Google -30 filter

There’s been a lot of chatter recently about a so-called “30 filter” or “-30 penalty”.

At it’s heart it sounds like an advanced feature of Google Sandboxing - ie, a website that can only rank low, not simply for it’s own keywords, but even domain name.

The interesting point about this filter/penalty is that it’s very specific - all rankings on the domain are reduced by 30 positions.

Here are some of the discussions so far on the issue:

• Threadwatch
• Wembmaster World
• DigitalPoint
• SearchEngineWatch

Among the general forum chatter, there are some key points that keep getting raised:

1. This is a penalty for minor infractions of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
2. The penalty occurs when multiple trigger conditions are met
3. Site with lower quality indicators - ie, affiliate programs, and running Google Adsense - are commonly affected
4. Large-scale link acquisition could be a key trigger
5. Duplicate content could also be a potential trigger
6. The penalty is re-evaluated on a periodic basis - ie, every 30 days
7. A reinclusion request to Google may be helpful in expediting removal of the penalty

The issue has especially got my attention after someone approached me with this problem this week, and as they are now a client, it’s my job to try and reverse this penalty.

First steps are to prepare for a reinclusion request that:

A. Admits they used a link exchange program before, but have since deleted it and will no longer use one
B. Has extensively written articles for publishing on third-party websites, with links - but will now cease this practice, in order to publish own content only to own site
C. Removed AdSense and Google Search for improved user quality of the site
D. Explain that the sign-up form linked to on another domain is not an affiliate link, but another website they had to set up for technical reasons (host for main site wouldn’t support the scripting language required in the form page)

The company also previously applied an affiliate program, and there are a lot of links coming in from these. I’m considering whether to rewrite those affiliate URLs to the site homepage, or simply rewrite them into a blackhole to reduce the overall link overhead on the site (ie, point 4 above).

In the event that the reinclusion request doesn’t have any short-term effects, then my next moves are:

i. Focus on Longtail
ii. Recommend PPC management

The main reason for these two options is that the site at present is a complete mess, and I’m having to rebuild it to be search engine friendly. They also have a load of great content that went AWOL and the developer never considered redirects for. When all that’s fixed it should bring in traffic and conversions, and profitability with it - based on Longtail searches.

The second is that this company has been entirely reliant on organic rankings on Google for all business leads. This is such a fragile egg that in the event that I can’t help remove the penalty at present, I can at least help them re-arrange their business plan to pay for - and convert - traffic, rather than continue to expect it for free.