Have any directory owners actually changed their submission terms from 'paying for a link' to 'paying for review'? http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/how-to-report-paid-links/ This link has received lots of posts on the Google forum but I'm interested in the input from paid directory owners.
hello... Well as soon as he said that i changed alot of the wording as i didnt want to offend the google gods... but on a few ive already started http://www.c2c-tech.com/submit.php When entering your websites info, please keep in mind that you are paying to be "Reviewed". We make no claims that your site will be included in the directory or its database. If your site is rejected, funds will be refunded back promptly. Whats really funny is that most of those 550 comments were left from DP memebrs and you can then appreciate who is who and which are the Ratts that will drop the dime and snitch a PM with all the info .... freakin suckazzz thx malcolm
Good point. What about any sitewide or homepage sponsor links, it's obvious they're not 'reviewed for inclusion' but paid links.
I've looked at Malcolm and Velocity's guidelines and they both say they'll refund the review payment if the site isn't accepted. So these are clearly paying for the link not the review. Is this enough? Yahoo directory for example says: Yahoo! Directory Submit requires a US$299.00 non-refundable, recurring annual fee per submission, or US$600.00 non-refundable, recurring annual fee for submissions offering adult content and/or services. Would anybody dare do this?
Although no action is being taken at this time relating to paid links since Google is only testing new algorithms, directories that have maintained their editorial integrity and are developing a good quality internet resource, especially those who are built primarily on free submissions will have nothing to worry about. Matt Cutts has recommended on more than one occasion to submit to quality directories.
It does not matter how you phrase it, Matt has made it clear if you are not selling a link to manipulate the search engines then the link itself should have a no-follow or some sort of java script to negate that effect.
Well with due respect what am i supposed to say? or Do then? Just tell them after i reviewed your site we found it to be NOT worthy and were keeping the review fee? I mean i dont understand how to word it then so that the wrong impression isnt taken.... and at the same time please google... Recomendations would be appreciated... thx malcolm
As with most of what Matt Cutts says unsubstantiated rumor and innuendo is rather overwhelming. Google and other search engines spend an incredible amount of time on quality directories. They have always been a valuable source for search engine content. I can’t see this practice ending any time in the near future especially with directories that have content primary from free submissions.
A free submission or review, whatever you want to call it should not involve a fee of any kind. Many very good directories are built primarily from free submissions like the ODP.
Would someone please grab matts blog link and place it in this thread so as to read the message sent.... maybe he would be kind enough to enlighten us... though doubtful you never know. thx malcolm
Who says web directories are selling links? We allow users to pay for reviews, and that's not the same thing, not by a long shot.
oppps my bad sorry didnt see the first post... Well heres his statement at a glance..................... How to report paid links April 14, 2007 @ 3:18 pm · Filed under Google/SEO One thing I heard at SES London was that people wanted a way to report paid links specifically. I’d like to get a few paid link reports anyway because I’m excited about trying some ideas here at Google to augment our existing algorithms. Google may provide a special form for paid link reports at some point, but in the mean time, here’s a couple of ways that anyone can use to report paid links: - Sign in to Google’s webmaster console and use the authenticated spam report form, then include the word “paidlink†(all one word) in the text area of the spam report. If you use the authenticated form, you’ll need to sign in with a Google Account, but your report will carry more weight. - Use the unauthenticated spam report form and make sure to include the word “paidlink†(all one word) in the text area of the spam report. As far as the details, it can be pretty short. Something like “Example.com is selling links; here’s a page on example.com that demonstrates that†or “www.shadyseo.com is buying links. You can see the paid links on www.example.com/path/page.html†is all you need to mention. That will be enough for Google to start testing out some new techniques we’ve got — thanks!