DISQUS

Lisa Barone · 2 years ago

I used the PPP acronym because that's what Matt had on his slides. It sounded weird to me at the time, but it was Matt Cutts so I went with it. :)

Lisa Barone · 2 years ago

I used the PPP acronym because that's what Matt had on his slides. It sounded weird to me at the time, but it was Matt Cutts so I went with it. :)

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Thanks for clearing that up, I am sure the PayPerPost guys will be interested that they were being singled out.

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Thanks for clearing that up, I am sure the PayPerPost guys will be interested that they were being singled out.

Chris · 2 years ago

"Google: Don't be evil".

Is rank hypocrisy evil? Obviously not.... according to Google.

Chris · 2 years ago

"Google: Don't be evil".

Is rank hypocrisy evil? Obviously not.... according to Google.

Seth · 2 years ago

I sure hope they do. As much as I like earning money on google ads if something isnt done google will own all the non-content on the internet and make up their own rules, probably becoming as powerful as many governments. Don't see too many blogs out there anymore with this kind of original content either. Wondering if you could check my new blog and give me tips? http://www.offbeat-news.com thanks!

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Seth you need to write more original content as I am sure it trips the duplicate content filters with so little comment additional commentary.
In addition your left sidebar loads first rather than the content - switch theme or modify it.

The kind of blogging you are doing isn't going to get links.

Seth · 2 years ago

I sure hope they do. As much as I like earning money on google ads if something isnt done google will own all the non-content on the internet and make up their own rules, probably becoming as powerful as many governments. Don't see too many blogs out there anymore with this kind of original content either. Wondering if you could check my new blog and give me tips? http://www.offbeat-news.com thanks!

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

Seth you need to write more original content as I am sure it trips the duplicate content filters with so little comment additional commentary.
In addition your left sidebar loads first rather than the content - switch theme or modify it.

The kind of blogging you are doing isn't going to get links.

Michael · 2 years ago

I don't think that there is anything wrong with selling links. It is all just a part of advertising, I believe that Google needs to change not websites.

Marc Beharry · 2 years ago

I agree Michael!

Google forgot where they came from. Now they are like IBM and Microsoft. We should ship all of them to communist china or North Korea, where they will fit in perfectly.

Soo many contradictions, soo many vague guidelines which send us scrambling...

Once again, I cant wait til they are overthrown.

Maybe I will start referring to Matt Cutts as kim jung-il or Vlad Putin

Reztar · 2 years ago

I agree with you Mike, I just read in a some forum that google will not penalize link sales. However, it will be treated something like "no follow". Well, who know the truth...

Michael · 2 years ago

I don't think that there is anything wrong with selling links. It is all just a part of advertising, I believe that Google needs to change not websites.

Marc Beharry · 2 years ago

I agree Michael!

Google forgot where they came from. Now they are like IBM and Microsoft. We should ship all of them to communist china or North Korea, where they will fit in perfectly.

Soo many contradictions, soo many vague guidelines which send us scrambling...

Once again, I cant wait til they are overthrown.

Maybe I will start referring to Matt Cutts as kim jung-il or Vlad Putin

Reztar · 2 years ago

I agree with you Mike, I just read in a some forum that google will not penalize link sales. However, it will be treated something like "no follow". Well, who know the truth...

SEMSpot · 2 years ago

Google almost did this to themselves. They have there algorithm and page rank factors setup to where more links = better traffic and page rank status. I personally can care less about PR, but the links on other sites generate traffic. Buying text links is like buying banner advertising 5 or 8 years ago. People did it for the traffic they were getting. Now people buy text links for the traffic and oh by the way it will help increase my SERP's and PR goes up. Well if google did not weight so heavily on it then I bet not as many people would be buying links. I think google is starting to go overboard with the paid link debate.

SEMSpot · 2 years ago

Google almost did this to themselves. They have there algorithm and page rank factors setup to where more links = better traffic and page rank status. I personally can care less about PR, but the links on other sites generate traffic. Buying text links is like buying banner advertising 5 or 8 years ago. People did it for the traffic they were getting. Now people buy text links for the traffic and oh by the way it will help increase my SERP's and PR goes up. Well if google did not weight so heavily on it then I bet not as many people would be buying links. I think google is starting to go overboard with the paid link debate.

