Leosghost - 4:10 pm on Mar 8, 2011 (gmt 0)

Old thread ..one you missed digitalv ;-)
[webmasterworld.com...]

Search "almost nothing a competitor can do" and it will be bolded ..IMO the "almost" should also read almost in the phrase.

Stands to reason that there exist "associative filters" that will also look for negative associations ..same anchor text may well have rung two bells rather than one ..or tripped two filters as opposed to one ..

From time to time someone tests "bowling" ..always works ( probably always has to if you think about it carefully )..the specific "bowl" has to be manually adjusted ( removed from the associated term(s) influence) ..reasonable to assume that they would also have filter(s) for neighborhoods or sites of a "certain type" ..

or as has been demonstrated widely in the past "sites or owners we have banned" ..get picked up and banned again..even when they come back ( on paper at least ) as different sites and owners ..just the time factor may vary.

If it is unjustified in their eyes they may well be sorry for you ..if the negative PR value ( how much "clout" you have and "noise" you can make ) is high enough ..it gets manually discounted .."white house" related example of the past .there are others.

But the possibility of and acceptance of "collateral damage" reputational or otherwise appears to be built in to what Google does ..and would have to be ..or external forces could freeze serps.

It is also IMO safe to assume that if anyone knows who you are and what sites you own ( inspite of "privacy" ) ..it will be Google.