Prisoners of War in the Battle for Paid Links
January 25th, 2008 by Michael Gray in GoogleIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Read my top posts or learn more about Michael Gray. Want more frequent updates follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!
Yesterday I came across a post from Dazzlin Donna entitled Matt Cutts, Why Am I Still Being Punished, there are several points in that post worth noting and discussing in more detail.
Ok if you didn’t read the post here’s a recap, Donna went through made some changes removing anything that may have been interpreted by Google as a link that was purchased in order to influence the algo. She then wondered aloud why Google hasn’t given her back her page rank. Wendy Piersall of EMomsatHome.com came by and dropped the following comment:
Yeah, well, when you get an answer to this question, can you please ask them why the same thing has happened to me?
I foolishly relied on my TLA income to pay my authors. Now my site is barely breaking even.
So what we have here is two people who tried to diversify their income streams by selling advertising. The problem is they did it with link advertising, and in the link advertising marketplace the price is primarily governed by Google Page rank.
Later in the thread Matt Cutts said this
In general you want to go with the reconsideration request approach rather than invoking me (that’s not scalable :), but since you submitted a request I’m happy to check on the status of the site in the reconsideration queue.
and further down he said this
P.P.S. Donna, I’m guessing your disclaimer might have been an issue; you still say “This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation… The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog…”
I’d check if the disclosure policy you have is accurate at this point.
OK let’s take a deep breath, and evaluate what just happened, Matt all but came out and acknowledged Google is instituting reductions in page rank for websites they believe are engaging in selling text link advertising. Having seen more than one website where this page rank penalty reduction has taken place, and having seen the corresponding traffic logs I can tell you I’ve never seen a reduction in traffic, the only thing missing are some green pixels in the toolbar.
Now I can completely understand the motivation behind monetizing your blog, and following Google’s recommendations, if you think that will help you. However the reality of the situation is once you do that Google owns you. You have traded your free will to do business the way that makes the most sense to you, for nothing more than pixie dust and some magic beans.
You did exactly what they wanted, they scared you into compliance. Now don’t take this the wrong way, I understand people have families to clothe and feed, mortgages to pay, and employees who depend on income from these websites, but where is the line in the sand? How much are you going to let Google bully you into doing things that are in Google’s best interests and not your own, and how long are you willing to take it? Are you going to wait until you’ve given it all Google and there’s nothing left worth fighting for? Google has already indicated it wants to own your data. Google may tell you it’s all about creating a higher quality web, but if that was the case the Adwords quality score would disable your ads, not turn a blind eye if you are willing to overpay $5 or $10 a click.
To be clear I’m not talking about hiding things from search engines, or burying text below the fold (which while not a technical violation is clearly a violation of the spirit of the recommendations), I’m talking about clearly labeled advertising, sponsorship, or reviews. Why is it OK to pay for a Yahoo directory review but not a review from a another service.
Google is trying to manipulate the internet to the way it sees fit. While they do try to keep from throwing the baby out with the bathwater, collateral damage is an inevitable part of every war, and just like the architect in the matrix says “there are acceptable losses to maintain the status quo”. That status quo is Google being the the leader in mind and market share of the search space, and reaping advertising revenue that goes along with that.
Google has one goal, ruling the internet in an unchallenged top-down dictatorial manner. If you stand up for yourself and challenge them, they will do everything in their power to smack you down, until you submit to their will.
Who’s next on their hit list, are you willing to sit on the sidelines and wait until they target you before to stand up to them … if you do it’s already too late …
Sphere It
January 25th, 2008 at 8:28 am
So tired of Google wanting everything and bullying website owners like a playground bully. I was just at Donna’s blog and to penalize her for having one or two follows, that was just insane.
