I am in the process of developing a link programme where I use one site for the exchange and another to land on. Classic three way links. I have read that Google has worked this out. So can google detect three way links and if so is it still worth continuing with them or try something else. If it is something else, what is the something else.
Let us consider that Google does... still what different it makes as far as the links are relevant? I don't see any harm in that.
I'm sure they are capable of figuring out when three sites are linked together. However, that would be a huge leap to discount a link from Site A just because you link to some site C that happens to link to site A!
Especially if sites _A, _B, and _C are all in the same niche. I think that the only way it could be done would be if (as an example) site _B was in the middle of hundreds of 3-ways, as that may raise a few red flags...if it was even caught. But again, even if it was caught, if they all were in the same niche, then discounting those links I think would be a bad thing. I've heard of stranger synchronicities
Ok... site A is linked to site B. Site B is linked to site C. How can Google figure this out assuming that none of these sites are on the same IP and have the same WHOIS details?
the only way would be patterns based on other 3-way schemes. Site_A -> Site_B -> Site_C Site_D -> Site_B -> Site_E Site_F -> Site_B -> Site_G Site_H -> Site_B -> Site_I Site_J -> Site_B -> Site_K Anything past that and it's nothing but speculation, heck, even with that it's pretty much speculation unless site B is a Reciprocal Ad site of some type.
A linked to B, B linked to C, C linked to A. I think Google could figure this out relatively easily, although I don't think they'd want to. Once you get into three way linking it's a lot harder to claim there is a link exchange, because this kind of linkage would happen all the time on accident.
Nah its not that easy. I just linked to this thread in my blog. The link in your signature links to your website. This does not mean that we just did a 3 way link exchange. Unless you do it on industrial scale and a pattern would develop.
We seem to be interested in the same threads today I think that if the sites are related a certain amount of three way linking would be (and should be) considered natural and organic. To penalize for such things would be a considerable set back to the SERP of Google. Though, even some unnatural three ways happen, and are not out there to disrupt the SERP. My blog thingie here on has DP linking to my blog. My blog often talks about my site. I have linked my site to DP... that is a three way link. If Google thinks that all three of these sites need to be penalized, then *shrug* maybe people will start using DMOZ again (lol) I can see them considering such a filter or penalty, I can even see them playing around with their algorithms to see what happens...but I can not see such a penalty/filter EVER sticking if they are truly concerned with true organic traffic. Then again, maybe such a thing is why DP dropped in PR a few months back I think it falls down to the same argument about "paid links" in that they can frown upon it all they want too, but there is just not a whole lot they can do without also disrupting their prime directive (Organic traffic). So I think that the best course of action as a webmaster would be to get a few 3-way links, a few reciprocal links, and of course as many one way links as possible... as each should be sought after with a fair amount of moderation, as too much of a good thing will likely get noticed. But then, now I think I'm rambling...