Google's Unnatural Link Warnings

We've been receiving an increased influx of questions into our online support system from current subscribers who have received a Google Unnatural Link Warning through their verified Webmasters account in 2012.

This type of notification is a recent change by Google (we first noted it back in August 2011) and marks a new shift in the level of communication that now exists between site owners and the Google Search Quality Team.

Historically, one of the most vocal complaints that site owners have had with Google was about their notoriously tight-lipped demeanor in communicating Google penalties or "slaps" when they were handed down. As we've covered in our Ultimate Guide to Avoiding Google Penalties, the norm by Google was to provide NO notice that a site had triggered a penalty (either manual or algorithmic).

Instead, site owners usually woke up to find a drop in rankings and traffic and then had to spend hours identifying possible causes, correcting perceived issues, submitting a reconsideration request with the "hope" that they had guessed correctly and fixed the right issues. Needless to say, this was not user-friendly and usually resulted in the site owner either having to seek professional assistance or submit MULTIPLE reconsideration requests to address all possible penalty triggers.

Fortunately, this recent change by Google is a WELCOME and much needed shift in transparency that's been a long time coming. But first, if you haven't yet received one of these "unnat...