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Paid Links - No Argument
By: Brian Turner 2007-04-23 Matt Cutts is asking for spam reports on link selling, and doesnt receive a warm welcome from SEOs regarding Googles newest economic policy. Lets look at what Matts actually saying:
2. Google is testing at least two new algos to spot and devalue paid links 3. Matt wants reports on live examples they can use the new algos on The debate over paid vs free links is pretty futile here - Google are giving clear warning that they are looking to attack paid link placements more aggressively, and thats worrying, as a lot of SEO is built on link buying. Lets also not presume that Google are going to start automatically banning sites for selling links. Ive been on the sticky end of Googles spam control a couple of times - actually more for autogenerated content than anything else, a tactic Ive long since abandoned anyway - but overall Ive found Google to be very fair in trying to allow for as much room for error as possible. You have to be pretty aggressive to get a greyed out PR bar or banned domain. After all, Googles primary mission is to process the worlds information - not primarily remove its sources. Google have plenty of patents already in play to evaluate links - Hilltop, LocalRank, TrustRank, Topic Sensitive PR, etc. We play along and try to avoid being filtered. The same with any paid links algo. For those who continue on heedlessly, a Googlequake is coming - sites shaken out from the SERPs and sucked into oblivion. As SEOs, however, most of us have learned to be proactive with Google. Theyve given notice that there are a couple of algos that could be used, so lets look at what may be involved: 1. Algo for filtering by common on-page signals These signals should be pretty obivous and easy to determine - headings such as Sponsors, Advertisers, Paid links etc followed by a list of links are surprisingly common features of many sites selling links. All Google has to do is locate any section of code proceeded by these on-page keyword signals, either as plain text or alt text, and devalue the links in the code block - usually either a clear set of tds or div tags. The complication isnt so much recognising these automatically, as much as integrate such recognition with Googles increasingly complicated core algorthmic processes. 2. Algo to filter by network Weve already seen Google attempt to devalue links based on network connections in October 2005, when link exchanges apparently took a dive. This is probably a favoured method of Google because they are more likely to take a mathematicians view on how to devalue links, rather than a webmasters, and that means applying a little network theory and looking for common quality indicators. Simple poor quality indicators are going to be link lists which cover a disparity of topics all placed together - and as so many webmasters whore their link sales to any bidder, gambling and pharamaceuticals links should be an immediate flag when mixed with business, technology, and finance topic sites. Another indicator could be domain history factors in the sites being linked to. Despite sandboxing processes being in play since early 2004 (I eventually got tired of telling people it existed until it found mainstream acceptance in 2006), many webmasters are still clueless about such SEO issues, so they simply buy links on PR factors alone - and for new sites. So lists of links which are primarily to new sites, and additionally placed sitewide on sites, should be pretty easy to spot with a little application of network theory. Also, if a number of sites being linked to in a list are affiliate sites not cloaking their affiliate links, theres a good chance these are paid for. Overall Google want sites to rank according to Googles own criteria, removed from as much outside influence as possible. SEO is built on creating that influence, and Google has long fought it. Devaluing paid links has already been a part of Googles perogative, so algorthmic attempts to combat this shouldnt really surprise anyone. Rather than banning sites, Google will more likely simply null value the links - this means the sites selling the links lose link equity by linking out, but the sites being linked to gain no value. Ive seen this happen anyway on some sites, so Im presuming the trend will continue. So what sort of links should we seek to buy that may avoid the basic applications of such coming algorithms? 1. On topic Relevant links on relevant sites - keeping as close to the topic as possible. 2. Avoid FFAs Free For All webmasters wholl sell links to anyone should be avoided - bad neighbourhood. 3. Seek trust Forget PR, go on age of domain and domain history - older sites as having more potential for leverage via Trust than newer high PR domains. 4. Diversification Diversify link strategies to cover different link formats - home page links, sitewides, internal page links, presell pages, editorial links, etc. 5. Indirect purchases Not all links have to be directly paid for - freebies and webmasters incentivised to cover other websites offer a good channel to editorial links if done right. Additionally, as Google appears to like stepped processes, identifying individual sites for review where new algos may suggest them link buying probably requires multiple criteria to be fulfilled - so as ever, try to avoid any specific link development strategy that wouldnt survive manual review from being the overall determinator of a sites link profile. Hopefully all of this will help. :) Meanwhile, anyone spending their time arguing for paid links really should consider themselves to have strong enough links profiles before expending their energy in this manner. Personally, Im not going to take that risk - time to spend my Sunday afternoon and evening looking at additional link development options to help future-proof sites and clients against Googlequakes. Comments Tag: Google, Matt Cutts Add to  Del.icio.us |  Digg |  Reddit |  Furl Have a bookmark! -  About the Author: I'm a SEO & business consultant in the UK, specialising in SME's and start-ups. I run internetbusiness.co.uk as a free resource for small business trying to get the best out of being online and offer internet management services from my main company, Britecorp. In my spare time I'm an aspiring science fiction and fantasy writer, and currently live with my family in the Highlands of Scotland. Contact Brian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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