Blog Rash

In his blog, Google engineer Matt Cutts tells us what Google thinks of paid links.

Here’s a summary:

1. Don’t sell links primarily to drive search engine rankings or game PageRank

   This is the most important principle. Google absolutely hates sites that do that. Forget about increasing your PageRank if you sell links. That should never be your motive. Sell links to drive traffic to your clients’ sites from your own, and ask for a link back if you wish.

2. List sites that are relevant to your own

   If your site reports on tech news, then you should not be selling links to gambling, adult or offshore banking sites. Google can tell that something is fishy.

3. Use the rel=”nofollow” attribute

   This is highly recommended by Matt as it implies the link will not influence search engine rankings.

4. Do not disguise paid links as normal links

   Be honest and tell your readers that those links are sponsored. Do not hide it with JavaScript or images. Google’s algorithm is improving all the time and they can detect it (eventually).

I think what Matt says makes sense. We need less spam, and paid links has contributed to that.

In the 1.1 release of WP Text Ads, I will include rel=”nofollow” as an option. Right now, WP Text Ads has the features to ensure that bloggers do not fall foul of Google’s rules.

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