Some search engine optimization measures are considered taboo (“black hat SEO“). If these measures are still used, the strategy may come to light. In this case, a Google penalty occurs, either by lowering the website in the search engine ranking or by removing it completely from the index. The latter is a disaster for any website, as search engine visibility is important to be found by potential customers and prospects. The consequences of this are possibly fewer contacts and customer inquiries. There are different types of Google penalty – manual penalty and algorithmic penalty. Both have in common that they have a negative impact on the ranking position in Google and thus the visibility. Google penalties to specific keywords, directories and subdomains are also possible. In the case of manual penalization, a Google employee himself has taken the website out of the ranking. In this case, the webmaster can send in a so–called “Reconsideration Request“ after he has cleaned up all the problems. The Google employee then decides whether the Google penalty will be withdrawn. In the case of algorithmic Google penalty, the Google algorithm has independently recognized that there is a problem. If the webmaster has now eliminated all the problems, the Google algorithm gradually cancels the punishment, but not all at once. The re–evaluation and data update may take some time. This penalization is more lengthy and frustrating for the website owner, as he has less influence on whether his website will come back into visibility on Google.
