Getting ban from Google for buying backlinks?

36 replies
  • SEO
  • |
I've heard about this quite often how people are getting banned from Google for buying backlinks on sites like http://backlinks.com/ or link exchange in general.

Do you have any experience with being completely removed from search results?
#backlinks #ban #buying #google
  • Profile picture of the author jazbo
    I see links counted by google all the time even though they are blatantly paid links. This is mostly, the same as anything else an internet myth. Only if you go nuts and are blatant or use really obvious networks to buy them are you in danger.
    Signature
    CONTENT WRITER. Reliable, UK-Based, 6 Years Experience - ANY NICHE
    Click Here For Writing Samples & Online Ordering
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779345].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author DannyP_uk
    It all depends where you buy the links from, if you get them from a known link selling source then chances are you will be penalized for it.

    There is always going to be an element of risk when buying links from anywhere and my advice is always to encourage 100% ethic and natural backlinking.

    At the end of the day if you buy links you are risking the future of your site.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779354].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
      Originally Posted by DannyP_uk View Post

      It all depends where you buy the links from, if you get them from a known link selling source then chances are you will be penalized for it.

      There is always going to be an element of risk when buying links from anywhere and my advice is always to encourage 100% ethic and natural backlinking.

      At the end of the day if you buy links you are risking the future of your site.
      Wrong. If buying links got your site penalized, then everyone would be buying links for their competitors.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779421].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author DannyP_uk
        Originally Posted by Jacob Martus View Post

        Wrong. If buying links got your site penalized, then everyone would be buying links for their competitors.
        Like I said, it all depends on where you buy those links from. I didn't say you will get penalized i said there is a chance you will get penalized.

        Personally I would never suggest buying links but if you insist on including link buying in your SEO campaign then there is a chance Google will penalize you for it.

        I have seen people get away with buying links and I have seen evidence of people been penalized for buying links; this subject has been debatable for years and always will be.

        Buy links at your own risk, thats all i will say on the matter.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779466].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
          Originally Posted by DannyP_uk View Post

          Like I said, it all depends on where you buy those links from. I didn't say you will get penalized i said there is a chance you will get penalized.

          Personally I would never suggest buying links but if you insist on including link buying in your SEO campaign then there is a chance Google will penalize you for it.

          I have seen people get away with buying links and I have seen evidence of people been penalized for buying links; this subject has been debatable for years and always will be.

          Buy links at your own risk, thats all i will say on the matter.
          That's illogical. Show me this evidence of someone being penalized for buying links and I will show you faulty logic.

          Like I said before, if buying links could get a site penalized, there would be more people buying links for their competitors.

          If by penalized you mean, that the paid links won't count, then we can talk. Paid links do get devalued, but penalizing a site for a metric completely out of their control? Come on now.

          And you said "chances are" not "there is a chance". Two completely separate figures of speech. You can't say chances are that you will be penalized and then tell me you meant, There is a chance you will be penalized.

          If you want to prove me wrong, I've got some sites that I would love for you to penalize with some links.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779476].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author DannyP_uk
            Originally Posted by Jacob Martus View Post

            That's illogical. Show me this evidence of someone being penalized for buying links and I will show you faulty logic.

            Like I said before, if buying links could get a site penalized, there would be more people buying links for their competitors.

            If by penalized you mean, that the paid links won't count, then we can talk. Paid links do get devalued, but penalizing a site for a metric completely out of their control? Come on now.

            And you said "chances are" not "there is a chance". Two completely separate figures of speech. You can't say chances are that you will be penalized and then tell me you meant, There is a chance you will be penalized.

            If you want to prove me wrong, I've got some sites that I would love for you to penalize with some links.
            I'm too tired to get into this right now, its been a long day.

            I leave you with this from the guys at SEOmoz:

            SEOmoz | Whiteboard Friday - We Bought Links and It Worked!!

            This video provides actual evidence that the diabolical practice of buying links can actually work (and astoundingly well). It also says the practice can get you penalized back to the stone age, but hey, who needs to talk sense; there's controversy to be courted!
            There is controversy and there always will be on this subject, i have my opinion on this and so do you.