It’s like Google is standing there with it’s fist clenched saying “give me your lunch money you little shrimp”
January 25th, 2008 at 8:41 am
man, this is so true
January 25th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Excellent post Greywolf. I don’t think people see where all this is going. Maybe with enough things like this, you’ll at least be able to open a few pairs of eyes.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:33 am
PR loss without ranking drops is a light rap across the knuckles, all this faux outrage from people who should know better is quite amusing…
January 25th, 2008 at 10:41 am
All this points to is that Google is admitting that their algo is flawed, If they’d put effort into solving the root of the problem - that rankings can be manipulated, then the need for smack down wouldn’t be needed. This sticky plaster approach doesn’t wash.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I have no idea if my other comment posted or not, since my box wigged as I hit Submit… sorry if so. Was just saying what an apt analogy this is, considering the style of psychological warfare-like tactics Google has been using to get what they want with this.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:32 am
google really twist your mind off with all their different implementations when SEO that makes people go crazy about it…
January 25th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Please don’t get me started on the whole Yahoo hypocrisy. I’ll rant all day about it and waste my valuable time.
But I will say it’s not just about the green pixels, which are nice but not necessary. It’s about the threat of deindexing that tipped me to make my choice to comply. I work hard to diversify traffic sources, but to lose Google would be a hit, make no doubt about it.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Keep fighting the good fight man! (really)
January 25th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
This all sounds good GW. I like to fight as an underdog, I do. And I get your point.
The question is… Can you fight Google and still run your business and be profitable at the same time? At the end of the day, each business person needs to decide for themselves. Is fighting Google good for your bottom line?
January 25th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Jim, you are forgetting the flip side of that… is fighting us good for Google’s bottom line in the end?
Yes, currently Google is in fact the #1 search engine out there. However, it didn’t get there by appealing to the non-tech savvy masses. The majority of people who used the Internet barely knew how to search when Google introduced itself, let alone knew enough to be able to determine if there was an advantage to using Google over Infoseek or Alta Vista. We, however, the geeks of the internet (webmasters and programmers and internet marketers), we knew that Google was superior to the others… and we, collectively, told all of our friends and family to use it, that it was the better way to search. They didn’t need to be told why, or how the algo worked, or anything technical at all about it… they trusted us because we do know what we are talking about when it comes to these things. Through that, Google very quickly attained the fame they have today. Word of mouth is what allowed them to reach where they are today, and that was pretty much it.
Eventually someone will come up with the next generation search, and it doesn’t have to actually be better than Google. If it is at least as good as them, and if at the time it comes out Google is still alienating the tech crowd (oh so many of whom own their own websites now), then Google could very well see their domination decline as fast, or faster, than they saw their rise to power. Count on it.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Wendy’s comment is the one that stands out for me. Don’t assume that we care about the stupid green pixels, and I’ve said before that I wish people didn’t assume that we were focused on that. It’s the fact that Google’s PR punishment was a possible foreshadowing of future deindexing that was always the real issue. It’s the old “you’ve been warned” thing.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
It has been a confusing experience as far as I am concerned for webmasters and SEO/SEM experts over the last few months with Google punishing all and sundry that has been selling links. At one time Google says its OK if you link to a site as an editorial vote and on the other it punishes you for doing that.
Human beings, by nature are different from each other - so my view of quality and usefulness might be different from that of Matt. So are personal choices. While I completely understand Google’s own preferences and TOS, I still see some hypocricy.
Although I am not SEO expert, I am an avid follower of what is going on and always learning. So I frequent lots of SEO blogs. What I saw is, two renowned SEO blogs went down from PR7 to PR4 - apparently as punishment for selling links. I also see many PR7 SEO blogs still holding PR7 despite selling links because those blogs are not as active and busy as the ones which came under the scanner.
I once believed Matt when he wrote on his blog that Google algo is smart enough to find each and every link on a deep page of a site if allowed to crawl. But I am doubting it more and more as I browse through. What is going on is pure manual work out there to suppress those who do not obey THOU!
Or should I say this crack-down equates to the Tiananmen Square Crack Down by the dictatorial CPP ?
I must mention here that I am also for Clean search result which can not be manipulated.
