WMT shows 1.5 million inactive backlinks - Over Optimization Penalty?

[tapper]

I notice in Webmaster Tools I have over 1 million links counted that have not been active for over 18 months yet Webmaster Tools still reports them.

I also believe I likely have a over optimization penalty which has lasted for 18 months + plus since the top 5 keyword phrases which were number 1 for 5 years plus haven't shown anywhere on .com for over 18 months. Long tails still rank well and users actually seek out the site which keeps it still very busy because of the services provided.

There would seem to be a link if Google is still counting the links that have been gone for over 18 months from site that Tools is still reporting.

If this is the case how do I get Google to "wake up" and count correctly and also what does it say of Webmaster Tools accuracy and legitimacy ?

[tedster]

First, what shows in Webmaster Tools is absolutely not the same as the data Google actively uses to calculate rankings. It "should be" close in many areas, but it gets really out of touch a lot of the time. That said, a year and a half out of synch would be extreme.

Did you participate in some kind of backlink scheme that involved bulk purchases from some third party? In cases like that, backlinks are sometimes placed on hacked servers, en masse! These links are not only placed in a parasite hosting way, they are also cloaked so that only googlebot sees them. If any other IP address/user-agent tries to chekc for those links, they can't be seen.

Are you certain that you (or someone in your organization) did not get involved in some dicey backlink building? The fact that your anchor text seems over-optimized certainly hints at unnatural link building of some kind.

[tapper]

I can see the links in Webmaster Tools and they are site wide which is why so many are showing. They are from sites that have not been penalized in any way.

There are only around 4 or 5 of them. They may not even be the issue. I'm just wondering if there is a connection.

There are no actual links on the sites that Tools is reporting and hasn't been for over 18 months.

They are not cloaked or hidden they were removed 20 months ago and Tools still reports them.

They were from 5 relevant link exchanges many years ago. I stopped doing link exchanges 5 years ago and it took me 3 years of emails to get mine removed.

So if Google Latched onto them with a penalty and has held onto it for 18-20 months because of what other sites maintain then it's a pretty hard task master.

[tedster]

Doesn't sound to me like your analysis of the situation is solid. Why do you feel you have an "over optimization" penalty as opposed to some other kind of ranking problem?

[tapper]

Because the 5 biggest keyword phrases suddenly dropped from number 1's which they had held for 5 years to no where on .com. that happened 18 months ago.

This happened 4 times over a period of time like a tap being turned on and off. Traffic dropped and increased 50 pct each time. Cycles ran anywhere from 2 weeks , 30 days and 10 weeks then finally they never returned.

All long tail rankings still remain.

The keyword phrases that were effected were the most optimized both onsite and had the most anchor text links.

Those previous number 1's now don't show in the first 20 pages of .com but they still are in the first pages of other DC's around the world.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

I'm with tedster, this doesn't sound like an over-optimization penalty, BUT there is an easy fix if it is.

Send in a brief reconsideration request stating that you believe there has been a penalty on the site for some time because of the sites inability to rank for its primary keywords and strange webmaster tools results that make little sense. Don't get too specific with GWT stuff, just let them know the reports seem strange and ensure them your site is free and clear of any deceiving tactics and ask that they look into a possible keyword ban.

If you're right, or wrong, this is your only real recourse anyway.

FYI - GWT once showed me sitelink status while also being keyword penalized for one specific word (primary keyword). The result was very odd looking titles in GWT that snipped that keyword from my sitelink titles. The recon request reinstated the keyword and it's rankings and Google has since fixed this little reporting bug to mask the keyword snip.

[tedster]

Here's the thing - ANY drop in search traffic is inherently related to the rankings of some keyword or other. There's no other way for search traffic to be affected except in relation to query terms. That's true no matter whether it's an algorithm change that hurt you with no penalty involved at all, or your competition improved their rankings, or any kind of penalty hit your site. So simply noticing that some keywords lost search traffic doesn't nail it down as "over-optimization."

Sgt_Kickaxe is worth listening to - if you can find specific evidence that this is over-optimization. Here's a question for you. What optimization tactics have you followed that might be over the top?