            Paid links may reap quick and easy reward, but the repercussions can be dreadful. Besides, everyone knows that the Krampus comes for SEOs who pay for links.
            Lets leave it at that.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779524].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author Tom Goodwin
              time to go send paid links to all my competitors. I bet i'll be #1 by next week. sweeettttttttt

              Originally Posted by DannyP_uk View Post

              I'm too tired to get into this right now, its been a long day.

              I leave you with this from the guys at SEOmoz:

              SEOmoz | Whiteboard Friday - We Bought Links and It Worked!!



              There is controversy and there always will be on this subject, i have my opinion on this and so do you.



              Lets leave it at that.
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779553].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                Originally Posted by Tom Goodwin View Post

                time to go send paid links to all my competitors. I bet i'll be #1 by next week. sweeettttttttt
                Hardly they are more likely to report you and win
                Signature

                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779630].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
              Originally Posted by DannyP_uk View Post

              I leave you with this from the guys at SEOmoz:

              SEOmoz | Whiteboard Friday - We Bought Links and It Worked!!
              Danny linking to a respected SEO research organization means nothing to these IM SEOs. They swear they know more because they learned some black hat from a forum or some guru who learned it from a forum.

              I think its pretty easy to see how this happens even without there being a direct penalty for that. Obviously if a site gets reported for buying links the first thing Google is looking for is the the seller but its pretty obvious both sites are going to be reviewed and if you have anything else ontoward in your links those could be yanked and you would tumlbe.

              So unlike the would be SEOs that laugh at the Seomoz research I have no reason to doubt it and would take it over these guys any day (as any sane person would given the expertise and reputation of KNOWN SEOs there) but the tumble might just be more links than the bought ones being pulled

              But then if your site takes a tumble you can say its not a penalty all you want - its just semantics. Its still a negative for the site owner.
              Signature

              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779620].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                So unlike the would be SEOs that laugh at the Seomoz research I have no reason to doubt it and would take it over these guys any day (as any sane person would given the expertise and reputation of KNOWN SEOs there) but the tumble might just be more links than the bought ones being pulled

                But then if your site takes a tumble you can say its not a penalty all you want - its just semantics. Its still a negative for the site owner.
                The only evidence that SEOmoz post demonstrates is that some friends of SEOmoz bought some links and lost their rankings.

                Great evidence there. Sorry, but I don't trust, "Our friends bought some links and got penalized" evidence, especially when it contradicts my friends experiences...

                SEOmoz is no doubt a great resource, but that doesn't mean that everything they publish is correct. In fact, there are a lot of disputable things that SEOmoz posts with regard to backlinks.

                And it's a bit different to compare little old me and work that Rand or other well known SEO's do for a company. Google might pay attention to people like Rand, Michael Gray, and other top SEO's. However, they aren't paying all too much attention to me.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779737].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                  Originally Posted by Jacob Martus View Post

                  The only evidence that SEOmoz post demonstrates is that some friends of SEOmoz bought some links and lost their rankings.
                  .

                  :rolleyes: (sigh.....). You didn't bother to watch the video did you? Rand specifically states that that is not the only time that he and SEOmoz have seen that effect. He even indicates that it can exist under the radar for long periods of time so "your friends" does not contradict the findings of SEOmoz.

                  Now would I never buy a link? I don't owe my allegiance to google and companies by partnership get links all the time where there is money involved. I can't see how in most cases Google can identifiy a paid link if the seller is discreet but as the facts line up your claim that its illogical for it ever to happen really doesn't hold any weight. I would say unlikely but SEos that live breath and sleep all kinds of SEO scenarios have seen it and as I said I have no reason to deny it as I illustrated exactly how it can happen.
                  Signature

                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779878].message }}
                  • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                    Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                    :rolleyes: (sigh.....). You didn't bother to watch the video did you? Rand specifically states that that is not the only time that he and SEOmoz have seen that effect. He even indicates that it can exist under the radar for long periods of time so "your friends" does not contradict the findings of SEOmoz.

