Will Google's threats make you stop selling text link ads?

[d2002]

There's been a lot of speculation and arguments over exactly what Google will do to webmasters who sell text link ads without the "no follow" tag. Let's consolidate the discussion and see what the industry pulse is.

This poll is purely anonymous so feel free to be completely honest.

Personally I have no idea how this situation will shake down. Google certainly has it within its power to punish the link buyers without affecting the link sellers. But will Google tread lightly? Or are they going to make examples of webmasters who do not comply?

[rcj662]

I think google goes after sites that say you will increase page rank when you buy a text link from them. They do not seem to mind directories asking to be paid to review sites for being included or some other ones.

[Adulu]

I voted "Google's not bluffing. I've stopped selling ads. "
google can't find you but your competitor can

[d2002]

google can't find you but your competitor can

That's the worst part of this whole ordeal. I've spent years developing great relationships with other webmasters in my field. But now Google has sewn seeds of distrust among very old friends.

I think google goes after sites that say you will increase page rank when you buy a text link from them.

Does that include sites that use services like Text Link Ads.com? Obviously TLA doesn't explicitly state that you will get PR from them, but it is generally understood that a lot of people buy ads from TLA for this very purpose.

[jhmattern]

Anyone who makes their business decisions based on what Google (or any other one company) says or does doesn't have enough business sense to be in business in the first place. If the vast majority of your traffic or income is coming from them to a point where you absolutely rely on them, that doesn't speak to their worth... it speaks to your lack of ability to run an effective and diverse business. Run your business how you want to run it, and don't put yourself in a position where you're a slave to any other company's changing business model.

[voidix]

You forgot the option:

Google's not bluffing, but what-eva, what-eva, i do what I want

[enquiries0009]

I think many are not selling. Google will not find each and every site. IF they find out also they will look for some other sources to not to caught from google.

[Loco.M]

I haven't had any luck selling text links, so I'm not to worried about it..lol

[Alexander the Great]

No, I don't sell links simply because I don't want to link out to crappy sites that can't earn them.

[bomberman]

Google is not bluffing. If you don't mind what's google said then wait for a month or two, and you will be penalized.

[donttrustthisposter]

Originally Posted by jhmattern

Anyone who makes their business decisions based on what Google (or any other one company) says or does doesn't have enough business sense to be in business in the first place. If the vast majority of your traffic or income is coming from them to a point where you absolutely rely on them, that doesn't speak to their worth... it speaks to your lack of ability to run an effective and diverse business. Run your business how you want to run it, and don't put yourself in a position where you're a slave to any other company's changing business model.

So all those whom have made millions on eBay, selling to Walmart, government contracts ( Boeing, Lockheed ) , etc. are all just a bunch of idiots.

Because your business apparently doesn't rely on other businesses it's very easy to say this. Simply amazing how simple solutions are for you.

I'm one of those people without any 'business sense' apparently. I could name a hundred businesses on the DOW Jones or NasDaq that are businesses reliant on other companies, but hey...looks like you have it all figured out.


As far as Google, yeah I think it's fairly serious and will change business model appropriately. Have changed our policies to you're now buying a full description and SEO review written for said site and not buying the link itself.

Example here

[jhmattern]

Just because someone makes money now, it doesn't demonstrate that they have business sense. It's making a business that lasts in the long run versus something that could vanish at the whim of another company that demonstrates business sense. Ebay is a platform. If it went under, people would move to another auction platform, and still operate under the same basic model, just with a different tool. Walmart is just a store; another tool. It's not a sole income source or sole source of exposure for the vast majority of products they carry (and yes, for smaller ones only selling there, if Walmart pulled them, their model would die; if Walmart didn't carry them to begin with, they could find other outlets). It's not the same thing as one company that serves as both - primary income source and primary source of exposure to your market (all while also serving as competitor for some businesses falling into that group as far as their monetization through advertising).

