Google ignoring my disavow file?

[lee_sufc]

I haven't been given any manual penalty from Google (well, not that I am aware of anyway). However, we have lots of poor quality sites and directories linking to us (we've been running since 2001).

Following poor performance in the SERPs over the past year or so, we decided to go through each and every link and disavow anything that looked spammy or low quality or was a directory site.

This took us hours.

We submitted it to Google back in August 2013, but since then, NOTHING! The links we've disavowed are still showing in webmaster tools and rankings continue to fall.

Is there anything else we can do - why would the file be ignored?

[aakk9999]

The links we've disavowed are still showing in webmaster tools

They will not disappear from WMT, they will still show even if Google starts to ignore them (in the same way as nofollow links show in WMT).

[lee_sufc]

Thanks for clarifying that for me.

[Tiggerito]

Now, if you don't have a notification in GWT, then you don't have a manual action against you.

But you could be hit by an algorithm, in particular Penguin, which can be pacified by the disavow tool. You will only see Penguin changes on the dates it is updated.

Another thing to realise. Outside Penguin recoveries, disavowing links will not improve your ranking. You are removing links and any possible PageRank they may have passed.

If you want too improve your ranking, you have to do something positive as well. Better content, better links.

[n00b1]

As I understand it Penguin isn't the only algorithm that can demote a website based on links or related factors.