I'm wrestling with something that I'm hoping members of the community can provide input on....
I've working with an enterprise level client that is in the business of data capture and distribution.
I've diagnosed a clear drop of traffic on May 22nd, i.e a loss of search visibility post Penguin 2.0.
Their link profile is big! Discussions with internal stakeholders who have been with the company 10's of years confirm that no "link building" service providers have ever been hired and no over-zealous employee is ever likely to have tried to "do" link building internally. They are just one of those lucky companies that by their nature publish information that people want to link to and share.
As a first port of call I've grouped links by anchor text and can see groups of hundreds of matching anchors based on their brand URL and specific page titles. The matching anchors have resulted from big take up of interesting data that they have marketed via press releases. NOT for link purposes.
My question is this....
Does the community think or have evidence (or can point me toward any case studies) that show that Press release syndication alone could result in:
a) a penguin penalty or...
b) a devaluing of press release type links during Penguin 2.0 that could have resulted in a loss of search visibility and give the impression of a penalty
Your thoughts are much appreciated!