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The algo is based on math and it is simply a matter of determining what factors are included in that algo in order to determine what is necessary to produce pages that are in line with what G feels is most relevant for their users.
However, recently there has been a variety of speculation regarding manual penalties. It seems as though manual penalties are rare, even though many people falsely attribute their SERP drop to manual penalties since it is easier to blame it on google than on the simple fact that they got out SEO'ed.
My question is whether or not google would ever confirm if a manual penalty was placed on a site. I am sure G gets a huge amount of emails asking whether or not their site is tripping a filter, if their site has too much duplicate content, the existence of a "sandbox", etc. I feel G has no responsibility to report on these instances or provide any information about them - if they disclosed things about their Algo, it would be easier to spam.
However, if a manual penalty is assessed on a site, I feel as though it would be appropriate if they disclosed this to the owner of the applicable site. If someone manual was applied and did not disclose it, it would be nearly impossible to determine what is affecting their sites, since you have moved from an objective assessment of the site (based solely on the algo) to a subjective assessment of the site.
Generally when subjective assessments are placed on things, you are able to determine why you were given this assessment - even if you don't agree with the judgment(regardless if it is judges assessing gymnasts in the Olympics or inclusion in the Yahoo! Directory - Y! will at least tell you why they took your $299 and did not include you in the directory).
I think it would be perfectly acceptable for G to penalize sites if they think it would improve the results for the users, I am simply making an argument that if G does apply manual penalties they should let you know that they have the OPINION that your site should not rank for some reason (possibly because they feel as though your site is not producing relevant results for their users, they are under pressure from someone [yro.slashdot.org], or any other reason).
So here are two questions:
1) Has anyone known of G to confirm a manual penalty (other than SearchKing). And if so,how can you go about it.
2) In what instances do you think G would apply a manual penalty?
(Here is a small list I came up with:)
- Spam producing irrelevant results.
- Sites performing illegal activities (or infringing on Trademark or copyright issues)
- (?) Top results of specific SERPs that are all affiliated (owned by the same company)
What else?
