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Hi Jane,

to clarify, the site had been hit heavily by Panda in 2011 and again in 2012 by Penguin. Both are prior to the manual spam action, so we are aware of the impact each has had.

The purpose of the post was to see if anyone within the community has experienced a similar error in communication from Google and could recommend a course of address.

We are also aware of the backlink profile and manipulated anchors, but would like to thank you for your analysis.

Regarding the miscommunication, we have decided to approach a few individuals from the webspam team on Google + for a resolution.

Thanks again for your input : )

M.

Hi Marie,

I think it depends on the level of impact and number of unnatural links.

After all, a website with 100% natural links will appear unnatural!

M.

Hi Marie,

The site was hit by both Panda and Penguin, although not at the time of the supposed penalty.

In both cases, link removal would not have been necessary as the algorithm adjusted our rankings accordingly.

So its frustrating to be told by Google to remove links only to later discover this was not necessary.

Will try your suggested hangouts with John.

Many thanks Marie!

Hi Jane,

My clients ranking losses are correlated more closely to Panda updates, although Penguin has had some impact.

In both cases, link removal would not have been necessary as the algorithm adjusted rankings accordingly.

So to then be asked by Google to remove links, only to be told later that this wasn't necessary, has been both frustrating and damaging for the business.

Question is, how do we raise this with Google? Tweet Matt Cutts directly?!

William,

there are two place you can look for notices and webspam actions in WMT:

1. 'Site Messages'

2. 'Search Traffic > Manual Actions'

The 'webspam action' and 'reconsideration request' was received in 'Site Messages'. As was the subsequent message stating no webspam action was taken and a reconsideration request wasn't necessary. Clearly there's been miscommunication from Google resulting in links being removed and lost unnecessarily.

How do we take this up with Google? Tweet Matt Cutts directly?!

Guys,

let me rephrase.

The issue is, Google said they implemented a manual spam action and then later said they didn't.

So we were made to remove links for no apparent reason!

If I check Webmaster Tools > Search Traffic > Manual Actions, there are 'no manual webspam actions found'!

M.

Hi,back in June 2013, our company received a notice of unnatural links which resulted in 'a manual spam action' from Google.A reconsideration request was filed a week later which received the following response from Google:_'We reviewed your site and found no manual actions by the webspam team that might affect your site's ranking in Google. There's no need to file a reconsideration request for your site, because any ranking issues you may be experiencing are not related to a manual action taken by the webspam team.'_Naturally we are confused by what seems to be an error in Google's communication.We are also left questioning whether it was necessary to remove the links Google stated were unnatural.Since the notice was received, we have struggled to recover traffic even after implementing Google best practices.  Some clarity on the issue would be greatly appreciated.My URL is: www.homefurnitureland.co.uk