We've covered Google giving webmasters advice after being hit by a penalty to start a new web site several times here. But John Mueller of Google said on that Google+ Friday morning hangout that "I'd say it is really rare that I'd recommend that people start up with a new web site."
He said that around a site that is penalized. It was a short comment in a larger set of remarks around penalties and what to do, including ways to not redirect a penalty.
John said this at the 4:52 mark into the video:
I'd say it is really rare that I'd recommend that people start up with a new web site.
You can listen to the before and after but here is the exact start point in the video embed below:
Again, we've covered Google advising webmasters to start new web sites many times in the past.
Forum discussion at Google+.
