It is Google's fault that their pagerank algorithm isn't sophisticated enough to handle understanding that internet domain ownership isn't static, and for not understanding that spam sites pointing to 404s on another site are a prime indication that a change has happened.

> It is Google's fault that their pagerank algorithm isn't sophisticated enough to handle understanding that internet domain ownership isn't static

Nothing about their algorithm cares about domain ownership -- and why should it? Ownership can be gamed. If your domain has a bad reputation other reputation based services like SiteAdvisor are going to affect your domain as well.

Spammers are certainly able to have the whois data on a domain changed. It's simply a catch 22 for Google.

PageRank is smoke and mirrors. Usage data, sampled either from Google Analytics or the Chrome browser, is orders of magnitude more useful.

Then you have sites returning 404s to Google spiders for illegitimate links once they've expired their use.

Google's automated systems should still be smart enough to figure out the situation...

How does an unmaintained phpBB install count as a 'spam history'? By that metric probably half the amateur websites on the internet are 'spam websites' because they have a forum that isn't actively maintained. I run across spambot-afflicted forums on a regular basis.