Are Featured links part of the problem?

With so many directories losing PR and having no connection to the purchase of links or interlinking, could it be that the use of Featured links with keyword specific titles is at the very least not helping a directory keep out of trouble with google?

I have started to accept Featured links as category sponsorship positions using the official site title (BOTW has both keywords and official title as the title) with the only benefit being priority position within a related category.

A think Featured links could be misconstrued as a straight paid link and I dont think its worth the risk..

 

Matter of interest Discover, have many free directories (with no recip requirement) been hit?

 

free and paid directories have been hit for a number of reasons but I think the use of Featured links could be part of the problem

 

The problem is directories selling sitewide links. It has nothing to do with featured link listing options.

 

how are you so sure it hasnt?
again im only saying it could be part of the problem
its not just sitewides either..sitewides are part of it..

Featured links are glorified paid links using keyword anchors after all and were used mainly to pay for the high PR placements originally

 

I got rid of my site wides 2 updates ago and still I'm being held to a pr3. I only have featured links for the last 2 updates!!!
So maybe discover has a point, and I'm inclined to look towards keyword titles as the giveaway..

Snowbird i see that you too have pr3 and no site wides!!!

 

There are a lot of quality web directories out there who got slapped and some don't use featured links. I am not saying that the featured links are not a problem, I am just saying that nobody knows for sure what the problem is except Google.

To be honest with you, I am curious to see what will be the PageRank for romow.com on the next update. If the PR will drop or the inner pages PR as well, it is clear that Google is a whore. If not, then the content, the unique content is king in this business.

This is what I want to see.
An0n noticed that the PR might be manually set by Google's staff.

This will be interesting to follow.
Anyway, featured links might be one of the billion thousand problems that Google has against us.

 

I suspect there's more of a trickle down effect going on that anything else that impacts every kind of site, not just directories.

Stop a moment and think about it...

Site A purchased a link on site B when site B had PR of 7.
Site B had a PR of 7 because they had purchased links to gain PR from several other high PR sites.
Those other sites have since been penalized by G. Which in turn lowers the PR passed to Site B and decreases the PR on Site B, which in turn passes less to Site A.

With each update the PR impact trickles down to the next tier. As to whether or not featured listings are in play - only G knows for sure and as usual, they ain't talking.

 

Then I guess your best bet is, don't risk it. Leave featured links to those who desire a better position. There's really not much to discuss on this topic because there's no proof of anything one way or another and everyone has their own ideas about where they would like their link to be in a directory. There are cheap seats and paid seats for every pocket book. I say let each submitter decide for themselves and leave it at that.

 

I agree with this as i have seen to many inconsistencies with who gets hit and is not. 1 other point is those with big inbounds were not getting hit, until Aviva of course!! so it could well be Google staff seeing as they are so slow with delivery

I'm guessing that those who have all options paid get hit the hardest...

 

Anything that is 'selling PR,' including featured links, is bad in G's eyes. Featured links often give additional links, too. Why do you pay more for more/featuered (higher PR placement) links? It's certainly not for a 'review.' I think it's suspect, which is unfortunate.

 

It depends on what the featured link gives you, if it’s only for higher placement that’s ok.

Using keywords like it or not can be deemed as manipulation of the search engines.

Thanks Brian

 

Stuffing sitewide links in the footer of a directory are not viewed by many people and are easy to tag as paid links. Even sidebar links are easy to tag as paid links, especially when they point to unrelated sites.

Anyway, I know sitewide links are a problem. I easily took a site that ranked number three and pushed it completely out of the index with a sitewide link. Sitewides can penalize the site with the link, and the site the link points to. There are some exceptions, and that is if your backlink count is high (receiving side) a sitewide does not seem to hurt.

In nearly every directory a featured link is paid for. But the payment is not for pr, but for better placement/exposure in the directory. Some directories offer featured deep links as well. So the extra pages to be reviewed certainly justify the added expense.

I'm not here to defend featured links. If you look at many of the sites that lost pr, its because they have a fair number of sitewide links. And I'm not saying they were penalized, but those links cause a certain degree of pr drain.

Google is not out to lynch every directory or person that lists their site as a featured link in a directory. They are tackling the obvious, and that is sitewide links.

@the9crow

I do have one sitewide link, and it is nofollowed as Google has recommended. I like Google traffic, so I will take their suggestions to heart.

My pr 3 has not changed since the previous update. This is probably because I made some significant changes to my categories/pages. I'm not too concerned about it. My monthly traffic continues to increase, and that's what counts most.

 

I agree, paid links in Google eyes is wrong. And paying for a review is the same as paying for the link itself. It's only trying to trick Google and people who making website submissions...lol....

Another reason for bring down a PR is not updating or adding content to the site...You leave the site go for awhile, and Google will downgraded eventually so there are more factors in PR reduction that are legit while others are because of the paid links which most, but not all "featured links" are.

 

Gooogle just wants to beat down the competition for webmasters advertising and link budget.

 

Mike, the topic of paying for a directory review has been covered by Google previously. Matt Cutt's has responded as follows:

Source: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/how-to-report-paid-links