Showing posts with label seo. Show all posts

21 February 2016

How Search Result Analysis Leads To A Better SEO Program

Derek Edmond on May 6, 2015

How often do you go back to determine the type of content that appears in search engine results for your priority keywords and phrases?

A few months ago, one of our clients posed an interesting challenge: they wanted to expand their online product offerings but were concerned with the level of viability those offerings would have for organic search performance. They wanted to better understand how the search engine result landscape could impact marketing strategy and tactics.

Some of the search-specific concerns expressed:

Type of content assets that appeared to perform best in organic results for a strategic set of keyword targets.
Type of user experience prevalent for content assets uncovered.
Type of competitors or distributors already present in these organic results.

This initiative provided the opportunity for us to thoroughly re-examine keyword strategy as it pertained to the direction of content marketing initiatives. And while this was one instance where we really were able to invest considerable time and energy in specific results, its a practice that can be applied to ongoing SEO programs as well.

Here are the steps we took in development of our program and examples of results and actions realized.

Identify A Priority Keyword List

The first step is almost always the identification of a specific set of keyword targets. In this case, we wanted to identify a priority set of themes and phrases associated with a core set of product lines and business needs.

If we were to tackle this initiative as a component of an ongoing program, we would focus on a particular theme, like a solution offering or concept popular in the target market.

The key is to create a manageable list based on resources. Usually, we will highlight 20 – 30 related opportunities for review.

How do you go about prioritizing your list? Here are metrics to consider:

Monthly search estimates, estimated CPC, and competitiveness from Google Keyword Planner.
Impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and conversion-specific metrics from Google AdWords.
Social popularity metrics such as hashtag usage, conversations, etc., using tools like BuzzSumo.
Keyword targets identified in existing, priority content marketing assets.

Tools of the Trade: Here are some technology resources to consider when building out a priority keyword list:

Google Keyword Planner and Google AdWords
Ubersuggest
SEMRush
BuzzSumo

Once you have an agreed upon list, it’s time to dig into actual search engine results themselves.

Content copy fromhttp://searchengineland.com/search-result-analysis-leads-better-seo-program-220205

Checklist For Transitioning To A New Digital Agency

Patrick Stox on August 6, 2015

Transferring to a new agency can be a difficult experience for the client and both agencies involved. The transition is not always smooth and is not always under the best circumstances.

For those of you on the “new agency” end, here is a checklist to make the transition as painless as possible.

Website & Analytics Access

Find A Contact At The Other Agency. Whether the client has a contact or you have to call and get in touch with someone, having a contact at the other agency will make the transition easier. The other agency will want to do as little work as possible, as they likely aren’t being paid at this point. Be organized, be specific about what you need, and contact them as few times as possible for the best results. Be sure to ask them about the client and how they were to work with, and if there is anything that will prevent them from cooperating, such as past due bills.

Website. Ideally, a client will have full access to their website and hosting. However, many times the client trusted everything to their old agency, and they don’t have the necessary access. If everything was being handled by the old agency, you will need to request access to the CMS, FTP and the hosting control panel in order to migrate the website. If full access was not given to the CMS, it may be necessary to give yourself permissions through the database or a script.

Domain. Make sure the client is in control of their own domain and that you have access to the registrar if performing a website migration. The last thing you want is to be in a situation where the old agency registered the domain and refuses to give it up or allow changes to the DNS.

Analytics. It’s important to know the history of a website and also to have a baseline for performance comparison with an ongoing campaign. There may be important notes in the Google Analytics account and possibly reporting dashboards, events being tracked, and goals set to measure the success of a campaign. Ideally, a client has created the Google Analytics account and shared access to the account with the previous provider, and can do so with you, as well. Many times, an agency will be the one who created the Analytics account, especially with smaller clients, and this is where things might not go as planned.

If the agency made an account for each client, then they can share full access at the account level without any trouble. If they made different properties for one account, even if they share access at the property level, this leaves the new company at a disadvantage, as many features, such as filters, are disabled. It also leaves the new agency in the precarious situation where the old agency still has the account access level and will see all future data.

For additional information on managing users in Google Analytics, seehttps://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1009702?hl=en

Google Search Console & Bing Webmaster Tools. These tools provide a wealth of data, such as showing redirect errors, link acquisition, rankings, penalties and much more. While you may want to ask the other agency to add you, if you have access to the website, you can also add yourself. The more important thing is to remove access from an agency that’s no longer working with the company.

