Does anyone know what the policy is on selling contextual links? What I'm wondering is if Google considers them bad or not, and if they do consider them bad, is it still acceptable is there is some type of disclaimer. So far I've only used these for internal seo purposes, but as the amount of content on my site grows, I'm starting to give some thought to selling keywords as links.
Selling links is definitely frowned upon by Google. Just don't make it look like they're being sold. Place the contextual links in such a way that they look like references to supplemental reading that supports your article. Make it look believable. And most of all, don't blatantly advertise that you're selling links on your page or you're putting your customers at risk.
Since paid links are against G tos - sidebar links and footer links are usually less effective than content links. All in all, if you don't shout out everywhere that you are selling links and openly advertise it you should be fine.
I don't think it would matter too much, but previous people have said that it is against google tos. So, I would just assume sell them privately.
Point being that since most paid links are placed in sidebar or footer, they tend to be ignored by Google or their power is diminished as compared to content links.
There is no disclaimer regarding link selling. You can sell it as long as you are not marking your website link-farms. Also it is better to have quality links on your website as broken links may damage the reputation of your website. There is nothing private about link selling. There are lots of forums/website which supports link trading. They would have been banned if any legal disclaimer is there regarding link trading. In the end, it is your website. You can do whatever you want there is no interference by external parties (including Google).
Of course paid links are frowned upon by G. But if its a related website then how are they going to know if it was paid or not unless you advertise it loudly.
Google's increasingly sophisticated algorithm will, with ever-increasing effectiveness, discover paid links for PR purposes (that is, followed). Sell or buy them at your own peril. I do not. It's against their guidelines, and those highly-paid Ph.D.'s on their staff are a bit smarter in these things than we webmasters are.
Perhaps, but I've also read some articles that state that paid links should carry a disclaimer on the page, which suggested to me that they were ok under some circumstances.
Yeah .. of course they are very smart. But that doesn't mean, they come and check ur personal email about link selling deal. Einstein was a genius and knows how to make an atom bomb that doesn't mean he can throw it on anyone.
They require adding "nofollow" tag. But if you add "nofollow" there is not much benefit (other than direct click visitors) for the link buyers and they won't be much interested in buying "nofollow" links.
Come on, really? Google will NEVER stop these links. Im glad you and many others on here don't use them though, makes it much easier for me to rank. LOL!
Yes, there is. It is against their webmaster guidelines and sites found selling links have been penalized by the big G in the past.
Exactly. If you're selling contextual links then nofollow them. Anyone in doubt of this guidance should read: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/information-about-buying-and-selling.html And if you want something more recent: http://searchenginewatch.com/articl...sues-New-Warning-on-Advertorials-Paid-Content FTC guidelines: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/ftc-2013-disclosures/ As for Google, I don't remember where it was, but something along the lines of you should make it clear if you are reviewing a product and you don't own it (e.g. a review with affiliate links in it). They don't need to. Haven't you heard of footprints? Look at these link networks that thought they were so clever, yet some left their footprint so goddamn visible that it was too easy.
Paid Links are not a threat to your website but the one you link to. If Google does not detect the link that existed in the past. Google suspect it to be a negative promotion. Which will result in that website being penalized in rankings.