Ranking/traffic drop 4/24, WMT unnatural links notice on 5/19

[timwilliams]

On 2/24 our rankings for main keyword dropped from number 1/2 to number 5. Secondary keyword went from number 1 to number 20+. Ranking has not changed since.

On 5/19 we received a notice of unnatural links TO the site in WMT. No ranking changes have been seen in correlation to the notice as of 5/21.

We have 6 industry related, product specific sites on one server that all link to each other. Since the notice we have added no-follow tags to those links. Any other links to the site were not created by us and are beyond our control.

Our websites are informational/ecom. No affiliate links, no adsense,, no advertising, no outbound links.

Question #1: since we are still on the first page should we submit a reconsideration request?

Question #2: do you think the notice received on 5/19 is an indication that the ranking drop on 4/24 was do to link related penguin penalty OR is it an indication that a future ranking drop is coming?

[Planet13]

On 2/24 our rankings for main keyword dropped from number 1/2 to number 5...

Just to be clear, did your rankings drop on February 24 or on April 24?

(I am assuming April 24, but it it best to clarify this.)

If it is April 24, then welcome to the Penguin coop! It's pretty crowded in here, but apparently there is room for plenty more!

Question #1: since we are still on the first page should we submit a reconsideration request?

If your site is clean now that you took care of the interlinking between sites, why not file a reconsideration request?

[timwilliams]

yes, april 24, google fried penguin, assumed that, just didn't know if the WMT notice was a result of the penguin witch hunt or if it is something new that google is planning on hitting us with.