Report Paid Links?

Was looking in the webmaster tools section of google and found this:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/paidlinks?hl=en

How long has this been here, always?

Makes link building look trickier still.

tom

 

It's been there for around a week, someone else posted about it the day it got put online.

 

well.. now will be a little harder to sell links i think..

 

this is being blown out of proportion....you think google can track down every paid link? How can they know that someone is not just being malicious?

 

yeah, I think with something like that about search engine optimisation will become a lot bigger so start looking for that content people or alternatively change the way you all sell links - use the right words.

We've started doing this throughout all our sites - remove things like sponsors links and be more creative using words like Interesting Web Resources etc.

 

This is the stupidest thing google have ever done. Now everyone will be emailing google saying their competitor buys links in an attempt to eliminate the competition. There is no way google can tell a link is bought unless it says something like 'site sponsors' etc above the link or the site with links on it has a section about paying to advertise there. Other than that I can't imagine how google could possibly detect paid links.

Saying they have to be relevant links otherwise they must be paid is also stupid. Sometimes links CAN'T be relevant. Its all very well if you're site is about horse racing and you have other racing and horse racing site linking to you but what if for example your site was about SEO? Or its a directory? So SEO sites can only have other SEO sites linking to it?

Its ridiculous to say they can check that you paid for a link. Next thing they'll be saying they can detect what I had for breakfast...

 

Hmmmm, should we report Yahoo, I know they sell links for $299 a year.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. And even if your site has "Site Sponsors", that wouldn't even mean the link is paid for. I really don't see how Google can say what is and is not a paid link.

 

it's nearly there for 2 weeks.

i will report google and yahoo

 

that has been there for at least 2 months now.

 

I think the main problem is now, that google is a marketing company, and not solely a SE anymore, which means, getting rid of paid links means they get paid more in the long run. Getting rid of the competition realy..

it makes sence ...

To me paid links would be away to help a se, if someone is paying for links, it means it's an active website that is been worked on, not a setup and forget type of site (aka mfa).

 

are paid links not just paid ads? the same thing google sell via Awords?

 

The difference is javascript. Google ads do not pass Pagerank, like a text link for instance. But like someone else said - Yahoo sells links for $300 in their directory. It's just a scare tactic, to try to get more webmasters to pay for Adwords.

 

I reported dir.yahoo.com and goguides.org

 

The biggest joke is they do not even have spam guard on it


We can now send tons of spam to Google via this!

Matt Cutts will be scratching his head!

 

I've concerns related to "Google Webmaster Guidelines"

1. Why Google is still recommending webmasters in their Webmasters
Guidelines "Have other relevant sites link to yours."

2. In the Google guidlines its clearly mentioned that "Submit your
site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and
Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites."

Do you think submitting in YAHOO DIRECTORY and in other quality
directories like Business.com etc. is FREE??

3. If Google don't like paid links anymore then why they have not blocked the promotion of such keywords at Google Adsence?? At one side they are asking to stop buying or selling links and other side they are giving opportunity to the websites who have core business of selling links as well as Google is earning money from such type of advertisers.

http://www.text-link-ads.com/
http://www.linkadage.com/
http://www.adster.com/
http://www.cyberlinkpro.com/

Its the normal part of internet economy and this is the core business of many companies/people as this is a service. So how can they stop it.

 

I think you will find that the $299 charge made by Yahoo is for a review of your site prior to inclusion in the directory. If you pay your $299, you are NOT guarenteed to be included so in essence you are not paying for your link.

They and Google I would presume will see this not paying for the link.

So is the answer, charge for a review?

 

Ok, let's say that I want to give away 10 links because I am generous. But I have to review this links, right? LOL

 

Yes, basically (if I'm not mistaken) Yahoo charge not for the inclusion into the directory but for the manual review of the site.

You should offer links on your site for FREE but charge for express reviews due to the level of submissions currently being received. That way, you are charging for your time and effort involved with the admissions process rather than for the link itself.