FYI folks: It would be dead simple to detect the coop networking running on any site. All Google would need to do is compare the last 3 or 4 crawls of a site and look at what links changed targets and anchor text every time.
I read somewhere that Google is going to start penalizing sites that try to inflate PR by adding sites to "link farms". Also, any site that links TO a bad site can be penalized. Just wondering what the Coop does to protect it's users from linking to "bad" sites...since we really have no control over the ad's. Thanks.
The ads would be harder to detect if they didn't change with every single reload... couldn't they stay the same for several days? Then change? In my opinion, the "bad neighborhood" theory is overblown... search for "exit" on Google. Yahoo is #1... how come? Most porn sites (I have been told... ;-) have an "Enter" or "Exit" link on entry, the Exit link generally points to Yahoo or Disney or some other family-friendly site... if these sites aren't a "bad neighborhood", I don't know what is. From SEOroundtable:
It isnt even about the detection of the co-op, that wouldn't be too hard at present. Its about whether or not the co-op is breaking any rules, and that is for them to decide really, not us.
All Google would need to do to penalize the entire Coop would be to download ad_network_ads.txt from a Coop member site. Wham -- busted -- all of us. Caught with our hands in the virtual cookie jar. For the record, I agree with ferret77, mopacfan, and Tops30 regarding the definition of SEO. Google may allow itself to be hypocritical, but that doesn't mean that we should take the same liberties.
Your comment would imply that something is wrong with it Will, so all these comments about it being something bad and the discussion of the possibility of it being bad makes it look bad and places the thought in the mind of the community that members may be doing something wrong when in fact they are not. Sort of like members shooting themselves in the foot or constantly sticking their foot in their mouth. When will the paranoia end folks People just can’t stand a good thing and since it is too good to be true there must be something underhanded going on, right guys?
The way I see it is this way. If you want to use the coop great and if you don't great for you too. There are probably more sites out there in breach of many simple "google don'ts" to be worring about a coop. If you think that using the coop is morally, ethetically, or professionally wrong don't use it - no one is holding a gun to your head. BTW, last one to the top of google for your keyword, is a rotten egg!!! cheers