Google is taking a stand agains comment spamming.

[greenovni]

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Hard facts about comment spam

Is this the end of linking services?

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by greenovni

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Hard facts about comment spam

Is this the end of linking services?

If it brings an end to "linking services" that spam blogs, good riddance.

[Tina Golden]

I think this is a good thing and maybe it will cut down on the spam for bloggers everywhere. Linking services are about a lot more than blog comments, at least usually, so I don't think they'll be going anywhere soon.

Tina

[Steve.S.]

I can only welcome this initiative.
One day, backlinks won't count anymore (not the ones we're used to)

[greenovni]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

If it brings an end to "linking services" that spam blogs, good riddance.

There are a few warriors who push these types of WSO and seem to be loved by everyone.

[pheonix44]

As long as you leave good quality content I do not see a problem. Those who have a problem are probably those who do not contribute value in the first place. I use it for traffic and I target the best blogs. If I use those types of services I usually link it to someone elses site and not my own for fear of being sandboxed.

[AverageGuy]

google's algorithm is based on backlinks. although it is changed, but the backlinks will still be the very important element in its ranking system. they can filter some links, but not count backlinks any more? I do not think so.


david

[Heuristic]

I noticed that the article's only advice is to create higher quality content and more of it. Forget backlinking - build it and they will come

[GeorgR.]

Interesting.

I like how this is in stark contrast to some "backlink builder's" words that it wont matter WHERE the link is as long as it has high PR.

Because Google explicitly states that "[we have] an understanding of the link graph of the web, and have algorithmic ways of discovering those alterations and tackling them"

I guess that's the end of all "Angela / Paul" type kind of links too..respective proves that the sites RELEVANCE to the link does indeed matter.

[Mike Linley]

I agree that this kind of link building has gotten way out of hand and I welcome the change...I always do my link building with web 2.0 and other sites where they welcome and encourage new links and content..I try to include an article and make it valuable.

[Jeremy Kelsall]

I'll believe it when I see the viagra and other pharma sites rankings change

[Chris Kent]

But they're in league with the article directories so I think they will always remain a good alternative.

Article spinners here I come

[kindsvater]

Nothing is changing .. nothing will change - here's why:

1. Google cannot punish websites with 'poor' incoming links because then it would be open-season to nuke your competition. At most, as stated in the article, a poor link is devalued.

2. There is NOTHING in that article about incoming links being from relevant sites. Seriously, how can one determine relevance? Is the Warrior Forum relevant to the thousands of niches being linked out of here? Obviously not. Yet, the overall value of the forum gives those links impact.

3. If you think about what 'algorithms' Google could use to spot poor links, its extremely easy to avoid the issue.

4. Google undoubtedly also simply flags keywords in links for 100 selected keywords, such as Viagra, etc. - the automated junk we're all familiar with - and automatically ignores most of them.

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

I guess that's the end of all "Angela / Paul" type kind of links too..respective proves that the sites RELEVANCE to the link does indeed matter.

Maybe but, then again, what Google says and what Google does don't always concur.

Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall

I'll believe it when I see the viagra and other pharma sites rankings change

[Robert Puddy]

Originally Posted by greenovni

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Hard facts about comment spam

Is this the end of linking services?

Does this mean on sidewiki too...

Isnt that comment spam, a case of the pot calling the kettle black me thinks

Robert

[havefunandlive]

If you see suspicious links coming from blogs or other platforms allowing comments, you should check these URLs. If you see a spammy link you created, try to delete it, else contact the webmaster to ask to remove the link. Once you've cleared the spammy inbound links you made, you can file a reconsideration request.

A reconsideration request? Really?

Are they saying they're penalizing sites now for "spammy links"? Is there even a way to automatically determine whether a link is spam or not?

As hard as I try, right now I can't really think of this as a good thing.

[Paul M]

Google's so full of crap – not the spam part...

This -

Promote your site without comment spam

FACT: Having original and useful content and making your site search engine friendly is the best strategy for better ranking. With an appealing site, you'll be recognized by the web community as a reliable source and links to your site will build naturally.

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Hard facts about comment spam

If they really want to try and reason with spammers over how to build backlinks. They'll need to do far better than telling them to wait for natural backlinks.

Unless they have exceptional content, existing traffic, or other traffic mechanisms aside from search engines it's unlikely anyone will find there site in the first place. Which means no backlinks and no decent rankings. Not for the more competitive terms anyway. Even if they already have traffic, most sites spamming comments exist only for commercial purposes. Hardly content others would want to share and link back too.


