Google Manual Penalty

[Aff_G]

We have just got a notification from google:

"1 issue detected
Pages affected by manual actions can see reduced display features, lower ranking, or even removal from Google Search results."

It doesn't say anything else? So how are we supposed to address this?

Also we have never bought a single link for our UK affiliate site and only use PR/white hat methods. So I am beyond upset about this.

Does anyone know where even to start to address this penalty?

 

[Roulette Zeitung]

"It doesn't say anything else?"

Go to https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9044175 and scroll down to "How do I fix the problem?"

 

[Aff_G]

"It doesn't say anything else?"

Go to https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/9044175 and scroll down to "How do I fix the problem?"

Yeah it just says:

"Unnatural links to your site" and "Affects some pages"

But doesn't say which ones?

We have picked up the odd spam link that we have nothing to do with - negative SEO attacks etc but we have disavowed these plus google keeps saying they know about spam etc etc!

So frustrating

 

[Roulette Zeitung]

"we have disavowed these"

Have you already initiated a reconsideration request?

There are some articles how to handle a reconsideration request better.
This is one example: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-write-reconsideration-requests-that-work/303043/

Sorry for the ads. It's not my website.

 

[Aff_G]

"we have disavowed these"

Have you already initiated a reconsideration request?

There are some articles how to handle a reconsideration request better.
This is one example: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-write-reconsideration-requests-that-work/303043/

Sorry for the ads. It's not my website.

We disavowed them about 6 months ago, but more did pop up. But google always says it know what spam is.

Thanks for the information about the reconsideration request I didnt know you could do that I will read it now. Cheers.

 

[Alchemist]

Very alarming. Can you share some details more? Which domains are those of negative SEO?

 

[Aff_G]

Very alarming. Can you share some details more? Which domains are those of negative SEO?

I have downloaded all site links from three different sources and have gone through them one by one. I have realised that more spam/fake/bad link building has been created, especially in the last month.

I will update the disavow now and hope for the best.

Its probably my fault for not spotting earlier but google does keep saying it knows spam and ignores it.. obviously not!

Our site has been under constant attack (ddos, hackers, spam, negative seo) so this is just the latest one I guess..

 

[Alchemist]

Is it some no follow PW and IN domains?

 

[NDG]

If you've received a manual penalty in the "Manual Actions" section of the search console, then you will need to address the issues, provide documentation of the resolution of those issues, and then make a reconsideration request for the penalty to be removed.

If it is due to unnatural links, then you will need to fix the link issues.

You will need to go through all of the links to the site, request that the bad or questionable ones be removed at the site of origin or just simply disavow them if its impossible to get them removed. Document all of this and provide it to Google when you make a request for reconsideration. Sometimes, you just have to dig through all of them.. and get rid of what you think is actually triggering the action.

 

[Aff_G]

Is it some no follow PW and IN domains?

Its a mix, spammy links to image urls, some .IN domains, some .XYZ and they usual keywords sites.

Also I have noticed someone has created super spammy articles such as "online jobs working from home" with a link to us. Which in my opinion is them trying to make it look like we are badly link building - which we are not.

Overall its not that many - about 100. Concerning that this was picked up by Google....unless we were reported.

 

[Alchemist]

@NDG as @Aff_G is saying, google didn't let the webmaster know if it is the links or what the problem is. As i see it, it's not the links... 100 links is nothing for Google. Try to email the big G to tell you what the issues are so you can address them.

 

[Strider1973]

I've got the same email for a website that I purchased 2 years ago and where I didn't work on off-page SEO since then.
Didn't look into the details yet. Annoying...

 

[JT_BeastsOfPoker]

There's ton of guides on best practices on how to avoid manual penalties, but sometimes its worth the risk to push some angels aggressively. Can be quite time consuming to lift it in case you get hit.

 

[xecutable]

I've had this problem once. I kinda did it to myself, by setting up 301s from old domains to the new one. As I had various domains I wanted to preserve some of the links for the new ones. Got slapped with a penalty, then wrote an explanation that those domains were mine, from the same register under the same account.