                    Now would I never buy a link? I don't owe my allegiance to google and companies by partnership get links all the time where there is money involved. I can't see how in most cases Google can identifiy a paid link if the seller is discreet but as the facts line up your claim that its illogical for it ever to happen really doesn't hold any weight. I would say unlikely but SEos that live breath and sleep all kinds of SEO scenarios have seen it and as I said I have no reason to deny it as I illustrated exactly how it can happen.
                    I prefer to see testing, experiments, etc before I am to believe something. Rand and SEOmoz have seen it before. Great, examples please? I mean, if SEO knowledge revolved around anecdotal evidence of things people have seen, then there would be no established facts about the industry.

                    I can say that I've seen links from websites that start with an R have more power than those from any other letter, but that doesn't make it so.

                    Like I said, no problem with SEOmoz and they have lots of good stuff there...but this is not what I would consider noteworthy at all.

                    And no, I didn't watch the video, I took the cliffnotes that he listed below. Either way, he's seen sites drop after gaining some links doesn't take into account any of the other possibilities for a website dropping off the radar.
                    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780015].message }}
                    • Profile picture of the author Dellco
                      Actually, one of my competitors did get penalized, very likely due to link buying. He had very dominating sites and ALL his sites that I know of, got dropped in the SERPs not long ago.

                      Before he got dropped, no one expected it to happen. He dominated so many keywords for a long time, and had site links awarded by Google.

                      I would believe he had been subject to a manual review one fine day, since most or all his sites got dropped from what I see. They are still indexed, and still ranking in Bing.....just not in Google.

                      Believe me, Google does penalize. It can come right out of the blue.
                      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780250].message }}
                      • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                        Originally Posted by Dellco View Post

                        Actually, one of my competitors did get penalized, very likely due to link buying. He had very dominating sites and ALL his sites that I know of, got dropped in the SERPs not long ago.

                        Before he got dropped, no one expected it to happen. He dominated so many keywords for a long time, and had site links awarded by Google.

                        I would believe he had been subject to a manual review one fine day, since most or all his sites got dropped from what I see. They are still indexed, and still ranking in Bing.....just not in Google.

                        Believe me, Google does penalize. It can come right out of the blue.
                        Yes, but there are a number of reasons for Google to knock someone out. You don't know what he was doing across all of his sites. He could have been doing some shady sh*t on a few of his sites that got his whole network de-indexed. It's pretty easy for Google to find all of your sites, especially if you don't use privacy guard, and if you use analytics, webmaster tools, adsense, etc.

                        Attributing it to links is a stretch, considering you don't know all the variables in this equation.
                        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780281].message }}
                        • Profile picture of the author Dellco
                          Originally Posted by Jacob Martus View Post

                          Yes, but there are a number of reasons for Google to knock someone out. You don't know what he was doing across all of his sites. He could have been doing some shady sh*t on a few of his sites that got his whole network de-indexed. It's pretty easy for Google to find all of your sites, especially if you don't use privacy guard, and if you use analytics, webmaster tools, adsense, etc.

                          Attributing it to links is a stretch, considering you don't know all the variables in this equation.
                          I know it could have been something else, but from what I see, he hasn't touched his sites (all static) in a long time. The only thing still growing, was his links - I guess. So if nothing else changed, what could it be?

                          Google was sending him a lot of love (good ranking and sitelinks) before he got dropped.
                          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780298].message }}
                          • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                            Originally Posted by Dellco View Post

                            I know it could have been something else, but from what I see, he hasn't touched his sites (all static) in a long time. The only thing still growing, was his links - I guess. So if nothing else changed, what could it be?
                            Nothing had to change. He may have just gotten caught. He might have been doing shady sh*t the whole time and getting away with it. And then he got caught recently when you noticed it.
                            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780314].message }}
                      • Profile picture of the author cbpayne
                        Originally Posted by Dellco View Post

                        Believe me, Google does penalize. It can come right out of the blue.
                        How do you know that it had anything to with buying links and its was not due to a multitude of other possibilities:
                        Originally Posted by Dellco View Post

                        ALL his sites
                        If google detected them as a domain farm to manipulate rankings, then they gone. This could have been the reason and nothing to do with paid links.
                        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780288].message }}
                    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                      Originally Posted by Jacob Martus View Post


                      And no, I didn't watch the video,.
                      Just Like I said so you are responding to something you haven't even seen which makes about as much sense as anyone taking your viewpoint over SEOmoz (and blows your nonsense about Danny being "illogical"). No one here should give a a royal fig about what your experiments show. You and I are relative no names. Trying to put your self or "your friends" on the same level as a top tier SEO research site is nothing anyone has to pay attention to.

