📌 Overview
Customers sometimes ask three related questions at once: what happens when Link Lab placements are rejected, why a press release shows Live while fewer links are indexed, and why the OTTO score can go up while other site health numbers get worse. This article explains each situation and what to do next.
- Rejected Link Lab placements and refund requests
- Live press releases versus indexed links
- OTTO score versus Flawless Pages and Site Issues
- OTTO Grader versus Site Explorer scores
💳 Rejected Link Lab Placements and Refunds
A Link Lab order can include several placements. Sometimes a publisher rejects a placement, for example because of content fit or the publisher's own guidelines. When that happens, the placement is not delivered, and the value of that placement may be eligible for a resolution.
Resolution options can include a replacement placement, a refund, or credits. The right option depends on your order and the status of each placement, so a team member needs to review it. Credits such as HDC credits can be requested as your preferred option, but they must be confirmed by our team.
To request a resolution, have this information ready:
- Your Link Laboratory order number.
- The list of placements marked as rejected.
- Your preferred outcome (for example, value returned as HDC credits).
Please do not place a duplicate order to replace rejected placements until you have confirmed the outcome. This helps avoid being charged twice for the same value.
📰 Why a Live Press Release Shows Fewer Indexed Links
Seeing Live on a press release does not mean every link in it is indexed. These are two separate stages:
- Live: the press release has been published and is visible on the distribution site or network.
- Indexed: a search engine such as Google has discovered the page, processed it, and added it to its search index.
Search Atlas can publish your release, but search engines decide if and when to index each page. For example, a release that is Live with 31 links may show only 16 indexed, and another with 20 links may show 13. That gap is common, and it usually narrows over time.
Common reasons for a gap:
- Timing: indexing can take days or several weeks, especially for new pages.
- Duplicate or syndicated content: search engines may skip pages that look very similar to others.
- Low-priority pages: pages with little authority or few visits may be crawled less often.
- Link counts: the total includes every link in the release and its syndicated copies, while the indexed count only includes pages that search engines have processed.
What you can do:
- Wait at least two to four weeks after publication before judging results.
- Check the indexed count again in the platform to see whether it has increased.
- Avoid republishing the same release, as this can create more duplicate content.
- If the count has not changed after several weeks, contact our team with the release names and dates.
📈 Why Your OTTO Score Went Up While Other Numbers Got Worse
It can look contradictory when your OTTO score rises (for example from 62 to 88) while Flawless Pages drops and Site Issues rises. These numbers measure different things, so they can move in different directions.
- OTTO score: reflects overall optimization progress, such as fixes that OTTO has found and deployed on your site.
- Flawless Pages: counts pages with no detected issues at all. A single new issue removes a page from this count.
- Site Issues: counts the problems found across the site. This number can grow when a new scan covers more pages or checks more things.
Common reasons the numbers diverge:
- A new crawl found more pages than the previous one, which also surfaces more issues.
- New content or site changes introduced fresh issues.
- Fixes were applied to high-impact items, which raises the score, while smaller issues remain open.
- The scores were refreshed at different times, so you are comparing data from different scans.
A rising OTTO score alongside more issues is not necessarily a sign that something broke. It often means the tool now has a fuller picture of your site.
⚖️ OTTO Grader vs. Site Explorer: Which Score Is Correct?
Both can be correct, because they are not designed to produce identical numbers. They may use different crawl timing, page coverage, and scoring methods.
- OTTO Grader: best for tracking optimization progress over time and seeing how your changes affect your overall score.
- Site Explorer: best for detailed audit-level review of pages, issues, and site data.
Tips for comparing them:
- Compare each tool only against its own earlier results, not against the other tool.
- Check the date of the last scan or refresh in each tool.
- Use the OTTO score to judge progress, and use the issue lists to decide what to fix next.
- Re-check after a new scan has completed, as numbers often settle after a refresh.
✅ Quick Checklist
- Rejected placements: gather your order number and preferred outcome, then contact our team.
- Indexation gap: wait a few weeks and avoid republishing the same release.
- Score differences: compare scans from the same date and use each tool for its own purpose.
💬 Need More Help?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.