is paying yahoo to get your site listed in their directory OK? I think nothing wrong to buy a link, just do not buy links from sites google does not like.
Buying links is bad for Google because they don't get a share. It's not like the AdSense/AdWords story Try to get links from related sites that have a limited number of outgoing links.
The paid links do NOT hurt your website. This is why www.textlinkbrokers.com and www.Text-Link-Ads.com are longer services. According to Alexa.com, they have high traffic. If the paid links are bad, they should lost their business several years ago... They always make their client websites get higher page rank and higher traffic.
Google penalizes the sites which are selling links, not the buyers. But still buyers won't get any juice from paid links.
thank you thats prbaly the best most simple info ive ever heard, u pretty much are the only one that answered my question after liek 40 responses, rep added!
its all good if google don't know that you bought links, I know sites buying tons of links and ranking 1st for mega competitive terms.
That's very true. Recently I checked some sites that ranked page 1 for a very competitive seo keyword, and the number of links on unrleated high pr sites was astonishing. You would think if Google was going on a paid link witch hunt, they would start in their own industry.