Buying a used domain? Submit a Reconsideration Request

[tedster]

Google's John Mueller (JohnMu) offered this advice on the Google Forums.

In general, when you change to a new domain name that might have been used before, it's a good idea to submit a reconsideration request, detailing the change of ownership (or at least change of purpose).

[google.com...]

It's not an action I would have suggested taking proactively - not unless a ranking problem was obvious. For one, I do some pretty intense research before buying a used domain. But it's a good thing to know that Google is suggesting it.

Thanks to SERoundtable [seroundtable.com]

[tedster]

One bit that really caught my eye was "change of purpose". Is this an official indication that Google assigns domains to some kind of taxonomy that can stick around for a while, even after everything changes?

[Simsi]

I've seen someone else suggest that Google treats certain verticals differently and I'd go along with that. In some markets I'd imagine there are different rules applied to regularity of content, the way links are weighted and duplicate data across multiple sites and it would seem logical that Google might apply adapted algorithms, or at least different weights to certain factors, in some markets.

In fact there are possibly some small clues. In some affiliate-driven sectors you will rarely see TBPR above 5 despite very aggressive link-building and long-established sites. Also in one field I work in, Google seems to have a much more relaxed attitude to duplicate content.

That statement above seems to add some credence to this I'd suggest.