But I believe, Google has the responsibility to develop a system/algorithm that would differentiate links which are built organically and which are bought and GRADE THEM accordingly.
For example, if Google is as sophisticated as it claims and can differentiate, it should assign a PR6 paid links equal to a PR2 link built naturally.
Is it too difficult Google? Or it will make the link market bigger than AdWords and hence decrease your revenue?
Isn’t all about $$$$? Monopoly? Tyranny?
January 25th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
If you are upset by this you shouldn’t be. Accept that Google is a competitor the your frustration will dissipate. They aren’t here to do you any favors.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
When will some Russian hacker invent a virus that will screw Google up?
Seriously, you should NEVER ever submit to a bully. I know this from a personal experience. And that scales up to companies, political and government bodies, and juggernauts like Google.
A certain Ben F. said that Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither. How can anyone gain security by complying to the policies of a company to whom you are a mere number in their database? Think about it.
Don’t rely on a single fu***ng search engine for your traffic/earnings. Work and push it until you have so much non-Google traffic that the Google becomes irrelevant to you.
January 25th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
“Why is it OK to pay for a Yahoo directory review but not a review from a another service”
That says it all, it seems Google will do what they want when they want anywhere they want, anyone forget about China??
Ok so how do we take the power away from Google? The first step is to use another search engine, second do not use adwords or AS, third Form a group to network and spread the word bout the truth. Fourth ??
It is a dam shame it has come to this. A persons website is like their home it is their Virtual real estate, no one had the right to tell them what they can do with.
January 26th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Basically google is not earning much thru its adwords. That’s the reason behind this drama. They want to force webmasters to buy their adwords. I (and also many webmasters - I am quite sure about that) have already stopped using google for the last couple of months, we are quite satisfied with MSN search. MSN has really improved a lot. I hope google either stops this drama soon or face the consequences.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:31 am
this is all well and good, and I totally agree with you. But what can we do about it? what can anyone do about it? could you please follow up with an action plan? start the revolution michael
January 27th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Michael, great post, as always. Keep up the good fight, we are supporting you!
January 27th, 2008 at 4:01 am
Yes, this is the main reason. Adwrods earning was going down and Google formed this bullshit plan to down all webmaster earning.
It’s all manual work, Google can’t detect paid links yet, I see a lot site who are still selling links. Even they don’t have any penalty yet. I know one PR7 blog went to PR4 and now it’s PR7 again, and selling do-follow advertisement.
Better not to stop selling and buying links, lets see what can do Google!
January 27th, 2008 at 10:25 am
There is a double standard here that Google refuses to address. I do not think this paid link penalty was thoroughly planned and we are seeing the fallout as a result. I wish for the opposite of most weighing in however, in that I would like to see sites like the Yahoo! Directory be discounted, rather than allow paid links to pass the juice. I made a recent post on the subject, if anyone cares to read it:
Jim McNelis’s Opinion
January 27th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Excellent post. If only someone would come up with something better than pagerank, and then every thing would be back to normal. It is kind of sad that if a website like emomsathome was to choose an advertising method, they have to choose Google otherwise risk a penalty.
January 28th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Google got where it is on the goodwill of the early adopters. They are throwing that goodwill in the gutter and sooner or later it WILL come back to bite them. On a second front, their policies are anti-competitive. The government will catch up with them eventually, but in the meantime they are creating a demand for something, a demand for a Google that isn’t Google. A mammoth task to take them on? Sure it is. Creating a desktop operating system as a viable free alternative to windows was also a mammoth task, but Microsoft created the demand and the community responded. Google is heading the same way.
January 28th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I am sorry if this a stupid question. Is there a difference between a Classified add and a paid link?
January 29th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Google Dropping Atomic Bombs In Paid Link War…
Serious controversy in SEO land. Google is handing out manual penalties by the truckload, and fellow SEO’s are steamed. SEO’s are like soldiers on the front line, we always get hit first and take unrelenting punishment for pushing the line …