For additional information on verifying ownership in Google Search Console, seehttps://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1142414?hl=en
For additional information on verifying ownership in Bing Webmaster Tools, seehttp://www.bing.com/webmaster/help/how-to-verify-ownership-of-your-site-afcfefc6
For additional information on managing users in Google Search Console, seehttps://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2453966?hl=en
For additional information on managing users in Bing Webmaster Tools, seehttp://www.bing.com/webmaster/help/how-to-add-users-to-your-site-account-d5c00364

Google Tag Manager. If the other agency was using Google Tag Manager for tracking events or adding scripts, then you will want access to this, too. They may have the Google Analytics code here and be firing events that are tracked as goals, remarketing, JSON-LD structured data or other tags set up for various purposes.

For additional information on managing users in Google Tag Manager, seehttps://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/6107011?hl=en

Google My Business. The company may be able to add you as a manager on the Google My Business listing(s), but often, with small businesses, these were created by an agency, and the company may not have access. Either way, it will be important to have access to these business listings to make sure the information is up-to-date.

For additional information on managing users in Google My Business, seehttps://support.google.com/business/answer/3403100

Google AdWords. If AdWords was set up properly, then the client will have the account setup and will have shared access to the account with the previous agency. If this is the case, you simply need to have their account number and send an invitation for them to join your AdWords MCC account. Transferring becomes an issue when the account was set up by the previous agency, no access was given to the client, and the agency doesn’t want to share the data. It sucks to start from scratch, and if you are put into this situation, try to gather as much data as possible from old reports and Google Analytics.

For additional information on granting access to Google AdWords, seehttps://support.google.com/adwords/answer/1704346?hl=en

Passwords. Get any passwords to anything the other agency may have. Social media accounts, citation websites, blogs or any other websites where they may have created a profile or claimed a listing. Most agencies keep a list of all login credentials for different websites.

Site & Campaign History Information

Rather than starting from scratch on a campaign, find out what the other agency has done in the past and what they had planned for the future, and use that as your foundation. Some of these items an agency may be reluctant to give up, but it never hurts to ask, and it can be fruitful to press the issue at times, especially if the previous contract may have specified all collateral materials created belong to the client.

Find out when any services they may have used, such as Moz Local or Yext, will expire.
Check when the website was last redesigned.
Obtain copies of logos or any other files related to design or branding in vector format.
Find out what other advertising avenues were used, such as YP, Yelp or social media.
Ask if any other domains owned by the client or former agency are redirected or if they were ever used for websites.
Ask for any files related to the campaign, such as targeted keywords, content strategy or competitor research.
Get copies of previous reports of rankings and KPIs, as they provide a baseline, show trends and identify what metrics the client is used to seeing.
See if there were past audit documents or any penalties.
Ask for an account of the previous agency’s efforts, such as on-site optimization, content creation, linkbuilding or anything else.
Find out what plans, in-progress items and ideas were never acted on.

“Trust, but verify.”

Check behind the other agency and their efforts and resources. You may uncover problems or missed opportunities, or you may come up with new ideas in the process. Their efforts provide you a head start on your own efforts, but they should be verified to be accurate and well-planned. Also, check behind the other agency on access to make sure you have the right access levels or permissions needed for your efforts.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/checklist-transitioning-new-digital-agency-226468

Traits To Hire In A Link Builder

Jon Ball on October 20, 2014

Building links takes a specific type of person.

Link building is hard work that takes no shortage of creativity, dedication, and sometimes even luck to be successful. I’ve found there are a particular set of skills and attributes are required to build links efficiently.

Typical duties of a link builder include:

Analyzing various niches and verticals (as well as competition within them)
Scrutinizing clients’ websites and identifying linkable assets
Developing custom strategies and tactics(based on analysis) for maximum efficiency
Locating and vetting viable link prospects and opportunities
Crafting compelling outreach
Keeping outreach conversations fresh through regular follow-ups
Engaging and interacting via social media
Representing clients’ companies online
Organizing and maintaining multi-faceted campaigns

Hiring the right people is crucial in all industries, and that’s certainly true with link building. As the CEO of a link building firm, I can tell you that there are some definite traits worth looking for when hiring a new link builder.

