And now we know Google ain’t nothing to f*ck with!

According to reports, Google removed Rap Genius-a lyric based hip-hop site- from their search for trying to game the system.

So that means if you try and type in Rap Genius, instead of the website coming up as the first search result, you’ll find the website’s Twitter page, Wikipedia page or even articles about Google punishing the website for their manipulative SEO tactics!

The L.A Times reports, the site offered bloggers exposure via their social network, in exchange for bloggers to link to Rap Genius from their website. The attempt at manipulating the algorithm is better known as “growth hacking.”

Google became aware of this tactic when Rap Genius took to their Facebook page to ask bloggers if they were interested in joining their blog affiliate. Reports indicate  John Marbach, founder of  Glider, a new email filtering business, inquired into their strategy. Rap Genius founder Mahbod Moghadam emailed Marbach detailing the site’s plan. Moghadam instructed Marbach to place Justin Bieber links from Rap Genius into a post, regardless if the content was Justin Bieber related.

Once their strategy was revealed,  Marbach published the tactics in a well publicized blog post. That information was then taken to the head of Google’s web spam team Matt Cutts, who began an investigation into Rap Genius.

Moghadam woke up Christmas morning to learn that Rap Genius had been removed from search.

Being removed from Google’s search can be death for any website due large in part because  the bulk of traffic to any particular website comes through Google.

In a statement to Tech Crunch, Rap Genius apologized and indicated they’re working with the tech giant to resolve the issue.

“We are working with Google right now to resolve this. They’ve been really great, helping us identify changes we need to make, even on Christmas. We’re working on it as fast as we can, and expect to be back on Google very soon.

No word yet if Google will bring the site back.