I had attached screenshots of everything as well. Around 4 days later they had removed it. Bad links will pop up all the time there's nothing you can do about it. And if you are guilty as charged I don't expect you to come clean on this thread. From the past 11 years, what I've seen is Google is pretty good at determining what came from you and what came from an outside party.

I'd write back to them with an explanation, this at least will trigger their attention and will see if this was not a mistake. If they do not lift it, then they have a pretty good evidence something against their ToC was done.

 

[ddm]

^ good advice. thanks for sharing your personal experience for all to learn from Xecutable.

 

[NDG]

@NDG as @Aff_G is saying, google didn't let the webmaster know if it is the links or what the problem is. As i see it, it's not the links... 100 links is nothing for Google. Try to email the big G to tell you what the issues are so you can address them.

We had a manual penalty for one of our sites years ago. When we received the notification, our traffic went down by 70%.
Their was not a detailed explanation of what the problem was. We ended up removing a few links, and submitting a
reconsideration request. It was rejected. So, we ended up doing a complete audit of the site, the pages, the backlinks, etc.
We removed any backlink that looked unnatural (by requesting it be removed or by disavowing it) and we put together
a detailed spreadsheet of all of the links that were removed and all of the natural links to the web site. We sent this
spreadsheet with our reconsideration request, while also pledging to make sure the site meets Googles best practices.
If I remember correctly, it took about a week for the reconsideration request to be approved. Shortly after, our traffic was back.

 

[Alchemist]

Thanks for sharing your experience @NDG, 99% of manual penalties are coming for links indeed. But maybe there is a chance that this one isn't about links? I have more bad backlinks than @Aff_G mentioned here and i guess all of us do. If 100 links will land you a penalty, then we all should have one..

 

[AussieDave]

Touch wood, I've never experienced a G manual penalty. Then again, I've never purchased a single link, ever.
Had a ton of neg SEO over the years (at one point some A-hole threw over 300K of crap links to me). Yet with all that garbage, I still did not receive any G penalties.

I can't say for sure, but I think, if you have sites which behave over a certain period of time, google builds a trust factor/profile on those sites, and if anything out of the ordinary (smammy links etc., etc) are detected, your not penalized, like what could happen to another site(s), which may not have that "trust" factor.

Just seems weird that some sites penalized, while other, which have far worse neg seo, get nothing.

 

[preditor]

Touch wood, I've never experienced a G manual penalty. Then again, I've never purchased a single link, ever.
Had a ton of neg SEO over the years (at one point some A-hole threw over 300K of crap links to me). Yet with all that garbage, I still did not receive any G penalties.

I can't say for sure, but I think, if you have sites which behave over a certain period of time, google builds a trust factor/profile on those sites, and if anything out of the ordinary (smammy links etc., etc) are detected, your not penalized, like what could happen to another site(s), which may not have that "trust" factor.

Just seems weird that some sites penalized, while other, which have far worse neg seo, get nothing.

Excatly! I also feel google "knows" my work, and kind of likes it. Sometimes i feel bad that i cant thank google for pushing my sites in some things, for example indexing speed.

I also have never ever bough one single link and never recived a penalty since i started building webbsites over 17 years ago.

 

[Aff_G]

The penalty is link related simply all the email said is:

"Unnatural links to your site" with no more information other than a link to an article.

We have done a full audit, aside from the spam we do have some links (like casino testimonials) that could look bad. Which we are in the process of removing.

For context we are a new site (ish) about 18 months old and we are still so up and down in SERPS. I don't think Google knows what to do with us still. We don't have many links either and don't pay too much attention to link building so its super strange that we are on their radar for a manual review.

Google is so confusing when sites that have risen to the top are still using link networks - so obviously as well. I know theres more to them doing well but its almost like Google is ignoring the fact they are using black-hat networks.

I guess they will get their time for Google to take a closer look..