Wisdom of Google Cracking Down on Paid Links the Way It Did - Part II
When I wrote the initial post, I never would have thought that I would have so much to say that it would splash over onto another post… yet, that’s what’s happening. The position taken by Google on this issue is what suddenly started to make me think that Google has grown too big for everyone’s sake.
Image Source: Slate.com
To go back to the issue of penalizing anybody involved in link sales, meaning link sellers and link buyers, this across the board approach has the effect of alienating many of Google’s own partners. Yes, that’s right, some of those same webmasters who are part of Google’s Adsense or Adwords program. Is this good? I wouldn’t think so. Those webmasters now probably hold a grudge against Google and may just be waiting to jump ship. Google’s goodwill took a big hit the past few weeks and it still remains to be seen whether sites selling links will stop doing so.
One of the major problems is the issue of who’s really at the source of the current problem. The people that are at the core of the current problem are those that want to buy links, not those that want to sell them.
What’s wrong when you have a site to want to sell advertising space on that site? Furthermore, what’s wrong if you want to sell advertising space in the form of links without putting the “no-follow” attribute? As a webmaster, if someone wants to buy links on my site, it’s just a matter of courtesy to give him/ her a normal link, not a “half breed.” Since when do webmasters have to start doing search engines’ job (for free might I add) and help them increase the accuracy of their results? Webmasters’ first priorities are to add good content to their sites and monetize their sites to make them profitable. The requirement that webmasters have to abide by guidelines imposed upon them by a third party is nonsense, especially when this third party is a private entity in the business of making money (and already making tons of it). There’s no deference required here.
“Webmasters can do whatever they please and Google can do whatever it wants.” Wrong, to the extent that Google is such a major player online, it should be held to higher standards.
Notwithstanding all the above, one of the main reasons that Google failed in its latest approach to link selling is because, once again, it targeted the wrong people. Cracking down against sites selling links will just reduce the supply, which will make links more expensive. The key is reducing the demand. If Google penalizes link buyers, this will directly defeat their purpose, which is to rank higher. From a business standpoint, the decision to no longer buy links also makes more sense since instead of buying links, they will just shift their budget to doing good SEO. That decision is easier to take since they just have to redirect their money flow. On the other hand, penalizing websites selling links doesn’t make sense because it’s telling them to refuse money. Since when does it make business sense to refuse easy money?
The current crackdown will just make the link ads market go underground. It will not eliminate link selling. The best Google can hope for is a reduction of those instances. This is a patched up solution.