How do you know if you've received an algorithmic penalty?

[SOLVISTA]

I have been going through potentially harmful backlinks using Moz's Open Site Explorer spam rankings and contacting site owners to request removal.  Some of these links do not have contact information.  For these, I have considered using the Google Disavow tool, but I see warnings all over the internet to only use it if absolutely necessary.  My idea is to only use it if I actually receive a penalty.  My problem is I am not sure if we ever have received a penalty or what it would even look like.  In short, how do you know if you've received a Google Algorithmic penalty?

[ozil]

You can use the panguin tool - http://barracuda.digital/panguin-tool/

[Alick300]

Hi Ryan,

5 Tools to Help You Identify a Google Slap @ http://www.iacquire.com/blog/5-tools-to-help-you-identify-a-google-slap

Hope this helps.

Thanks

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

The most direct way is checking your Search Console to see if you have a manual action. Another way is to line up your organic traffic against Google's algorithm history.

Matt Cutts also provides some tips in this video.

I also give a pretty indepth answer to a similar question here if you want to look at it - here it is.

Hope this all helps! Good luck!