Here are some key traits you should be able to identify in any potential new hire:

Strong communication skills
Creative thinking
Independence
Organizational skills
Internet savvy
Being a team player

Considering these traits during your hiring process will ensure you hire the best candidates.

Strong Communication Skills

Strong communication skills are beneficial in many lines of work, but are especially important in link building.

As the industry has evolved over the years, it has shifted from automated spam links to real and worthwhile links. Building links solely for Google’s web crawlers is no longer effective, and now there is a much stronger focus on building links for human users.

Links must be built manually, through human interaction with webmasters of legitimate sites; consequently, strong communication skills are imperative.

Online communication is unique, and typically limited to email or social media. The ability to convey your ideas clearly and succinctly through writing is paramount.

Many aspects of link building are parallel to aspects of sales, and a great deal of persuasion is required. Much of outreach is essentially explaining (selling) to a webmaster why adding a link to your site would benefit their audience. To be successful, you must be able to demonstrate this value in a simple and convincing manner.

Not only are strong communication skills essential, but they will also serve a link builder in developing positive online relationships. Fostering meaningful relationships is part of the job as these relationships often lead to more opportunities and links.

The ability to express oneself clearly and persuasively online is a vital trait for a link builder.

Creative Thinking

Link building is a creative endeavor.

No two link building campaigns are ever the same, and an agile mind is required to generate customized strategies to explore and find new opportunities.

While some aspects of building links are technical, creativity plays a major role. The ability to think outside of the box and approach a problem from multiple angles is crucial.

Due to the fact that link building involves human engagement and relying on another person, there are many factors you cannot control. Because of this, it’s important to constantly adapt and shift strategies to be successful.

Quite often the first, second, and even tertiary options to build a link won’t be fruitful. A link builder must be able to generate and implement a number of unique and customized strategies to overcome the challenges they face.

Not only must these people be able think creatively, but due to the amount of rejection that comes with link building, they must also be optimistic in order to not get discouraged.

An effective link builder will be able to see all sides of a problem and develop the appropriate solution.

Independence

The ability to work independently is a desirable trait.

Any person you hire should demonstrate the ability to be autonomous. Link builders must be able to manage their time wisely on their own and decide how best to allocate their resources to build links effectively.

As mentioned before, these people will encounter a number of unique challenges throughout the course of a campaign, and they must be able to solve problems independently in order to maintain efficiency.

Also, a good deal of diplomacy is needed. Sometimes, people can respond unfavorably (due to misconceptions regarding links) and link builders must be able to handle these situations delicately and professionally as they arise, with minimal oversight.

Link building is very time-consuming and requiring your employees to constantly report their actions will only decrease their efficiency — it also bogs you down, leaving less time for big-picture strategy development.

Organizational Skills

Strong organizational skills are imperative to link building.

Campaigns are multi-faceted and involve a number of different processes (niche analysis, site audits, link prospecting, and outreach). The ability to stay organized and keep track of everything going on in a campaign is vital. Look for detail-oriented people who can consistently account for a variety of factors. For example, on-going campaign factors include:

Anchor text variance within backlink profile
Quality checks on potential prospects
Quality checks on outreach messages
Follow-up outreach messages

Etc.

While creativity and ingenuity are important, a meticulous approach to campaign organization is equally important.

Internet Savvy

Link builders operate predominantly online and some level of internet savvy is necessary.

As mentioned before, these people will typically communicate via email and social media, and a strong level of familiarity and comfort with these media is needed.

Additionally, a basic understanding of how online content is produced and shared is important. High quality content can supercharge a link building campaign, and the person you hire needs to know how to leverage that.

While technical factors and specific techniques can be taught, it is worthwhile to consider candidates that already have a firm knowledge of how digital content is created and dispersed.

Of course, a strong understanding of SEO principles is compulsory. Again, some aspects can be learned, but knowledge of general SEO best practices should be a primary concern.

Team Player

The ability to work in a team is essential within link building.

While the ability to work independently is important, it is just as crucial to find a person that is a team player. An interesting aspect of link building is the need to balance collaboration with independent assignments.

A large portion of responsibilities are best completed independently. However, there are also many tasks that can be accomplished more efficiently through teamwork. The ability to transition between both approaches seamlessly is a trait that should not be overlooked.

