conversation before. It always ends up like Bill Gates trying to scramble out of one of his lies with a "well, it depends on what your definition of 'is' is." There isn't an affiliate spammer in the world who can't find a definition of "affiliate" that excludes his own sites. Let's just skip this part.
>>I hope that clears it up....
Not really. See, the question about "relationship" is not at all about whether the sites are on the same server, or on the same domain, or have links to each other.
Maybe an example will make it clearer. John Doe, hacker extraordinaire, decides to offer his many technical skills to all parties. He goes over to dmoz.org and sees subcategories for Web Development, Flash, Consultants, Graphics Design, Website Hosting, Domain Name Registration, etc. So he cobbles up a home page with all these services listed, and submits it to all the categories he can think of. Now his middle name is "Spammer", and we know it.
Well, Mr. Doe finds that out, and now he creates a separate page for each kind of work he's willing to do. He links them all together, and submits the separate pages to all those categories. When he doesn't get listed, he goes over to some SERP perp who tells him: "No, you aren't allowed to do that, BUT IF YOU DO THE FOLLOWING THINGS, YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT BECAUSE THE EDITORS ARE TOO STUPID TO CATCH YOU. It is very important that you NOT link between the pages, you must NOT have them on the same domain, or even on the same server. Of course, these are concerns that no honest person will have: but if you are going to cheat and get away with it, you must conceal ALL, not just part of the evidence of the relationship between the sites."
Well, Mr. Doe takes this advice. And he may find an inexperienced editor and get away with it. Or he may get caught again, but now his middle name is "sneaky lying spammer."
We have seen this scenario played out over and over again.
So what happened today in this forum? You assure us that you have carefully made preparations that, in our experience, are useless to an honest business, but essential to a sneaky lying spammer.
Please don't misunderstand me. I don't know that you are in fact conspiring to deceive -- you may have received advice from someone whose previous experience was with sneaky lying spammers, or who got their advice from a public forum frequented by those sort. And I'm not going to prejudge the site. But you need to know what impression you have made, in order to repair it and address the real questions, as well as the NEW questions you have raised.
So, please explain:
Why aren't the sites on the same server?
Why aren't they on the same domain?
Why, since there is so evident a relationship between them, don't they promote each other with links?
What information on one site must, for the sake of the other site, be absolutely concealed from visitors to the other site, and why?
What are the actual differences in ownership, personnel, and management between the corporate entities owning the two sites?
What business relationship do those corporate entities have?
To what extent are those busisesses OPERATE independently? Do they have separate auditors?
Do they have separate places of business?
Do they operate in fundamentally different businesses?
[Side note: I once worked for a man who owned a Telecommunications Equipment Sales company and a technical recruiting firm: different offices, different operating manager, slightly different ownership, hardly any overlapping business -- except that I think the Telecomm firm got white-gloves recruiting services.
But the WEBSITES were on the same server (different domain names, though) and that was no bar at all to their both bing listable in ODP (I don't remember if they were both listed. One of the companies has since been merged.)
But the important facts were -- non-overlapping unrelated line of business, different employees, different operating manager.
That's what we're looking for: not that you may have gotten advice from a very stupid and crooked SERP perp (which we will not hold against you -- we also know from experience that there are LOTS of apparently-honest folk in that same boat.)
