When good domain names go bad

[ChristopherGlaeser]

We have created a website to distribute a niche product.  About a year ago, another vendor decided to drop the product and did not renew their domain name.  We tried to acquire the domain name, but a cyber squatter picked it up. The old domain name had a few decent back links, and there was probably some value to us with a 301, but the cyber squatter was asking $8,000 and we didn't even bother countering such an absurd figure.

The old domain continued to rank reasonably well for one or our search terms, even though it was just one page of spammy links.  Well, this week it appears that Google Panda may have finally killed it off.  Which brings me to a couple of questions.

1. In addition to a simple Google search, is there a way to determine if Google has killed a domain?

2. Assuming that Google has indeed killed the domain, is there any value in trying to 301 the domain should it ever be released?

Best,
Christopher

[First]

Your 1st question:

Go to www.google.com and type in the domain name, with and without the "www." For example, search for "www.domain.com" and then search for "domain.com" (without using quotes around the domain name). If the domain shows up in the search results then it is not banned in Google.

To investigate a domain further at Google, see what Google returns when you perform a site: search at Google. For example, if you go to Google and search for "site:www.domain.com" and then "site:domain.com" and Google comes back with "Your search - site:www.domain.com - did not match any documents," the site most likely is banned at Google.

Your 2nd question:

Was best answered below. Do not associate with any sites that have been determine to be spam, been penalized or even banned from Google.

[AmericanOutlets]

I don't know about your first question, but if Google does penalize/blacklist a domain, it will likely be toxic for a long time afterward. In my opinion, there isn't any value to associating yourself with a domain determined to be spam. It seems risky.