Collaboration helps a link builder be more successful in numerous ways. For example, even the most creative people can run into roadblocks throughout the course of a campaign.

In these situations it can be extremely valuable to simply get a new set of eyes on a particular problem, in order to attack it from a different angle or perspective. Some other ways teamwork can be beneficial include:

Shared burden of duties
Delegate specific tasks to those who excel at them
Diverse pool of ideas and strategies
Shared accountability for overall project success
Creativity of individuals is amplified through collaboration
Etc.

The ability to work autonomously is important in link building, but so is the ability to be a team player.

Conclusion

Link builders need to have certain character traits.

As Google’s head of webspam Matt Cutts said, link building is “sweat, plus creativity,” and it takes a specific type of person to achieve success. Link building pulls elements from a number of other professions (sales, marketing, PR, etc.) which make it unique and a diverse skill set is required.

In order to ensure you hire the right person for the job, consider these attributes when hiring:

Strong communication skills
Creative thinking
Independence
Organizational skills
Internet savvy
Being a team player

Considering factors such as rightness of fit is always a good idea too. However, not everyone can build links and it is important to account for specific traits that are conducive to effective link building.

While finding someone who excels in all of the above traits would be ideal, it’s not likely. Every trait is important, but sometimes you may need to place preference on a specific characteristic.

If it comes down to it, always hire the candidate with the strongest communication skills. Outreach is the backbone of a successful link building campaign, and without solid communication skills it’s impossible to craft compelling outreach. Exceptional link builders always have an ability to express themselves clearly and persuasively.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/traits-hire-link-builder-204760

Yandex Rolls Out Mobile-Friendly Algorithm In Russia, Code Name Vladivostok

Barry Schwartz

Yandex has told us they have rolled out their mobile-friendly ranking algorithm for their Russian index today. They code-named this update Vladivostok, the name of the largest city in the Russian Far East, where the share of mobile internet users is the largest compared to other regions in Russia.

A Yandex spokesperson told us that the new mobile-friendly algorithm is currently available only in Russia but will be available to searchers in Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Turkey in the coming few months.

In November 2015, Yandex began labeling mobile-friendly pages in their index with the goal to release this new algorithm.

This doesn’t mean Yandex will remove pages that are not mobile-friendly, but they may not rank them as high as mobile-friendly pages for mobile searchers.

“Vladivostok implementation doesn’t mean web pages not optimized for mobile experience will now disappear from search results, but their position on SERPS may differ depending on whether the user search[es] on their mobile or desktop,” they told us. They added, “although mobile compatibility is only one of 800 of ranking factors, the needs of our users is our top priority. We want to make sure it’s easy for them to interact with the webpages we deliver on any device.”

How does Yandex define what is mobile-friendly? It doesn’t differ much from Google or Bing’s interpretation:

A mobile-friendly webpage is a webpage whose content (text, images, etc.) fits the small screen, features vertical, rather than horizontal, scrolling, and is accessible on mobile devices (Java applets, Flash and Silverlight plug-ins are not supported by most of mobile browsers). Flash Video media files, for instance, cannot appear in search results on the mobile version of Yandex’s video search and hosting service, Yandex.Video, which only supports the HTML5 format.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/yandex-rolls-out-mobile-friendly-algorithm-in-russia-code-name-vladivistok-241609

Google To Remove Right-To-Be-Forgotten Links Worldwide, For Searchers In European Countries

Danny Sullivan on February 10, 2016

Google plans to censor European “Right To Be Forgotten” links on sites worldwide, for those searching from the specific European countries where particular requests were made. This would make it much harder for those in Europe to switch to non-European versions of Google and still find these links.

The Situation Now: Removals Only From European Editions

Under Europe’s Right To Be Forgotten, Europeans can request that search engines like Google remove links that they consider to violate their privacy or that are deemed harmful in some way and no longer relevant to the public interest. Those requesting removal have to specify both the links they want dropped and the specific search terms they want the links removed from.

If granted, Google will:

Drop the links only for the specific search terms requested. They continue to appear for other search terms.
Drop the links only for its European sites.
Continue to show the links for all searches in Google editions for non-European countries.