I also didn't say there's anything wrong with getting any business through Google... only that it shouldn't be your only income stream / traffic source, or have a monopoly over those things. There's no excuse not to monetize a website or online business through multiple income streams. There's no excuse for spending most of your time playing catchup with Google changes because you couldn't survive if you didn't. There are a lot of ways to get quality traffic out there, and the ones that survive in the long run are the ones that build a solid reputation and following over time; not the ones that rely on Google for 90+ percent of their traffic.

And for the record, no one called you an "idiot" but you. If you're entirely confident in your business model, good for you. I couldn't care less if you agree with me, and you certainly don't have to like what I say. But please don't go around putting words in my mouth.

[story97]

Originally Posted by jhmattern

Anyone who makes their business decisions based on what Google (or any other one company) says or does doesn't have enough business sense to be in business in the first place. If the vast majority of your traffic or income is coming from them to a point where you absolutely rely on them, that doesn't speak to their worth... it speaks to your lack of ability to run an effective and diverse business. Run your business how you want to run it, and don't put yourself in a position where you're a slave to any other company's changing business model.

How about correcting this.

Anyone using Google as their primary revenue stream that doesn't adhere to the terms they set forth doesn't belong in business.

Anyone dumb enough to suggest otherwise? well. that's pretty obvious

[donttrustthisposter]

Originally Posted by jhmattern

Just because someone makes money now, it doesn't demonstrate that they have business sense.

Really? This is the quid essential 'business 101'. Kind of starts there.

I responded originally because you just made a 'pie in the sky' comment. There are thousands of rich dependent businesses that have profound revenues. Your comment was that if the business was dependent on another business they lack 'business sense' even though billions exchange hands in this manner by these apparently non-business savvy individuals.

It's untrue and simply amazing. Do you think businesses should depend on their customers? Or is that something they should also diversify from?

And yes sometimes businesses are even interdependent where they are both consumer and provider creating wealth.

I think it was off the cuff comment that wasn't thought through to dismiss the question of how to handle directories in the wake of Google's new link policy. Maybe you thought it sounded profound and above the fray to just shove of Google and say in the long run to diversify and if your business is dependent on another company you have no 'business sense'.

You sound like a portfolio manager 3 days out of a Meryl Lynch employee training seminar..."diversify"

The real answer is that if Google was going to deindex your websites if you didn't follow some new rule you would not tell them to 'go to hell' because your diversified. Nope, you'd probably choose to change up your sites behavior in 2 seconds flat. Sorry.

Not saying diversification isn't prudent, just that your comments were untrue in the general sense given and more importantly you blew of the original question to make it.

[jackweb2020]

Google will do whatever it can to protect and expand its OWN advertising business. Even if this includes muscling out other ad link providers that have a legit business model.

My advice to everyone; reduce your reliance on AdWords and implement your own advertising programs.

[Alexander the Great]

Originally Posted by donttrustthisposter

Really? This is the quid essential 'business 101'. Kind of starts there.

I think you meant "quintessential."

[banless]

Originally Posted by jhmattern

Anyone who makes their business decisions based on what Google (or any other one company) says or does doesn't have enough business sense to be in business in the first place. If the vast majority of your traffic or income is coming from them to a point where you absolutely rely on them, that doesn't speak to their worth... it speaks to your lack of ability to run an effective and diverse business. Run your business how you want to run it, and don't put yourself in a position where you're a slave to any other company's changing business model.

I have to agree with the post above, and I do not think you will find a better answer. If people are dumb enough to let google chose how they run their business then they should close down shop right now. The funny thing is that google says that they do not care what you do with your website, only that they will take the action they see fit in order to keep their algo clean. So if you think selling links is affecting googles algo and are afraid of losing money because you think google can destroy your whole company then do'nt do it. But don't forget that google is not the only search engine out there.

Who owns your company? You or them? I think the answer to this thread is self explanatory.

[froggyboy604]

Google's not bluffing. I've stopped selling ads.

I don't sell those ads, so I don't care.

[Alexander the Great]

I sure hope people keep buying and selling links. Less competition for the honest competitors.

[Toopac]

Googles not bluffing & i do & will keep selling ads.