Link Buying and Selling: Why It Just Won’t Die
Dec 13th, 2007 by msdanielle
A few people have asked me my opinion on the subject of Google’s latest PageRank update, where many blogs became the target of the Google slap, receiving a big ole fat zero in their toolbar ranking. I didn’t have much to say at the time since I wasn’t affected, but I had an idea of what had happened. After the dust settled, many agreed that the PageRank loss didn’t have too large a negative affect on traffic. So what’s the issue with PR if it doesn’t affect traffic? It affects sales.
Well, let’s take a look at the overly simplified scenario:
- Google creates an algorithm that ranks sites higher in search results which have the most relevant links pointing to them.
- Google provides public knowledge of the general value of a site’s strength (PageRank).
- Google makes no denial that relevant linking from trusted sites directly results in higher search result rankings.
- Google says buying relevant incoming links is a no-no because of the advantage of doing so.
- Google states that webmasters who publish links on their site “naturally” is OK.
- Google slaps sites that blatantly game their system by selling links, making an example of them.
- Having that big ole fat zero makes it virtually impossible for those sites to sell static links, as there is no longer any PR value.
These publishers now have to find another way to make money through sponsorship and advertising. Hmm…through Adsense perhaps…? Since many publishers that were hit were those running Text-Link-Ads and PayPerPost, and linking to groups of irrelevant sites labeled as “Advertising,” it makes it pretty easy for Google to locate those publishers flying over the radar. But what about the ones flying under the radar?
What Google can’t catch and prove, Google can’t penalize. As long as their algorithm relies on linking, there will always be ways to manipulate the system. Understanding the rules is only half of knowing how to take advantage of them and make money. The other half is figuring out how to not get caught. Many publishers may not have realized they were flying high over the radar.
Link buying and selling is thriving, and I guarantee it won’t stop until Google either changes their algorithm or hides PageRank from public view. I’m not condoning link buying and selling in this article, nor am I ridiculing Google for the latest round of battles or trying to guess what they’re going to do next. I’m just telling it like it is. Publishers will keep selling links discreetly, and advertisers and marketers will still buy links discreetly. In the end, links equal search rankings, and search rankings equal money.
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Just watch, Google will buy out Text Link Ads and then start incorporating this into Adsense.
My question is what’s to say that my “Blog Roll” is really a blog roll and not a paid link? Will we get penalized for linking to friends with low PR just to give them traffic?
They just need to figure something out and explain to people…stop letting people assume and tell them how it’s going to be. Honestly though, people need to let Google stop controlling the internet.
your final sentiment is correct in that we willfully give google the control. we use their search, we use their analytics, we use their advertising, we give them access to our conversion data which they can use, and so on and so forth… only problem is there is no one creating substantial competition against them. because they have so much data and can create quality products and keep refining and optimizing their services, we will continue to use them (because in reality for the most part they are creating a positive user experience)… and they will continue to try to keep marketers from taking blatant advantage of them (imagine how many more spam site rankings there would be without their knowledge and control). the cycle is mind-boggling
Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m not denying the power of Google nor am I saying I do not use their products, I’m just surprised that no one has really tried to go against them.
Even a billion dollar company can be taken down by a small town kid working out of his garage with the next greatest idea – it’s just a matter of time before we see some interesting turns in the internet realm.
2008 should honestly be a fun year….
i would love to see a competitor to google. i’ve always wished that google would license out their algorithm to yahoo to stimulate competition, like how toyota licensed out their hybrid technology to ford
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E6DE153EF933A25750C0A9629C8B63&n=Top/Classifieds/Autos/Topics/Green%20Tech
of course, i’m not happy with japan automakers licensing muscle car technology in return, but that’s a whole other issue…..
Yep, I agree. Hoping 2008 is better than 2007.
kenneth
whats the point of PageRank if its not displayed publicly? If it’s not displayed publicly, its like its not even there . . .
But I agree, something drastic needs to happen before link selling/buying is eradicated or at least reduced
pagerank exists whether it is published or not. it just would not be there for us to see. if people can’t see pagerank, they can’t determine what links to buy, at least from an at-a-glance perspective (for those who rely on PR to determine their link buys).
what do you think would reduce link buying?
If Google were to stop basing its algo on links… that would reduce link buying.
Thats what really irritates me about Google’s stance on this… they put value on links in the first place… now try to bully people into using no-follow etc…
Fact is links were being traded before Google… and will continue to be… traded for favors, links, money… whatever…
Jez (like my new blog
)
Hey guys,
This is shameless promotion:
We just launched http://QuarterWiki.com where you can buy pages for just a quarter!
We are trying to build the commericalized version of Wikipeida.
Check it out and let us know what you think.
BTW, we are EntreCard Hoppin’ and also stumbled your site too!
yes, very very shameless….. thanks for stumble btw. if anyone else wants to stumble my blog, feel free!!
hahaha…
Lol… stumbled again!
Haha a while back I created a free wiki spamipedia.org unfortunately it lives up to its name
Quarter wiki is a nice idea… done a nice job on the template… very reasonable price
shame it will fall foul of the paid links google bash… but for a quarter it doesn’t matter does it…
Great post Ms. Danielle
Keep up the good work!
-Mike
[...] Danielle, my blogging buddy, shares an interesting post on why link buying and selling will never die. The rules of the game are ever-changing and the recent Google PR slap served notice [...]
Well, link buying will evolve as Google gets smarter… but I doubt that Google will be able to get ahead of Link Buying until they make fundamental changes to PR. Anyway, links are also sold for traffic as well as SEO.
Kenneth
[...] As a blogger you should understand the importance of links coming in and out of your blog. You should also understand the importance of natural links and paid links. Ms. Danielle has written a great post on Link Buying and Selling and why it just won’t die! [...]