To understand more, here’s an example. Let’s say there’s someone named “Magdalena Doetgeta,” who lives in Germany and was convicted for drunk driving in 1998. When you search for her name, an article about the arrest comes up. She’s embarrassed about this and feels it’s no longer relevant, given how much time has passed since the conviction happened.

She files a request, asking that a link to the article be removed. If granted, that link would disappear for a search on her name. It would, however, still appear for other search terms that weren’t part of the removal request, such as “Drunk driving arrests in Munich in 1998.”

The rules above also mean that this would only happen for those searching on a European edition of Google, such as Google France or Google UK. At these editions of Google, the link would not show for her name.

If someone went to a non-European edition of Google, such as Google.com or Google Canada, even if they were physically within Europe, they would still see the link appearing for her name.

The Change: Removals From All Editions Globally, Only For Those In The Requesting Country

With the change, which we understand will happen in the near future, Right To Be Forgotten links will be dropped from all versions of Google worldwide, for anyone who is detected to be searching from the specific European country where the request came from.

In other words, Google would follow these new rules:

Drop the links only for the specific search terms requested, as before.
Drop the links for its European sites, as before.
Drop the links for worldwide from all Google editions, for those in the specific country where the request came from.

I’ve bolded the change. It can be hard to get your head around, so let’s go back to our earlier example.

As before, anyone searching in Europe for our person’s name on a European version of Google would not find the link about her drunk driving conviction.

As before, anyone searching in Europe would find the link for her name if they used a non-European version of Google like Google.com or Google Canada, EXCEPT if they are in the country from which the request originated.

In this case, the person was based in Germany. That’s where the request would be deemed to have originated. With the change, if she or anyone physically within Germany were to search for her name, the link would not appear, regardless of what edition of Google they use. It would be gone from Google Germany, Google France, Google.com, Google Canada — gone from all versions of Google globally, for her name.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/google-to-remove-all-right-to-be-forgotten-links-from-european-index-242235

Google Letting Official Representatives Of Knowledge Graph Boxes Suggest Changes In Search Results

Barry Schwartz on February 9, 2016

Google has begun allowing who they know to be the “official representative” of the information within the Knowledge Graph box in the search results to make edits or suggest changes to the information there.

If you search for something that brings up a Knowledge Graph box that is associated with your Google account, be it your biography information or maybe a company you represent, then Google will show you a box that lets you make changes. The box says “Is this info up-to-date?” It adds “only you can see this” and then explains, “As an official representative, you can suggest a change.” Then you have a “learn more” link that takes you to this help article and a “Suggest A Change” link that lets you make edits on the search results page.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/google-letting-official-representative-of-knowledge-graph-boxes-to-suggest-changes-in-search-results-242121

Google Had A Major Core Ranking Algorithm Update This Past Weekend

Barry Schwartz on January 12, 2016

Zineb Ait Bahajji (in French), Gary Illyes and John Mueller of Google have confirmed on Twitter that what webmasters were seeing over the weekend was not the Penguin update we are expecting, but rather a core ranking algorithm update.

On Friday, I noticed early signs of an update, and then, over the weekend, I called this a “massive update.” I asked Google for confirmation, and on Twitter they confirmed it was a core ranking algorithm update.

Google rarely confirms core algorithm updates. They did confirm one back in May 2015 for us, but it is rare that they confirm these. So it is a big thing for Google to go on record that this update webmasters were seeing was related to the core update.

Webmasters are still waiting for the Penguin update that was delayed and expected to be pushed sometime during this month. So there was a lot of confusion, with SEOs and webmasters thinking this update was Penguin-related.

But the signs didn’t point to Penguin; it seemed more core search- or Panda-related. Now we know it was core search, and potentially also Panda, which is now baked into the core search algorithm. More on that in a few minutes over here.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/google-had-a-major-core-ranking-algorithm-update-this-past-weekend-240067

Google Panda Is Now Part Of Google’s Core Ranking Signals

Barry Schwartz on January 12, 2016

Google Panda, one of Google’s most significant spam-fighting algorithms, launched in February 2011, is officially part of Google’s core ranking algorithm. It is unclear exactly when this happened; we at Search Engine Land are trying to find out.

