Doubt they intended to penalize them quite this drastically. Its likely that they algorithm is just being overzealous some keywords being blacklisted. Quite similar to how the UK porn filters are filtering out Claire Perry, the most prominent campaigner for the filters[0].
> I honestly had no idea how severe these violations were until now
The violations are pretty serious and have been for the better part of the last (half-)decade. RapGenius should have known better. For me the worst was when the pretty much said "But everyone else is doing it".
Too bad this will obliterate them.
Unintentionally though, going forward RapGenius will be the poster child for what happens to children on the naughty list.
[0] http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/12/25/the-best-...
I understand and agree with google's desire to punish spammers but their effort should not have such a major impact on users who obviously know what they are looking for.