                      Thats not to say I wouldn't buy a link but that there is nothing wrong with pointing out to people the potential downside. Certainly Seomoz alleged "anecdotal"evidence trumps your "friends".
                      Signature

                      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780401].message }}
                      • Profile picture of the author srbilles
                        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                        Just Like I said so you are responding to something you haven't even seen which makes about as much sense as anyone taking your viewpoint over SEOmoz (and blows your nonsense about Danny being "illogical"). No one here should give a a royal fig about what your experiments show. You and I are relative no names. Trying to put your self or "your friends" on the same level as a top tier SEO research site is nothing anyone has to pay attention to.

                        Thats not to say I wouldn't buy a link but that there is nothing wrong with pointing out to people the potential downside. Certainly Seomoz alleged "anecdotal"evidence trumps your "friends".
                        Where do you think all the seo theories and myths come from? So called SEO gurus. Their drawing conclusions without doing their proper homework. I would take the "tested evidence" over a seo guru's say so any day.

                        Show me a controled experiment that provides evidence of what your saying and that will go a lot farther then another guys assumtion of something. And I don't care if the experiment was done by a "no-name" or a well known seo expert.

                        And by the way...just because a guy isn't known doesn't mean that he doesn't have the skills and experience. In fact alot of people that operate under the public radar are more competent then those in the public eye.
                        Signature

                        Get cash producing email copy written for you for cheap. Check out my Warrior For Hire offer at: http://www.warriorforum.com/showthre...1#post10514231

                        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2782216].message }}
                        • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                          Show me a controled experiment that provides evidence of what your saying and that will go a lot farther then another guys assumtion of something. And I don't care if the experiment was done by a "no-name" or a well known seo expert.
                          Good then go to the link and watch the video because you get more evidence their than you have in this thread. If you REALLY go where the evidence is then you'd be asking it of both sides. Me? I am not stating anything . I'd buy me a good link anyday . I'm just never going to tell someone there is no downside to something because in life there always is.





                          Originally Posted by srbilles View Post

                          And by the way...just because a guy isn't known doesn't mean that he doesn't have the skills and experience. In fact alot of people that operate under the public radar are more competent then those in the public eye.
                          Perfectly true but when you have one organization that has done deep research, published multiple time over the years, create their own internal tools that time and time again show how sites really rank then you would have to be a complete idiot to not take their word over A bunch of forum posters that can only point to their own anecdotal evidence half the time just following some other forum poster thats selling their product.

                          Plus its just plain stupid to claim that something can never happen and is illogical merely on the basis that it hasn't happened to you. If thats the case then you could never learn anything from anyone else.

                          So Seomoz puts up a case study that they have verified happens more than once. Doesn't even mean that I am going to let that stop me from buying a link. Its a merely "watch out this can happen" but theres always this nonsensical knee jerk reaction to anyone saying what the potential downsides of something are. Its a real world. Theres pros and cons to everything and informing people is hardly a crime.

                          Where do you think all the seo theories and myths come from? So called SEO gurus.
                          Well you asked for additional evidence beyond the case study may I ask wheres the research that indicates that premise? thats just illogical putting all SEO "gurus" into the same group responsible for seo myths.
                          Signature

                          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2782528].message }}
                          • Profile picture of the author srbilles
                            Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                            So Seomoz puts up a case study that they have verified happens more than once. Doesn't even mean that I am going to let that stop me from buying a link. Its a merely "watch out this can happen" but theres always this nonsensical knee jerk reaction to anyone saying what the potential downsides of something are. Its a real world. Theres pros and cons to everything and informing people is hardly a crime.
                            Agreed.

                            Well you asked for additional evidence beyond the case study may I ask wheres the research that indicates that premise? thats just illogical putting all SEO "gurus" into the same group responsible for seo myths.
                            I'm by no means grouping all seo experts into this group. I know a few who are really credible and only put out stuff based on their testing. I'm simply stating that most theories are started by someone who has that guru statues, and every time he says something everybody takes it as the gospel truth.
                            Signature

                            Get cash producing email copy written for you for cheap. Check out my Warrior For Hire offer at: http://www.warriorforum.com/showthre...1#post10514231

                            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2782895].message }}
                            • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                              Originally Posted by srbilles View Post

                              Agreed.
                              I'm by no means grouping all seo experts into this group. I know a few who are really credible and only put out stuff based on their testing. I'm simply stating that most theories are started by someone who has that guru statues, and every time he says something everybody takes it as the gospel truth.