Jennifer Slegg posted a Panda guide that was vetted by Google’s PR team, and part of that included a statement that said Panda is now part of Google’s core ranking algorithm. Here is that statement:

Panda is an algorithm that’s applied to sites overall and has become one of our core ranking signals. It measures the quality of a site, which you can read more about in our guidelines. Panda allows Google to take quality into account and adjust ranking accordingly.

Gary Illyes from Google confirmed the authenticity of this quote.

For one thing, this means Google will likely never confirm another Panda update for us in the future. The last confirmed Panda update was Panda 4.2, which was expected to roll out over “several months.”

Well, now that algorithm is baked into their main algorithm.

We still have a lot of questions around what this means. Is the core ranking algorithm updating in real time? It doesn’t seem so, as we just reported this morning on a new core ranking algorithm update that ran over the weekend. That update seems to have had some Panda signals in it, based on my analysis of the reports in the SEO community.

We are also trying to find out approximately when Google incorporated Panda into their core algorithm and what that means. I estimate that it happened in late 2015, but I am trying to get something on the record from Google.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-is-now-part-of-googles-core-ranking-signals-240069

Google Explains What It Means To Be Part Of The “Core” Algorithm

Barry Schwartz on January 21, 2016

Last week’s news that Panda is part of Google’s core ranking algorithm has gotten SEOs buzzing about what exactly being part of the core algorithm means. Now, Google has shared some more information about that, saying that the algorithm is consistent enough to not require many changes in the future and can run with less hand-holding.

In a Q&A with Google’s Andrey Lipattsev, he spends a good amount of time explaining the confusion around what it means to be part of the “core” algorithm, and also why it is hard to sometimes define a Google update.

The video starts at around 8 minutes in, where Andrey Lipattsev, a search quality senior strategist at Google, said in regard to what core means:

It is less about the functionality, which means it probably doesn’t change that much over time, and it is more about how we perceive it, in the context of the algorithm. Do we still think this is an experimental thing, it is running for a while and we aren’t sure how long it will last? Or is it like PageRank, it is part of it, it will always be there, at least in the foreseeable future and then probably call it in certain context part of the core algorithm.

He also cites how Gary Illyes from Google tried to explain it on Google+ with this analogy:

I think this is really the worst takeaway of the past few days, but imagine an engine of a car. It used to be that there was no starter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starter_[engine]), the driver had to go in front of the car and use some tool to start the engine. Today we have starters in any petrol engine, it’s integrated. It became more convenient, but essentially nothing changed.

For a user or even a webmaster it should not matter at all which components live where, it’s really irrelevant, and that’s why I think people should focus on these “interesting” things less.

Andrey Lipattsev explains that Gary meant here that Panda is now part of the core ranking algorithm, and it means they do not need to know how it runs any more. It’s been tested, it works, and it can now run by itself without much worry.

Ammon Johns, in the hangout, then said, “Once they forgot how it works, it is core?” To which Andrey Lipattsev replied, “That is exactly right.”

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/google-explains-what-it-means-to-be-part-of-the-core-algorithm-240681

Barry Schwartz on February 5, 2016

This morning, on the Google Japanese Webmaster Blog, Google announced it has targeted a link network in Japan for using practices against the Google Webmaster Guidelines.

Specifically, the link network was trying to artificially inflate the PageRank and trust factors of websites through buying, selling and trading links with the sole intent of ranking higher in Google’s search results.

The translated version, via Google Translate, of the blog post reads:

As part of this effort, Google this time, in order to operate illegally search result link program has undergone a countermeasure against some of the site network of the Japanese had done the buying and selling of participating in the link. Among this is because it was also included sites that repeatedly Webmaster Guidelines violation, was subjected to severe measures than normal in some cases.

In addition, we tell even before, there seems to be the case that measures would be carried out, such as violation of the Webmaster Guidelines in place without the knowledge of the webmaster. Previously it introduced the example of SEO firms, but it seems there is also be generated by the outsourcing of such advertising not only SEO skilled in the art. In order to prevent this, the webmaster you we recommend that you check from time to time and see whether subcontractors are doing what measures.

The last time Google officially confirmed hitting a link network with a penalty was back in November 2014, when Google targeted a Polish-based link network. Google did take action on many link networks back in 2014 but has focused more of their attention, at least communication-wise, on mobile spam and redirects.

Content copy from http://searchengineland.com/google-has-penalized-a-link-network-in-japan-241867