Sometimes yes, but more of the time no. It really depends on how severe Google feels your infraction was on the original site.

It really depends on how severe Google feels your infraction was on the original site.

Thank you Tedster, my site is still in Google's index, but just doesn't rank normal, all of my pages are fall over the 5th pages or even further, before they usually rank on the first or second page, does it mean my site was not result a "severe" penalty? (I think was penalized as a result of "thin" or "duplicate" content)

Search for the domain if you don't see it in the 1st spot your under a penality. If you see it then you were hit with the update not a penality.

Question why would you want a site under a penality sent to a new more improved site? Links, traffic, or just don't know what to do with the old domain. Is the content (or most of) the same on both sites?I just don't understand the mad rush to start all over again. Seems to me it would be best to clean up and work through this. But the important question is it a penality or just you were hit with the update, there is a big difference in what direction to go.

I have had 301 re-directs pass penalty in the past. In fact i still have nightmares about 301's.

I honestly think they are like playing with fire. They look nice, but if they are miss-used they hurt you bad.

Not nice.

Search for the domain if you don't see it in the 1st spot your under a penalty. If you see it then you were hit with the update not a penalty.

Searching for the domain with the TLD "#*$!.com", my site is in the first spot, but while searching for the website name "#*$!", my site gone to the fifth page (before it was on the first spot on the first page), does it mean my site is penalized or just hit by an update?

Question why would you want a site under a penalty sent to a new more improved site? Links, traffic, or just don't know what to do with the old domain. Is the content (or most of) the same on both sites?I just don't understand the mad rush to start all over again. Seems to me it would be best to clean up and work through this. But the important question is it a penalty or just you were hit with the update, there is a big difference in what direction to go.

I'm not planing to build "new site", I just want to change the domain, since the old domain seems to be penalized by Google, but while switching to the new domain, I'm going to improve the content and structure.

Even the site doesn't rank normal, it still has some type-in traffic. and it has some external incoming links I believe is valuable. So, I'm hoping that a 301 redirection can bring the new domain a little link juice and also lead users to the new domain.

I was thinking about submitting a reconsideration request, but it will take more than two months, and sometimes it doesn't really work.

If a site has been hit by an update, will it cause all the rankings drop to 5th pages or further?

Instead of searching for the domain, I would instead search for a unique string of text on one of the pages that you think is penalized.

Before you are convinced that you are penalized, I would definitely look to make sure YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that there are no technical problems with the site.

For example: I thought either my site, or at lease several pages on my site had been penalized. It turns out I had noindexed the home page. Doh!

So before doing anything radical, check double check, and triple check.

Are you positive there is no malware and that any blog / directory software is up to date?

I would think it shouldn't. If that were possible, isn't it too easy to create a junk website that would invite all possible infractions from Google and then redirect it to my competitor's website?

Also makes me wonder if I 301 redirect a section of Site-1 to Site-2 and in case Site-2 has a few penalties, will the redirection also import the penalties to Site-1? Such penalties are possible with simple hyperlinking. But could 301 redirect be causing similar penalties?

My experience is that a 301 will shed an algorithmic penalty, but you're liable to trip it again if you didn't fix what set it off in the first place.

However, I have seen manual penalties follow a redirect.