                              Then we totally agree. I don't buy everything that SEomoz says hook line and sinker. As a matter of fact I'd put down good money that somewhere along the line they bought links (they can hardly tell people that) . I'm saying I give them the benefit of the doubt because I can't think of very few organizations that have done more research and its WAAAY beyond what anyone that posts or has posted at WF has ever done.

                              So if they state that they've seen sites penalized then unless I have SOME data of mine own that I can share I don't call it illogical.
                              Signature

                              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2783042].message }}
                      • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                        Just Like I said so you are responding to something you haven't even seen which makes about as much sense as anyone taking your viewpoint over SEOmoz (and blows your nonsense about Danny being "illogical").
                        Let me quote Rand's version of that page for you. """Did you avoid the temptation? Did you refuse to watch? Is the curiosity killing you? Okay, okay, I'll give you the lowdown, but you have to promise you'll nevereverever use this information for evil. Keep that halo sparkly, champ!"""

                        So Rand's lowdown includes a sentence or two about how his friends got penalized for buying links. If there was really some more evidence in that video, don't you think he would have summarized it like he did the rest of the video? Or no, he just left out the huge part where he shows some kind of ??case study about how buying links got a site penalized.

                        Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                        No one here should give a a royal fig about what your experiments show. You and I are relative no names. Trying to put your self or "your friends" on the same level as a top tier SEO research site is nothing anyone has to pay attention to.

                        Thats not to say I wouldn't buy a link but that there is nothing wrong with pointing out to people the potential downside. Certainly Seomoz alleged "anecdotal"evidence trumps your "friends".
                        You must have missed the joke I made when referring to my friends. It was just that, a joke. If I tell you well my friends have evidence that buying links doesn't affect a site, are you going to take my word for it? No. Why should we then trust everything that SEOmoz says? Oh wait, I know. Because SEOmoz is great at putting together linkbait articles like the one listed above. There was no experiment or case study in that article proving that paid links cause penalties. In fact, there was just the opposite: an experiment showing how the paid links improved their rankings. But, but, but, they said that they have seen paid links cause penalties.
                        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2782680].message }}
                        • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                          Originally Posted by Jacob Martus View Post

                          So Rand's lowdown includes a sentence or two about how his friends got penalized for buying links. If there was really some more evidence in that video, don't you think he would have summarized it like he did the rest of the video?
                          or possibly he assumed the watcher knew some SEO to begin with? I've already laid out how this works. FACT - sites that SELL backlinks CAN get a penalty. So they are reviewed but in order to find them doesn't the reviewer have to LOOK at the site that is receiving the link? Captain obvious. So in the process can there be a review of the linked to site? Of course. Do you know what metrics google might be looking at? No. so can you say to another poster that its ILLOGICAL that a site would ever be penalized for buying? Not in a sane world. You still don't get it. its not about whether it will happen its your nonsense attacking another poster telling him its illogical and could never happen when he POINTS YOU TO A SITE THAT IT DID HAPPEN ON.

                          then your rebuttal is without knowing anything about what is going on with the site beg that it HAD to BE something else even though it magically happened that the only change that had been made was buying the links.

                          No. Why should we then trust everything that SEOmoz says? Oh wait, I know. Because SEOmoz is great at putting together linkbait articles like the one listed above..
                          This isn't about trusting them with anything they say . its about you claiming something is illogical with Nada, no proof of your own and no earned authority to state it .

