Google Webmaster tools is not a more powerful resource than ever. From this month onwards in an effort to help webmasters protect their websites Google will be notifying them using them Google Webmaster Tools account about potential issues they have detected on their websites including:

• Spammy, poor quality or abused user generated content.
• Abused form pages such as comment spam (a rising problem)
• Any Indication that the webpage may have been hacked or defaced.

“Where can I find these updates?”

In the “Messages” Section of your Google Webmaster Tools account (This can be located on the left hand side when you log in).

“I do not visit webmaster tools very often so how do I get these alerts?”

You can get email you simply need to go the front page of Webmaster Tools Account and use the drop down menu to have messages forwarded to your email address.

Take Action: Go to your account right now and log in and be sure to turn email alerts on.

“Why do I need to receive these alerts?”

These alerts could save your website pages from being de-listed or possibly blacklisted in the search engines forever. Google will only give you a few days to fix the problem so it is best to stay on top of potential threats before they get out of hand.

Read more on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog