Another Google Smackdown?

It seems as if Google has launched another round of smackdowns to hit those sites that are selling links.

PR drops are one thing, but the sites that have been hit are still reporting that their traffic referrals from Google are the same, many gleefully so.

If I was a paid link seller I’d be more concerned about what Google’s next move will be, if two PR smackdowns don’t deter you from selling paid links then what will they try to deter you next? PR drops are actually quite a tame measure considering that they could drop you from their index completely for violating their terms of service. I would not be surprised if in 2008 we saw some pretty major sites de-indexed for refusing to stop selling links..

Whilst we are on the subject of paid links it’s worth saying that I think that if Google can break the back of the paid links market then we will see the area of organic search opening up to much more competition. For the past couple of years too many top search terms have been effectively bought up by the sites with the deepest pockets. The move away from paid links should force sites to move from simply buying links to having to gain links by producing quality content and tools that customers want to use and which will promote organic linking.

If you have never bought paid links and you rank well now then I think it could be a good year for you, if however you’ve relied on paid links as your main organic ranking mechanism then I wouldn’t say the outlook is so golden.

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