                          P.S. pretty funny trying to make a case on Seomoz using some marketing /linkbait as a basis for distrusting them. We should all remember that the next sales page we see.
                          Signature

                          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2782970].message }}
                          • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                            Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                            or possibly he assumed the watcher knew some SEO to begin with? I've already laid out how this works. FACT - sites that SELL backlinks CAN get a penalty. So they are reviewed but in order to find them doesn't the reviewer have to LOOK at the site that is receiving the link? Captain obvious. So in the process can there be a review of the linked to site? Of course. Do you know what metrics google might be looking at?
                            No. so can you say to another poster that its ILLOGICAL that a site would ever be penalized for buying?
                            I can say that it is illogical because IT IS. Is it logical for Google to take a metric into consideration that could easily be manipulated by a competitor? No. That's not logical, hence the term illogical.

                            Not in a sane world. You still don't get it. its not about whether it will happen its your nonsense attacking another poster telling him its illogical and could never happen when he POINTS YOU TO A SITE THAT IT DID HAPPEN ON.
                            First off, there was no attack. If you see one then I have a feeling that you're a bit sensitive. Second, could you please point to a site that it did happen on? I didn't see that site and I'm hoping you could point it out. HEY LOOK I CAN TYPE WITH CAPS TOO. WHERE IS THE SITE THAT HE POINTED TO THAT IT DID HAPPEN ON?

                            then your rebuttal is without knowing anything about what is going on with the site beg that it HAD to BE something else even though it magically happened that the only change that had been made was buying the links.
                            What I said still stands. Just because he thinks his competitor was penalized for buying links doesn't make it so. His competitor very well could have been doing something shady all along and just recently got busted for it. He has no idea what the guy was doing behind the scenes. It's not even his site and he's saying that he knows the only thing that has changed is links. There could have been any number of things going on behind the scenes that he didn't know about.

                            This isn't about trusting them with anything they say . its about you claiming something is illogical with Nada, no proof of your own and no earned authority to state it.
                            I don't need proof to say something is illogical. That's where logic comes into play... It doesn't make LOGICAL sense that Google is going around penalizing sites for a metric completely out of their control. Let me guess, you're going to say, but SEOMoz says that paid links cause penalties! Once again, show me some evidence or proof that this is the case. And no, Rand saying, "My friends have gotten penalties for buying links" does not constitute proof. If you want some proof from me, just ask and you'll get a PM with a score of paid links that didn't cause me any penalties, in fact just the opposite.

                            So, let's see yours.
                            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2783065].message }}
                            • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                              Originally Posted by Jacob Martus View Post

                              I can say that it is illogical because IT IS. Is it logical for Google to take a metric into consideration that could easily be manipulated by a competitor? No. That's not logical, hence the term illogical.
                              No automatic metric. the metric I was talking about is what a reviewer would look at in analyzing a site manually not in the algorithm so the competitor cannot "easily manipulate" the system. it would be a reviewers call. If you choose to believe that a reviewer cares a fig newton about penalizing a site that he/she thinks has been violating TOS then welcome to the wonderland of Alice. Thats illogical. Google has whacked sites that were making them money (in adsense and adwords) where the call was dubious. A reviewer will lose no sleep in ridding the world of one more IM site.


                              What I said still stands. Just because he thinks his competitor was penalized for buying links doesn't make it so. His competitor very well could have been doing something shady all along and just recently got busted for it.
                              Stands only in your mind Jacob. Coulda, woulda shoulda is not a rebuttal to the reality that the site got the whack immediately after doing that one thing and nothing else. You can argue all day. it makes no sense to claim nothing can ever happen especially where a human reviewer is involved. its illogical, irrational and just begging. Offering to send me links that you have paid for is just trying to change the argument. No one said that you shouldn't buy links or that you or even most people will be caught. I've said openly I would buy links. This is all about the illogical argument that your are making that something could never happen even when respected SEOs claim that it has happened to them.
                              Signature

                              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2843136].message }}
                              • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                                Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                                No automatic metric. the metric I was talking about is what a reviewer would look at in analyzing a site manually not in the algorithm so the competitor cannot "easily manipulate" the system. it would be a reviewers call. If you choose to believe that a reviewer cares a fig newton about penalizing a site that he/she thinks has been violating TOS then welcome to the wonderland of Alice. Thats illogical. Google has whacked sites that were making them money (in adsense and adwords) where the call was dubious. A reviewer will lose no sleep in ridding the world of one more IM site.




