Sphinn - 6 Links that Look like Paid Ones (but really aren’t)

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6 Links that Look like Paid Ones (but really aren’t)

Went Hot: October 10, 2007 - 3:30 pm
Posted By: DoshDosh 634 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://wiep.net)
Category: Link Building

Since Google decided to reverse things by punishing webmasters for selling links and because it apparently is pretty easy to determine which links are paid, I’m writing this post as a paid link disclaimer. So, Google, I’ll explain why these links may look a bit sponsored but really aren’t paid links, in order to avoid a penalty.

6 Comments

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from mpilatow 634 days ago #

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I enjoyed the post and it brings up one huge issue with the recent paid link debacle. Many webmasters now feel the need to prove their innocence for fear of Google annihilating their sites. I wonder if we will see more posts like this explaining exactly why they have each link in hopes that Google does not assume they are paid and penalize them?

from SearchBuzz 634 days ago #

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Great points....and there are still many other examples not mentioned.

Certainley very fuzzzy!

Good Sphinn...

from Halfdeck 634 days ago #

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Good post. Whatever Google does, I'm sure their paid link detection algos will produce many false positives.

from jonathan 633 days ago #

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I find it just a little bit humorous that Google is trying to go after all these sites -- any sites for that matter -- because there is no definite way to know if something is paid or not.

In my article about the Paid Links session at SES San Jose, I brought up the point of this: if I give you a cup of coffee, will you link to me? Oh wait, that's a paid link, give me that cup of coffee back! The point is relatively the same, but a different example.

Google is beginning to make me sick.

from PocketSEO 633 days ago #

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Interesting post. I think that Google uses a combination of those types of factors, possibly also including the pattern over time of adding and removing sitewide external links. Google has a lot of data that they can mine...

It's inevitable that innocent sites will get penalized. Google should at least let webmasters know when they are being penalized...

from Feydakin 633 days ago #

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And what about those of us in a small vertical market. We have several sites that are all related and of course link to them.. In many cases they look like they could, or should, be paid links when news sites link to product sites.. But they aren't paid.. I own them all.. Wouldn't make much sense for me to pay me.. But they sure would look like paid links to any casual observer..