Over-Optimization Penalty Does Not Exist

[deepsand]

A little behind the times there Deepsand.

One of the algorithmic changes was in the notification software. The threshold for notification and the timing for notification were both changed a few weeks ago.

Presumably you speak of the recent flurry of "unnatural link" notifications, which are not generated owing to one's SERP rank having slipped vis-a-vis the algorithm itself, which is what some here seem to expect happens or should happen, but rather to an separate and external action intended to identify certain specific undesirable behavior or the appearance of such.

[C0ldf1re]

... I blame Google for starting it by getting people to worship at the little green bar. If they had never done that there would have been no metric that we could look at and say "see, I know what I'm doing". Each iteration after that simply made people more and more aggressive with link building...

Once upon a time, when the world was young, and the people were foolish, the multitudes worshipped at the shrine of the Little Green Bar, sometimes known as the LGB. And the LGB demanded that it be fed with links. So the people delivered links unto the LGB. If they sinned, and gave few links, then the LGB frowned and moved down, and the people were sad. If the people led good lives, and offered many links, then the LGB smiled upon them and moved up, and the people rejoiced.

Then was born a Prophet, and as the Prophet grew, so too grew His voice. Then His voice became as a mighty trumpet, and as the rolling thunder. And the people harkened to the word of the Prophet. And these were the words of the Prophet: "The Little Green Bar is a foolishness, and a delusion. No more shall ye worship at the shrine of the LGB."

And the people grew afraid, and they cried out to the Prophet. "Lord, what is to be our One True Metric, now that we know the foolishness of the LGB?"

And the Prophet replied, "The Almighty Serps is to be your One True Metric. Ye shall worship at the Temple of the Serps, and ye shall offer thy links to the Great Serps."

Then the people did offer their links to the Mighty Serps, and Serps was good, and the people were happy.

But there came an awful day. The people gave their links to the Mighty Serps, but the Mighty Serps spat back their links. Then Serps unleashed a terrible bird, and the bird flew over the people, and did drop excrement upon the people until they were nearly drowned. Then Serps cast down the websites of the people into a dark abyss. And the people wailed their dismay.

Then the people sought the Prophet, that He might guide them anew. But the Prophet had retired into His cave to meditate, and would not come out unto the people.

And the people still wail, and the bird still excretes, and the Prophet still meditates.

And this may be the end of the tale. Or there may be another chapter. We do not know. For it is not given unto Webmasters that they should know their future.

[PhilipDunn]

Then Serps unleashed a terrible bird, and the bird flew over the people, and did drop excrement upon the people until they were nearly drowned. Then Serps cast down the websites of the people into a dark abyss. And the people wailed their dismay.

But thy Penguin cannot fly - hail to the mighty green bar!

[deepsand]

[PhilipDunn]

well I stand corrected - lol

[deepsand]

Surprised the hell out of me.

[C0ldf1re]

Surprised the hell out of me.

Right up to the point that it went a little too far. The BBC once did a brilliant documentary about the Spaghetti Harvest. I take it that this Penguin clip was released on April 1st, too?

[deepsand]

From YT, "Uploaded by Spruce2142 on Apr 1, 2008"