Google Crackdown On Paid Links
As many of you in the SEO world already know, the infamous G has been on a crusade against paid links lately. Matt (the google guy) had this to say in a Q & A.
Q: Is Google trying to tell webmasters how to run their own site?
A: No. We’re giving advice to webmasters who want to do well in Google. As I said in this video from my keynote discussion in June 2007, webmasters are welcome to make their sites however they like, but Google in turn reserves the right to protect the quality and relevance of our index. To the best of our knowledge, all the major search engines have adopted similar positions.
Q: Is Google trying to crack down on other forms of advertisements used to drive traffic?
A: No, not at all. Our webmaster guidelines clearly state that you can use links as means to get targeted traffic. In fact, in the presentation I did in August 2007, I specifically called out several examples of non-Google advertising that are completely within our guidelines. We just want disclosure to search engines of paid links so that the paid links won’t affect search engines.
What the average computer user may not realize is that Google is a company. If you don’t believe me just look at their stock prices. As a company, Google exists to make money. So it seems to me that Google is trying to pound people into using their flavor of paid links ‘AdWords’, instead of using some alternate method.
Do you ever stop and think about what a ‘Paid Link’ really is? Google has ways for people to report (tattle-tale) on other websites for selling paid links. But how in the world can Google really tell the difference between a paid link and a non-paid link. If I submit my website to a directory for free that also accepts paid links, how can they tell which one I am? If I write an article, and someone likes it and links to it on their website, but they also sell paid links, how does Google know which one my link is? If I link to my friends blog, will Google consider that a ‘Paid Link’, since some blogs are selling links? So I wonder, is this just a scare tactic to force more people into using AdWords?
Is it Google’s Earth, and we are just tiny insects trying to scrape by on their scraps? In any other medium, you can buy advertising, and If you have more money to invest than everyone else, you will be exposed to the most number of people. This same rule applies to Google AdWords, BUT if you use a different form of advertising (Paid Links), well then Google will penalize you for it.
I have been a fan of Google and I like many of the things they have done, the way they have handled the company up to now. But things like this make me wonder if they are getting off track, if all they see now is money, even if they won’t admit it. What do you think?
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