About a year ago, I covered a site clinic session where Google’s Matt Cutts said that he’d prefer to start with a new domain than a domain that was penalized in the past. He used an analogy that new domains start at the ground level, penalized domains start below sea level.

The other day, I spotted a Google Webmaster Help thread where Googler, JohnMu may have implied otherwise. John said:

Honestly, John might be referring here to a specific site that doesn’t have a penalty and thus won’t start from below sea level. But I always wondered if things, for the most part, got “reset” when you submit a reconsideration request to Google.

What do you think?

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.