Lewis · 2 years ago

Google: "Don't be evil"
PayPerPost Abbreviated: PPP
PPP upside-down: 666

Naturally, Google's not a fan of PayPerPost...

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

This is one of those confusing things

You could also think of it as a reflection or alter-ego, which could possibly make PPP an angel

PPP obviously is the opposite of being evil ;)

Lewis · 2 years ago

Google: "Don't be evil"
PayPerPost Abbreviated: PPP
PPP upside-down: 666

Naturally, Google's not a fan of PayPerPost...

AndyBeard · 2 years ago

This is one of those confusing things

You could also think of it as a reflection or alter-ego, which could possibly make PPP an angel

PPP obviously is the opposite of being evil ;)

lucia · 2 years ago

I'm a bit puzzled by Matt's argument here:

Matt 1: He adds that the FTC has said that word of mouth marketing is like any other kind of marketing, and if you’re being paid to say something you should disclose that.

I Googled and read the FTC's page. This is true.

Matt 2: Adequate disclosure means it is understood by both people and the machines.

First, says who? I haven't seen the FTC write or heard them say this.

Moreover, it's not clear it follows. After all, who says a link is necessarily 'marketing'? I can see how words surrounding the link, enticing your readers to click makes it marketing to those people. But the fact is, it's Google's founders who proposed a theory that links generally constitute "votes" for quality. Google has created a search engine based on this and they do very well. But before google, people linked both to things they disapproved of and things they approved of. They still do.

I my opinion, the fact that Google makes money relying on a positive correlation between "links" and "quality" doesn't mean we modify our practices to either maintain or increase the correlation for their sake!

Links are links. If google wants to use them as "votes" fine. That doesn't mean that's what they "ARE".

lucia · 2 years ago

I'm a bit puzzled by Matt's argument here:

Matt 1: He adds that the FTC has said that word of mouth marketing is like any other kind of marketing, and if you’re being paid to say something you should disclose that.

I Googled and read the FTC's page. This is true.

Matt 2: Adequate disclosure means it is understood by both people and the machines.

First, says who? I haven't seen the FTC write or heard them say this.

Moreover, it's not clear it follows. After all, who says a link is necessarily 'marketing'? I can see how words surrounding the link, enticing your readers to click makes it marketing to those people. But the fact is, it's Google's founders who proposed a theory that links generally constitute "votes" for quality. Google has created a search engine based on this and they do very well. But before google, people linked both to things they disapproved of and things they approved of. They still do.

I my opinion, the fact that Google makes money relying on a positive correlation between "links" and "quality" doesn't mean we modify our practices to either maintain or increase the correlation for their sake!

Links are links. If google wants to use them as "votes" fine. That doesn't mean that's what they "ARE".

George · 2 years ago

I don't think the FTC is going to attack Matt Cutts for his lack of disclosure. If he worked for Microsoft it might be a different story...

Pretty interesting look at the situation. I am always surprised by Google's strong stance on paid links. People were buying links on the Internet before Google Page Rank and nofollow ever existed, but back then it was called "advertising".

Oh well...

George · 2 years ago

I don't think the FTC is going to attack Matt Cutts for his lack of disclosure. If he worked for Microsoft it might be a different story...

Pretty interesting look at the situation. I am always surprised by Google's strong stance on paid links. People were buying links on the Internet before Google Page Rank and nofollow ever existed, but back then it was called "advertising".

Oh well...

Maurice (TheCaymanHost) · 2 years ago

Hi Andy

Thanks for the mention and a very good post on the topic.

The switch by TLA to using TinyURL (not keen as they have been abused by too many users and just look kind of spammy imho) is very sudden and for some people it's probably going to involve a lot of work. I'm also concerned because I'm already using redirects on links like this, largely for nothing more ominous than tracking purposes, but as you say, this now means a redirect to another redirect....

At least I only had to change one link as opposed to finding each one individually across various blogs.

I still think the whole page rank fiasco is one thing Google got wrong (I'm not anti Google, they get a lot of things right) and now they want other people to grab a hold of it, muzzle it, and stop it biting them in the a**. Far as I can see, it's their Pitbull and they should control it properly or face up to euthanasia - no matter how much they love their pet.

