Anyone used Text Link Brokers?

[Lynn Terry]

I'd be interested to hear about experiences with http://www.textlinkbrokers.com/ - or thoughts on using them. They've offered me money to link to some of their clients sites - from one of my affiliate sites. Appealing offer, and they are willing to swap for inbound links to my site too which is nice.

Have you used them, or do you know someone that has?

Anything I should be aware of before dealing with them?


Thanks,
Lynn Terry

[lorien1973]

I buy ads from them on occasion, I like the layout of text-link-ads a lot better though. I put up a few links to the client sites, but most of the "client sites" that I needed to ad I didn't feel were very good so I stopped putting up those links. If you have pages with PR3+ that you want to put outbound links on, its a good way for easy money though.

[Lynn Terry]

Thanks for your response... Perhaps I will try both

[minstrel]

I would be wary for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is Google's clear and public distaste for link-selling and PR selling.

Stick to linking to sites which are relevant for your site content and useful for your visitors, and obtaining links from like sites. In other words, aim at the long-term, not the short-term.

[Lynn Terry]

You bring up an interesting point... and I'd love to discuss this further.

Paid Advertising has been around for as long as I can remember (back to '96 when I first began online)... so what makes this different?

And wont I get a choice as to what "flavor" of links I will accept and post on my site - also which types of inbound links I choose to purchase or trade for?

What I am asking is - how does Google differentiate between paid advertising and "buying links to manipulate PR & SERPs"? Do they also look down on "paid advertising" - in all of its forms?

What penalties should I be aware of in regards to working with link brokers... and is there a way to work with them without concern, or are they all "bad" when it comes to managing a 'legitimate site'?

Thanks!

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by Lynn Terry

What I am asking is - how does Google differentiate between paid advertising and "buying links to manipulate PR & SERPs"? Do they also look down on "paid advertising" - in all of its forms?

What penalties should I be aware of in regards to working with link brokers... and is there a way to work with them without concern, or are they all "bad" when it comes to managing a 'legitimate site'?

I don't believe Google can very well - which is why they can be very aggressive at devaluing paid links where they find them.

I've bought links on a site that Google had already targeted - I simply wasted my money on links that didn't parse benefits - though I believe one webmaster in the O'Reilly linking furore had problems with Google afterwards.

[minstrel]

I agree. I don't think they can discern paid links easily which, as Brian says, is probably why they are so ruthless when they do identify them. On the other hand, if you're dealing with an outfit whose sole business is selling links for PR, do you not think that just might be more likely to be discovered than two "little people" making a quiet deal?

[egdcltd]

I have used the paid directory program from Text Link Brokers, and they do pay.
As lorien1973 says, some of the client sites are less than brilliant, though.

Minstrel, what about all the directories out there that are selling links on their sites? What does Google think of them?

[minstrel]

Haven't you noticed? Google has in fact done something already about some of those sites. Expect more.

And by the way, the question wasn't about whether link brokers pay or do not pay - it was about whether there might be potential damage to your site by an association with link brokers.

[GuyFromChicago]

Originally Posted by Lynn Terry

Anything I should be aware of before dealing with them?

I have never dealt with them as a buyer or a seller, although I have considered it from time to time. I guess what has ultimately prevented me from pulling the trigger is what others have eluded too - Google seems to make example out of some of the bigger names in the industry from time to time. When they decide they want to start clamping down even more on link selling and make an example out of someone or something I bet they will pick the highest profile target they can to make sure it gets the attention of the industry.

[egdcltd]

Originally Posted by minstrel

Haven't you noticed? Google has in fact done something already about some of those sites. Expect more.

And by the way, the question wasn't about whether link brokers pay or do not pay - it was about whether there might be potential damage to your site by an association with link brokers.

Point.

But link selling has been around for years, and could be considered legitimate advertising. How, then, do Google pick which sites to target? Selling a link based on its' PR is one thing, and definitely of relevance to Google. Simply selling a link is, I would have thought, different; although it may be hard to determine which is which.

[GuyFromChicago]

Originally Posted by egdcltd

Point.

How, then, do Google pick which sites to target?

Easy, any site that mentions PR in the sales pitch. If you're not selling/promoting PR you won't mention it.

[egdcltd]

Easy, any site that mentions PR in the sales pitch. If you're not selling/promoting PR you won't mention it.

It does seem to be popular these days for sites to buy links because they have a high PR. To me, it doesn't really make sense. Buying links for traffic, yes. For the hypothetical benefits of linking from a certain PR, (and the PR we see may not even be of relevance to Google) no.

[minstrel]

Not to mention that any benefit you might derive would exist only for as long as you keep paying...

[wrmineo]

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. ~ Albert Einstein

Buying and Selling Links solely for PR is not a good practice in my book, but what's worse, it doing it so openly asking for Google to take notice.

[Voasi]

I use text-link-ads.com and they're great. If you think Google will devalue your site within their network of sites, you can also try sweeping DMOZ categories and calling (doing a WHOis search) webmasters and see if they would like to make a little money. I've done this and can work out very beneficial for both parties...you get a cheap text link...they get a few bucks in their pocket. Win-Win

Originally Posted by minstrel

Not to mention that any benefit you might derive would exist only for as long as you keep paying...

Exactly...so you better keep paying.

[minstrel]

Exactly...so you better keep paying.

That is short-term fly-by-night thinking...

[Voasi]

Originally Posted by minstrel

That is short-term fly-by-night thinking...

Maybe for some...but not all. If you only knew all the details I know several very large web-based companies that have (and still do) a majority of paid incoming authority links. Names you'd recognize. They're where they're at today because of those links.

Of course, diversification in obtaining links needs to happen along the way, but indexable text link advertising is a viable advertising platform.

[egdcltd]

Originally Posted by Voasi

Of course, diversification in obtaining links needs to happen along the way, but indexable text link advertising is a viable advertising platform.

I don't think minstrel was trying to say that text links aren't valid, just that selling text links can cause problems, especially if you are selling them on a PR basis

[Lynn Terry]

You guys have given me a lot to think about...

I do have one more question - somewhat off the topic. I'm curious if there are any known effects with Yahoo as there are with Google?

The majority of the traffic for this particular site comes from Yahoo & MSN searches - with a much smaller percentage of Google searches. That's exactly opposite from most of my sites (which are informational, where as this one is product-based).

Anyway, since Yahoo doesnt have PageRank, I'm curious what their stance is on link-buying and link-selling... and how it might affect rankings in Yahoo either way.

Your thoughts?