Google hit Text Link Ads with a "penalty" back in the fall of 2007. Even today Text Link Ads does not show up in Googles listings for text link ads. Severe penalty for any website relying on serps we would all agree. I did a check on TLA and I found that they have a pr of 7. I was surprised but I am not an expert on link buying by any means. In checking backlinks of my main competitors, seven of the top 15 are using text link ads for text links. Was the "penalty" also to reduce tla's pr? did it rebound to 7 ? Did google penalize any sites that bought ads? Not that any of you know but how does a tla and tnx stay in business unless hundreds/thousands/millions of sites continue to buy text link ads. The blogs/sites that are putting text link ads are across the board in quality and reputation so it isn't just bottom feeders by any stretch of the imagination. Are we heading to another mini armageddon between link sellers and Google or between link sellers/ link buyers and Google? Although Google can do whatever the heck they want as a private business, how does it differentiate between link buying to "manipulate pr" and link buying to create buzz, increase traffic? You all may be tired of this/these types of questions but I know that I cannot compete against the big $ sites that buy links at a rate from $15.00 to as much as $250.00 per link in terms of getting links. How does the little guy compete when Google says one thing, but you, I and google know the market in buying text links is likely stronger than it was 10 months ago? In the world of college professors it is "publish or perish". Is it a similar phrase "buy links or sink" in the online world of e-commerce. With all due respect blogs and the method of getting links for blogs is not the same as e-commerce or does Google not get it in some pollyannish way? Great content, more relevent results in searches is terrific but how does that help when Macy's, Victoria's Secret and the Gap are potential competitors? Help! no seriously!
I remember TLA used to have really obvious links, not sure if thats still the case. Reviewme.com is quite good. But expensive.
I know publishing their ads has resulted in a drop to '0' page rank for some of my sites. So it makes me thing google can maybe spot their links and possibly de-value them.
Alot of good questions. As a direct competitor to TLA, I feel I'm in good position to answer many of these questions. Nope, the penalty was in SERPs only. They were hit with the dreaded -60 penalty, meaning they they are moved down 60 results for all of their keywords. They've always been a PR7. No. There are many reason why, but primarily becuase if this were the case, competitors would buy links for each other, and get each other penalized. Buying links should be a vital part of just about anyone's link building campaign. They are very effective. But you can't just go around buying any links, you should look for relevant, qualtiy sites with good pr and traffic. We stay in business because all of the SEO firms use us to build links for their clients. Of all of my business, I'd say about 1/2 of it comes from big SEO firms. Hard to say really. The only reason Google doesn't like paid links is becuase it messes up their algorithm that provide relevant search results. They like to use inbound links to determine the SERP rankings. So, we sell those links. I try to sell link on only relevant sites, and force the publisher to review the site they would link to before publishing, that way the link is a little more credible. But if Google finds another way to determine search engine rankings, then we'll just sell whatever it is they use. What you're missing is that you probably only need a couple of well placed links. I tell alot of my customers that you can achieve a PR3 with less than $15 per month. Look, the bottom line is that you shouldn't be buying or selling links recklessly. Before purchasing links, make sure they are on quality, reputable, RELEVENT sites with good statistics (pr, alexa, domain age, google backlinks, minimal outbound links, etc). Don't use bulk submission programs, don't spam, don't comment on unrealted articles, etc. And when selling links, only sell links to sites that are closely related, to sites that have good content, no malicious spyware or viruses, and that would benefit Google searchers from seeing. I hope this helps.