We have a few websites were we provide software (shareware/freeware) type stuff that we've developed. We are trying to rank good for these websites but we are starting to get THOUSANDS of unsolicited backlinks from very spammy, warez-like websites. When we look in our referral logs, we see sites like... http://www.mega-warez.ch/927739/ware...er.php?=227349 www.steal-software-now.nl/data/29882 http://www.underground-piracy-warez..../node/2928.asp www.iaihjs99w.ni/alks892la/askhv81/xx2.php ..and so on. I have no idea what's on these pages or how these pages are linked to me (I refuse to visit them - unsafe)... but having a link profile that is 99% warez/scraper sites can't be good? Is having a backlink profile that predominately consists of websites like listed above hurtful to my site's ranking? Obviously I didn't ask for all these warez/spam sites to link to me... is Google smart enough to know this? What do you suggest I do? Am I taking a hit in the SERPs because of this? Thanks so much for any guidance or advice. Deke.
Generally inbound links won't hurt you... But getting thousands and thousands of inbound links from spammy sites over a very short period of time CAN lead to a drop in your rankings. This is one of many blackhat techniques used by companies in very competitive verticals like online gambling to unseat top ranking sites by tripping various filters and penalties at Google for their competitors sites. Rather than trying to make their sites rank better, they pay spammers and blackhats to make their competitors rank worse.
This is come creepy stuff Question to OP: does your site have a way of people creating content? Like a wordpress MU setup on a subdomain you forgot? I doubt you would, but just wanted to check. I had experience of spammers using my forgotten WPMU installs in their baclinking systems to rank -especially- for trendy news topics.
Cracks and piracy backlinks by thousands can hurt indeed. Why don't you try protecting yourself ahead by contacting google about what's happening? It is said they're usually quite understanding about such things and if you act upfront, you already show them that it's not your fault.