Maurice (TheCaymanHost) · 2 years ago

Hi Andy

Thanks for the mention and a very good post on the topic.

The switch by TLA to using TinyURL (not keen as they have been abused by too many users and just look kind of spammy imho) is very sudden and for some people it's probably going to involve a lot of work. I'm also concerned because I'm already using redirects on links like this, largely for nothing more ominous than tracking purposes, but as you say, this now means a redirect to another redirect....

At least I only had to change one link as opposed to finding each one individually across various blogs.

I still think the whole page rank fiasco is one thing Google got wrong (I'm not anti Google, they get a lot of things right) and now they want other people to grab a hold of it, muzzle it, and stop it biting them in the a**. Far as I can see, it's their Pitbull and they should control it properly or face up to euthanasia - no matter how much they love their pet.

BigPappa · 2 years ago

What about newspaper websites? They sell paid links in the form banner and display ads all the time. I am pretty ignorant on the subject so I'm asking the question. Does this count as a paid link? If so who gets the penalty?

BigPappa · 2 years ago

What about newspaper websites? They sell paid links in the form banner and display ads all the time. I am pretty ignorant on the subject so I'm asking the question. Does this count as a paid link? If so who gets the penalty?

lucia · 2 years ago

Maurice... speaking of page rank. The toolbar pageranks aren't showing on the pages I have open on various tabs right now. Either the google dance is well underway or Google is deciding to de-emphasize? (Or something is wrong with the site serving page rank info. :) )

lucia · 2 years ago

Maurice... speaking of page rank. The toolbar pageranks aren't showing on the pages I have open on various tabs right now. Either the google dance is well underway or Google is deciding to de-emphasize? (Or something is wrong with the site serving page rank info. :) )

Mike · 2 years ago

Anyone who thinks that Big G's hard line approach to paid links is because they want a pure search engine is deluded. It's all about protecting their own cash cow - AdSense.

The TLA move to TinyURL is for their own internal links only and not for advertisers links so it's not being done to combat Big G.

Mike · 2 years ago

Anyone who thinks that Big G's hard line approach to paid links is because they want a pure search engine is deluded. It's all about protecting their own cash cow - AdSense.

The TLA move to TinyURL is for their own internal links only and not for advertisers links so it's not being done to combat Big G.

Lord Matt · 2 years ago

Google does well not because they understand the Internet at all but because they understand what it was like ten years ago better than anyone else.

Lord Matt · 2 years ago

Google does well not because they understand the Internet at all but because they understand what it was like ten years ago better than anyone else.

Money Blue Book · 2 years ago

Google is the 800 pound gorilla and is pretty much going to get what it wants until there are legitimate competitors. Being the biggest and baddest has its advantages and allows Google to set its own parameters. It's protecting its AdWords income stream and that's all that matters. I am waiting for more competition eventually to temper and humble Google....doubt it will happen though..... :(
-Raymond (MONEY BLUE BOOK)

Money Blue Book · 2 years ago

Google is the 800 pound gorilla and is pretty much going to get what it wants until there are legitimate competitors. Being the biggest and baddest has its advantages and allows Google to set its own parameters. It's protecting its AdWords income stream and that's all that matters. I am waiting for more competition eventually to temper and humble Google....doubt it will happen though..... :(
-Raymond (MONEY BLUE BOOK)

Yvonne Nicholson · 2 years ago

Alltheweb is better then google for search, at least in the last year. Google is too much into playing his IPO games.

Yvonne Nicholson · 2 years ago

Alltheweb is better then google for search, at least in the last year. Google is too much into playing his IPO games.

thatedeguy · 2 years ago

And lets not forget that now Wordpress is using Google Blog Search for their recent links bit on the dashboard. But still, the one sided link war is waged...

thatedeguy · 2 years ago

And lets not forget that now Wordpress is using Google Blog Search for their recent links bit on the dashboard. But still, the one sided link war is waged...

MRSA · 2 years ago

I doubt that they will but think that they should

MRSA · 2 years ago

I doubt that they will but think that they should