May 13th, 2010 by Susie

Although there are those who never opt for paid links, the practice of link purchasing has never been unequivocally rejected by the whole search engine optimization community. Indeed, some individuals contend that the purchasing of links is basically grey hat rather than black hat. However, Google’s position on the ethical status of paid links is clear and its hostility to the activity overt. The issue has attracted some recent attention because it seems that sites which have bought links have been suffering in the search engine results pages more than they generally were doing. Understandably, different sections of the SEO industry have heterogeneous opinions with regards to this outcome.

Google does not conceal its dislike for paid links. In its communications with the search engine optimisation companies, Google declares that the use of such links contravenes its basic terms and conditions, constituting an unethical attempt to manipulate the rankings. Google has underlined the way it feels about the matter by actively encouraging site owners to report observations of purchased links. Some SEO consultants are displeased by what they perceive as the enabling of competitive ‘grassing,’ but Google wants to eliminate as much of the practice as is feasible. The ends, for Google, justify the means, and anything which causes individuals to reconsider link buying is seen as protecting the interests of users.

Despite Google’s unambiguous position, the practice of link buying has persisted in some quarters. This continuation was the consequence of the fact that the tactic was still yielding positive outcomes for some sites. Although the emphasis in link acquisition should be placed on quality, the buying of links was still working for some sites which evaded search engine penalties. Temptation was thus too great for some individuals to resist. Especially for those working in particularly competitive sectors, link buying retained some of its attraction.

The current wave of controversy has been generated by the finding that what used to work is working less often. Paid links are apparently being given less value by Google than used to typically be the case. In other words, Google is being more successful in its efforts to subject the SEO industry to stricter control. This apparent fact is being received differently in diverse quarters, as could perhaps have been predicted. Yet there is still uncertainty about what is actually occurring.

For instance, some experts feel that links are being assessed more thoroughly and that adaptation is needed. They suggest that links which any site could obtain are getting the treatment they warrant. However, other experts believe that paid links might still be successful if they are acquired from quality sites. Then there are those individuals who are more or less outside this debate, because their link building strategies never venture towards paying for links.

All these different groups and individuals are likely to have slightly different perceptions of what is going on. Their insights are dependent in part on what has been happening to the sites they are involved with in a fluid and changeable context. Therefore it seems apparent that the controversy will continue.

Link to us

If you want to link to this blog, copy and paste the following HTML code to your website.