                                Stands only in your mind Jacob. Coulda, woulda shoulda is not a rebuttal to the reality that the site got the whack immediately after doing that one thing and nothing else. You can argue all day. it makes no sense to claim nothing can ever happen especially where a human reviewer is involved. its illogical, irrational and just begging. Offering to send me links that you have paid for is just trying to change the argument. No one said that you shouldn't buy links or that you or even most people will be caught. I've said openly I would buy links. This is all about the illogical argument that your are making that something could never happen even when respected SEOs claim that it has happened to them.
                                Give me 13 days to come up with a response please.
                                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2843416].message }}
                                • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                                  If it will improve the quality of your response I'm all for that . Some threads I don't even bother subscribing too and only came across your previous reply today.
                                  Signature

                                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2845033].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Lostgringo
            You basically buying links from Google Ads so whats the diff?
            Signature

            Hire a Virtual Assistant for as low as $3 per hour.

            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2783033].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
              Originally Posted by Lostgringo View Post

              You basically buying links from Google Ads so whats the diff?
              Yep thats one of the reasons I would buy a link. Google has no moral point they are making but its their playground so you keep on eye on what they might want to do when you do exactly what they do.
              Signature

              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2783054].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Nemanja
    Buying link to influence sarch engine rankings will create some fliters/penalties by google webamster spam department...
    But if you by link with no-follow atribute nothing will happen.
    Signature
    Markething.Me - The Best FREE Social Marketing Tool Available!!

    Free Tools:
    IMT Website Submitter(Indexer) | IMT Directory Submitter | IMT RSS Submitter | IMT SERP Checker
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779479].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sachihawaii
    Our competitor has been removed from Google twice in the past, most likely due to his link buying / building tactics.

    majesticseo.com/reports/search?folder=&q=adrhi.com

    You can see with ~25,000 non-cumulative monthly backlinks, he's spent quite a few bucks on links. Even after being removed twice from Google & Yahoo, he's back and his rankings are still very very high. Yes, you can get removed, but buying links can also be beneficial. Just watch your source.

    I don't buy for my company, and our rankings are increasing very nicely. Manual is always better, but it takes more time.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779584].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author kflex
      Originally Posted by sachihawaii View Post

      Our competitor has been removed from Google twice in the past, most likely due to his link buying / building tactics.

      majesticseo.com/reports/search?folder=&q=adrhi.com

      You can see with ~25,000 non-cumulative monthly backlinks, he's spent quite a few bucks on links. Even after being removed twice from Google & Yahoo, he's back and his rankings are still very very high. Yes, you can get removed, but buying links can also be beneficial. Just watch your source.

      I don't buy for my company, and our rankings are increasing very nicely. Manual is always better, but it takes more time.
      Have you thought that your competitor isn't getting removed, but instead getting temporarily sandboxed due to his linkbuilding?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2780280].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
    There's another way of intrpreting the OP question.

    I read the question as "Will Google ban me from Adsense if I use bought links?"

    Everyone else seems to have interpreted it as "Will Google ban me from the SERPs if I use bought links?"

    To answer the question accurately, we need to know which of these questions darthdeus was actually asking.

    If he was asking the first question (ie my interpretation), the answer is resoundingly YES. It is completely against the Adsense T.O.S.

    If he was asking the second question (ie the way everyone else interpreted it), the answer is, as everyone else pointed out, resoundingly NO. After all, Google's Adwords itself is a form of buying backlinks.

    So darthdeus, which question were you asking?
    Signature
    Why do garden gnomes smell so bad?
    So that blind people can hate them as well.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779662].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Tom Goodwin
      Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post


      If he was asking the first question (ie my interpretation), the answer is resoundingly YES. It is completely against the Adsense T.O.S.
      Even then though, you are getting into matters of proof. If you have porn up on your site, and you have Adsense on the site, then OK. You are responsible for that. When you are talking about incoming links, can you control them? Can I now get my competitiors' adsense accounts shutdown for sending paid links to those sites
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2779676].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Happyeagle
    I think the worst that can happen for most websites is getting sandboxed for some time, or the links being devalued. I think other metrics come into play like the amount of links did you bought, are all your links bought, what was your link profile like before you bought the links, the niche you are in, which monetization are you using e.g adsense, the source of the backlinks, branding among others. I think it depends on the link profile you had before you bought the links.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2783138].message }}

Trending Topics