4:20 in progress is the cop radio code for a person smoking marijuanna. I think NC has your number Not to get off topic. I am still reading this fascinating thread. Mel, Owlcroft, compar, tphyahoo...I commend thee, excellent viewpoints and great rebuttal. I have a bit of catching up to do so I'm going back to read this thread a second time, this is why I like DP That's a tough one for them to identify. I really wonder how they determine when a webmaster has purchased a link for the purposes of inflating PR or genuine advertising
You can do it but it needs to be done right. When newbies read this, they go crazy and come back a week later crying "my rankings are gone". Read the disclaimer in my moderator's signature http://www.national-real-estate-directory.com/real-estate-forum/member.php?u=31 It pretty much expresses everything that I would like the 100's of non members who come by here everyday without signing up. They read posts and don't understand the process - instead they jump in head over heels into quick fixes. but then again ... I really don't care cause that will eliminate some competition I guess
If they pick up the same link 10,000 times on unrelated sites don't you guys think they have a way of analyzing these things knowing it is a sold link from a broker or link farm?
They may well indeed have a way of checking it, but IMO the question is do they do anything about it?
Sure they do, why do you think sites fall out of the index? Google is a data mining company, they can find out anything they want to find out real easy.
Unfortunately, many webmasters that sell links bury them at the bottom of the page so they look like they aren't of much value. Even worse some leave tons of space between the copyright and where the links are as if they are hidden. People that sell and trade links should treat them with more respect and perhaps they'd look like they add value to a web page instead of being there for "evil" purposes.
Spam in my opinion is defined by the intention behind your action. Buying a link is done for the purpose of tricking search engines. If you go to your average link broker, what do you expect? It is the whole mind set behind the business that is crooked. Yes, there are some link brokers who have helped people rank very well. But all in all you need to realize that you get what you pay for. it's really all about association and who you are "in bed with". Don't catch any deseases out there
So ST if buying links is bad and is going to get a site penalized, then all I need to do to wipe all my competitors sites off the map is simply buy some anchor text links from one of those scummy text link sellers and point them at my competitors sites? What a free for all that would be. While everyones definition of spam may be different I wonder how search engines would implement a spam definition that involved determining the motive for placing links.
In some situations it is more obvious than others. What really bugs me is you are given no opportunity to defend yourself, if you have obtained such a penalty. You will wake up one day and find your online empire dethrowned by the Google giant without notice. You are issued a penalty for 'suspected' link purchasing for the purpose of inflating PR. I cannot see how they could clearly determine this, even with human reviewers? The only way would be to set a secret task force in place. Kind of like Link narcs. They would pose as perspective link buyers, obtain all necessary info about, say 'www.textlinkbrokers.com'. If this site states that they are doing this to help inflate PR...your busted. You and any associated links shown in the data base are issued a penalty. Even this approach could be argued (if they would allow you to defend your position) I don't know how they could impliment a bullet proof system
The problem IMO lies in determining that you in fact bought links, since the links you get are not going to be from the linkbrokers site its going to be from one of thier 1000 or so other sites on other servers in other countries. How do you determin which links are bought and from whom and for what purpose? The idea that links are purchased for PR is a bit outdated I think, links are purchased for rankings, where PR is not much of a factor.
How they do it is with data mining Homer, they see patterns of the same links coming up in different sites that have no relevance to the site linked to and they see the same thing over and over. That is how they do it, plus they know much more than webmasters & so-called SEO experts & link sellers can even imagine.
I hear all this talk about penalties for those who buy links but all the reports of this seem to be third person reports. Other than SearchKing and Bluefind and other cases where the owners kind of dared google to punish them, does anyone have a real example of a site being punished for buying links (please not one where the algo changed, the rankings dropped, and the conclusion was jumped to that it was because he bought some links) As far as relevance is concerned it would take a lot to convince me that relevancy of sites has anything at all to do with it. Think about it for a moment, if I put a link to Joes pizza joint on my site because I think he makes the best pizza on the planet is that not a relevant link? If I put a link to the car dealer that gave me a good deal on a new car is that a relevant link? What if the distributor that sold the cars to the dealer puts a link to the same car dealer as I did, is that more relevant because they are in the same business or less relevant because there are business connections? IMO it is almost impossible to determine what are relevant links and what are not. If a professor of english puts a link from his college website to a new play that is opening is that relevant? what if a professor of civil engineering puts a link to the same play is that relevant? Or are neither relevant because it is a university site linking to an commercial play? I fail to see how relevancy of links can be determined, even by humans, unless they know the reason for placing the link, and the search engines are not that omnipotent quite yet.
Thats the point Anthony there is no pattern of the same links going to non relevant sites because for one thing there is no such thing as a non relevant site.
You really believe that Mel So if I am in the concrete business and I start selling my links on my PR 9 page to guys in the toy business that is cool with you
Sure why not it's your page to do with as you please. I repeat There is no such thing as relevant links, or if there is the relevancy lies in the intent of the person who placed the link and the SEs are not privvy to that information.