-Paul

[jasonmorgan]

oh well, google has some new way of reducing the amount of value a link has if they determine it is a spam link... haven't they been trying this for a while now?

I say great... those auto spam tools are killing the internet simply to make a buck. time to adapt or get left behind.

[roxstar]

Google's so full of crap – not the spam part...

This -

Quote:
Promote your site without comment spam

FACT: Having original and useful content and making your site search engine friendly is the best strategy for better ranking. With an appealing site, you'll be recognized by the web community as a reliable source and links to your site will build naturally.

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Hard facts about comment spam

If they really want to try and reason with spammers over how to build backlinks. They'll need to do far better than telling them to wait for natural backlinks.

Unless they have exceptional content, existing traffic, or other traffic mechanisms aside from search engines it's unlikely anyone will find there site in the first place. Which means no backlinks and no decent rankings. Not for the more competitive terms anyway. Even if they already have traffic, most sites spamming comments exist only for commercial purposes. Hardly content others would want to share and link back too.


-Paul
==========================
Lmfao... Yeah that doesn't even make sense -.-' If you have great content, but you can't let anybody know about it then it's like having a store without advertising. You could tell a few people, but growth would be amazingly slow...

I think this is all just a little wake-up call to go and have quality content, but also not spamming people.FFS, give out good comments. Natural links will build, but there's no reason you can't build some of your own. Well, within reason.

Kris.

[butters]

I don't see the problem, if you contribute to the orignal topic, and your on topic its fine. Personally I am going to focus more on producing content since we all know content trumps all.

[4morereferrals]

Nope - if they take the approach so many "quality content disciples" espouse - to ban sites that use spammy links ... then,

We can just hire linkbuilders to spam link our competition

Bidness is good ...

Originally Posted by greenovni

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Hard facts about comment spam

Is this the end of linking services?

[Jeremy Kelsall]

Originally Posted by 4morereferrals

Nope - if they take the approach so many "quality content disciples" espouse - to ban sites that use spammy links ... then,

We can just hire linkbuilders to spam link our competition

Bidness is good ...

Yeah, I'm firing up XRUMER now...You're all going down

[SEO Training Alliance]

The other reason thematic link relevance can't be an issue, is the increasing trend of personal blogs.

If i have a personal blog where i blog about any old musings that I feel like talking about, how can anyone determine the overall theme of my site, and therefore the relevance of the link?

In text context links are a different story though, they can be seen and are superior in my experience.

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by Paul M

or other traffic mechanisms aside from search engines

Can you say "Adwords"?

Be a good little webmaster and spend all your hard earned dough on our advertising system.

[Tom Goodwin]

I'll believe it when I see it. Google can say anything it wants -- that doesn't mean squat in practice. As Kelsall said, i'll just monitor the top sites for "cheap viagra" and see if they ever fall

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

Interesting.

I like how this is in stark contrast to some "backlink builder's" words that it wont matter WHERE the link is as long as it has high PR.

Because Google explicitly states that "[we have] an understanding of the link graph of the web, and have algorithmic ways of discovering those alterations and tackling them"

I guess that's the end of all "Angela / Paul" type kind of links too..respective proves that the sites RELEVANCE to the link does indeed matter.

[paulgl]

When google speaks, people listen.
Google wants to be the best search engine, but they have
got into this thing about ranking sites and backlinks. So,
in order to not have that blow up in their face, they have
conned webmasters into using the nofollow tag. Boom! In
one fell swoop, google turns off link juice from tons of links
without lifting a finger. But the nofollow thing has been overused.
it is only for spammed url posting. Period. But google not caring if the
site has nofollow tags, means webmasters will abuse it.

Now we have the blog post spam. Once again, google knows
they need to count backlinks. So, they come up with webmaster
guidelines on how to make it hard for people to post links in
comments. Webmaster will take note, and again, one fell swoop,
lots of links will lose their juice without google lifting one finger.

Now I am not saying good, bad, or even ugly, but I find it quite
amusing that google can come up with all sorts of things that get
webmasters spinning! Owning 90% of the search traffic is a powerful
thing. It's good to be the king!

Paul

[Zach Booker]

Helpful hint: Whatever Google tells you to do, in terms of SEO, do the opposite.

That is all,

Zach