Google Adds “Selling Links” For PageRank To Link Schemes Page

Nov 23, 2007 at 8:33am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google Blogoscoped reports Google has updated one of their help pages to include the words “selling links” when discussing link schemes.

On the Why should I report paid links to Google? page, Google changed the document to add the words “selling links” through the page. One line now reads:

Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results.

What does Google recommend you do if you sell ads on your site?

(1) Adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to the anchor tag

(2) Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file

Postscript From Danny: I’d previously recommended that Google update their help pages to reflect PageRank penalties might now happen. Neither of the two key pages I’d highlighted were updated as part of this round of changes.

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

See more articles by Barry Schwartz >

Share, Bookmark & Discuss This Article
More:

Keep Updated: News Via Email | News Via RSS Feed | News Via Twitter

See more stories like this in the Members Library! Check out the Google: SEO, Link Building: Paid Links sections of the Members Library where this story is filed. Members also get access to exclusive video content, a members-only weekly & monthly newsletter, plus more. Check out all the benefits!

Comments are closed.

TOP STORIES

See All »

SEARCH NEWS BRIEFS

See All »

FEATURES & ANALYSIS

See All »

RECENT COMMENTS

kloeprich said " The recent news confirms suspicions I’ve had that News Corp and MS were already in negotiations with"
Susannah said " I can't wait to try some of these tips this week. What a resource! It's like having a coffee with 21"
dian said " I haven't tried that yet but if it is the way Mazter is saying I think it won't going to do any good"

See All »

See How To Articles And More In Our Members Library »

FREE DAILY SEARCH NEWS RECAP!

Stay on top of all the search news with our daily summary, the SearchCap newsletter. View a sample ›

STAY CURRENT THROUGHOUT THE DAY

The Search Engine Land feed keeps you informed as news happens. SEE ALL FEEDS »

SEARCH ENGINE LAND SPONSORS

Advertise With Us »

UPCOMING SEARCH ENGINE LAND CONFERENCES

Search Engine Land produces SMX, the Search Marketing Expo conference series. SMX events deliver the most comprehensive educational and networking experiences - whether you're just starting in search marketing or you're a seasoned expert.

SMX Web Site » | SMX Difference » | SMX News »

Join us at an upcoming SMX event:

UPCOMING SEARCH ENGINE LAND WEBCASTS

Learn more about search marketing with our free online webcasts and webinars from our sister site, Search Marketing Now. Upcoming online events include: