Webmaster Tools Manual Actions - Should I Disavow Spammy Links??

[Pete4]

My website has a manual action against it in webmaster tools stating;

Unnatural links to your site—impacts links

Google has detected a pattern of unnatural artificial, deceptive, or manipulative links pointing to pages on this site. Some links may be outside of the webmaster’s control, so for this incident we are taking targeted action on the unnatural links instead of on the site’s ranking as a whole

I have checked the link profile of my site and there are over 4,000 spammy links from one particular website which I am guessing this manual action refers to.  There is no way that I will be able to get these links removed so should I be using Google's Disavow Tool or is there no need?  Any ideas would be appreciated!!

[Martijn_Scheijbeler]

Hi,

A pretty simple answer this time: you should use the Google Disavow Tool to do this. As, as you say you won't be able to have the links removed by yourself. And this is your way of telling Google that you want them to ignore these links.

[GPainter]

Google likes to see you try, its a good idea to attempt contact with the website asking them to remove the links, if you don't try don't expect Google to try either, I recommend send an email to them (try postmaster or webmaster @ )

No response then you can use the disavow tool then when you request your site to be reconsidered you have proof that you've tried.

Good luck.

[Pete4]

Are you sure on this as Google has stated in the manual action "Some links may be outside of the webmaster’s control, so for this incident we are taking targeted action on the unnatural links instead of on the site’s ranking as a whole".

Doesn't this mean that they have 'disavowed' them already??

[GPainter]

Yes, for your part the theory is you don't need to take any action, those links won't affect you

However it's almost a per-warning and there is no harm in attempting to remove the links. You wouldn't need to resubmit though it won't hurt to drop and email and make sure you've taken some action.

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2604772?ctx=MAC

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/manual-actions-viewer.html

"If you don't control the links pointing to your site, no action is required on your part. From Google's perspective, the links already won't count in ranking. However, if possible, you may wish to remove any artificial links to your site and, if you're able to get the artificial links removed, submit a reconsideration request. If we determine that the links to your site are no longer in violation of our guidelines, we’ll revoke the manual action."

[Maximise]

This post is deleted!

[Pete4]

Thanks - I see what you are saying but I can't see them removing these links.  Would you recommend I use the disavow tool even though Google are saying they are discounting these links???????????

[GPainter]

Technically you don't need to, I don't personally see the harm in doing so however. It's really up to you.

[Cyrus-Shepard]

Hi Rich,
This is a manual action, which means your site has been penalized. You DO need to take action to get this penalty lifted, especially if you have noticed a decrease in traffic/rankings.

In general, the Google Webspam team likes to see ample evidence that you did everything in your power to remove links BEFORE using the disavow. If you submit a reconsideration request after skipping this step, your request will likely be rejected.

This process has been well-documented by several webmasters. I highly recommend reading these posts for more background and advice:

• http://moz.com/blog/lifting-a-manual-penalty-given-by-google-personal-experience
• http://moz.com/blog/google-disavow-tool
• http://cyrusshepard.com/boom-1-email-60-bad-links-gone-4-tools-for-easy-link-cleanup/