Search Engine Filters, Penalties, and Methods for Detecting Them

To increase traffic to their site, owners sometimes use the most unusual methods that allow them to do this in the shortest possible time. However, using unverified optimization methods can lead the web resource to fall under filters, as well as sanctions being imposed on it. As a result, the site’s positions in search results will drop significantly, if they do not disappear from there altogether. Therefore, for optimization, only official recommendations of search engines should be used.

Search Engine Filter

Search engine filters are algorithms used against those web resources and pages that have implemented dubious optimization methods. Automatic filters operate independently, without specialist intervention. Manual filters, on the other hand, are imposed by so-called assessors – people who manually check the effectiveness of a site’s work.

Why do web resources fall under filters? Here, several reasons can be highlighted:

• Use of an excessive number of keywords in the text.
• Manipulation of behavioral factors.
• Deliberate attempts to hide the content of a page from robots.
• Purchase of a large number of poor-quality backlinks.
• Publication of misleading data.

Can You Notice a Filter Has Been Imposed on the Resource?

The following signs may indicate that filters have been imposed on the resource:

• The site’s positions have worsened, and organic traffic indicators have dropped.
• The entire resource or some of its pages have been excluded from search results.
• New site sections are no longer being indexed.
• Notifications about failures have started to come in.
• Site pages have started to rank poorly for popular queries.

These signs only give a possibility to suspect that the site has been affected by filters. If you notice something from the listed items, you can confirm or refute your suspicion with the help of special tools.

How to Confirm the Impact of Filters

First, you need to evaluate webmaster services. These include Google Search Console and Yandex.Webmaster. They show sanctions that have been imposed both by the robot and the assessor.

Yandex.Webmaster has a special section that shows any security violations on the site. Additionally, this question can be addressed to Yandex’s technical support specialists. GSC also has a section allowing you to see the measures taken against the site.

To find out if sanctions have been imposed on the site, you can also use special services (SEOlib, FE International, PR-CY, Tools.Pixelplus). They are widely popular and convenient. But still, you should not completely trust them since search engines do not publicly disclose the features of algorithm actions.

More About the Services

It’s time to get acquainted with each service and understand how they work.

SEOlib

This service will help you understand why Yandex and Google traffic doesn’t hold the necessary positions. As a result of the analysis, you will be given a report, and in it, you can see how the site’s traffic has changed during updates. Traffic changes can be controlled on separate pages, as well as by requests. To start using the tool, you need to log in with an account linked to Yandex.Metrica and define the task.

PR-CY

With this service, only the AGS filter can be detected. There is also an advantage here – this is done completely free of charge. To start, you need to write the domain of the web resource in the search bar. This tool is simply irreplaceable when conducting an initial resource audit.

FE International

This service also gives the opportunity to conduct a check for free, and with its help, it is possible to determine if the resource has fallen under a filter or not. However, it cannot do this independently. You will need to come to such a conclusion after analyzing traffic fluctuations using markers.

Tools.Pixelplus

In this service, you can perform a combined check since it includes quite a few filters – adult filter, identical snippets, and document duplicates. If suddenly you notice that some query category has sharply decreased, then you can check whether a filter was used against it.

What Are Manual Sanctions

We already mentioned that in addition to automatic sanctions, there are also manual ones. Their essence lies in the fact that a living person (assessor) checks the web resource for errors and violations, after which they independently impose sanctions.

In the process of site evaluation, they take into account the standard conditions that search engines have. Google and Yandex have specific instructions that determine the analysis of the resource’s utility level. If you want to find out how this is done, you need to study this instruction thoroughly.

Manual sanctions are most often imposed on sites that:

• use low-quality links;
• post non-informative or useless content;
• feature too many ads;
• contain adult materials.

What Types of Filters Are There

Above, we found out what filters are called, what varieties they are divided into, and why they are imposed on web resources. Further attention needs to be given to classification.

There are 10 main reasons for imposing sanctions on a resource:

1. Spam presence in the text of the page and other content.
2. Application of illegal working methods.
3. Use of deceptive schemes for search engines.
4. Copying information from other sites.
5. Placement of low-quality content on the web resource.
6. Presence of adult content.
7. Excessive amount of advertising.
8. Impact on the activities of other parties.
9. Artificial increase of behavioral factors.
10. Improper methods of link placement.

Particular attention is given to the filter that penalizes the site for using various illegal methods. In such a case, the site will be penalized partially or completely until violations are rectified. Information about this can be seen in webmaster panels.