The other day, I broke the story that Forbes got caught selling links and didn't even know they were selling it. It turns out, it was a technical error and they apologized, removed the links and likely submitted their reconsideration request.
But if you read the comments in my post and even some comments in the Google Webmaster Help
thread you will see people laughing at me because we sell links on the
side bar here. Yes, scroll down, look on the right, there are
"sponsored links." We have sponsors pay about $350 per month for those
links and most have been there for years. You don't think I know I
sell links on this site? Do you think I am that dumb?
Let me give you some history, so you have some perspective. In November 2007 Google started slapping sites who sold links that passed PageRank. It specifically was targeting paid links and this came with no surprise to SEOs, Google warned us, if you sell links, make sure they don't pass PageRank or Google can penalize you.
So sites, like this one, that did not listen began to see their PageRank drop significantly
- yes, including this one. We saw our PageRank in the Toolbar drop
from a six or seven to a four. It was upsetting, but I was stubborn and
hey our traffic didn't drop
at that time. Most sites hit with the penalty quickly removed the
paid links from passing PageRank and asked Google for forgiveness. Some
brave webmasters did not, and decided to live with the penalty.
As I said
back in 2007, I think this is the smartest move Google could have made.
They have to target link sellers, because link buyers target their
search quality. I think Google is doing the right thing for penalizing
sites for selling links. I have no ill will against Google for
penalizing this site. Again, they have to do it and they are 100% right
in doing so.
But at the same time, I have 100% right to build my
site the way I want. I know, without a doubt, that the penalty this
site (and other sites) have for selling links affects more than just the
visible Toolbar PageRank. Back in 2007, I didn't see a ranking or
traffic drop. But soon later I noticed the traffic and ranking in
Google for this site dropped. There is no doubt that if I removed the
links, my traffic would likely increase by 25% to 100%.
As you can see, I am making a conscious decision to leave the paid links here despite the PageRank and ranking penalty. Why?
- I had those links there prior to Google's paid links guideline
- I always clearly labeled them as paid links for humans to see
- Google reads this blog, they know about the paid links and I know they discredit them
- I am stupid
- I am incredibly stubborn, ask my wife
So why won't I nofollow them then? Because I am stubborn and I am one of the few SEO blogs that decided to not change when Google unleashed their penalty (again, Google has to do it and I commend them for it).
Does this mean I will never remove the links? No. But for now, and for the past three-plus years, the links are staying as is.
Feel free to trash (or support) me in the comments.
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