Comments on: (QualityGal) Graywolf, Guy Kawasaki, and Paid Links Rules that Can’t Be Enforced

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:53:58 +0000

@ Mitch: Spot on! After all doesn’t it pay to advertise on billboards in high traffic areas? It’s exactly the same thing online/offline.

I think the big problem really is the PageRank issue. We know that it’s really a load of bollocks but some are still treat it like a religion.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:08:11 +0000

Personally, I don’t have a problem with paid links, and I don’t think Google should either because, after all, that’s what they do. I don’t do it myself, but in the long run it’s all about money, and if someone is willing to either shell out the money to try to get more business to their sites, or put in a lot of time writing content for pay, well, just how different is that than Adsense or those paid for ads that show up at the top of Google’s searches when someone else’s site is actually number one for the search term?

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 11:00:36 +0000

@ Mitch: Yeah, Graywolf was pretty much hounded by that post (:P pun intended). However I think his biggest mistake was to name someone and what he believed payment was. While his details were way off I still believe his point was where exactly do you draw the line at paid links? It’s obvious that some are fine, some are not - again, where do you draw the line?

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:37:19 +0000

Of course, Graywolf then went on to write an apology post to Guy Kawasaki, and turned off comments on the post. I found that interesting, because I get the feeling he didn’t think he came off all that well with his initial gripe based on the comments on the post. Personally, I agree with you here in thinking it was unwarranted, and that Guy Kawasaki, of all people, deserved a break on it, especially since Graywolf hadn’t investigated his story to determine all the facts first.

By: Joshua Sciarrino (schreno)

Joshua Sciarrino (schreno) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:12:02 +0000

@Cora I don’t know if you’ve been at many SEO conferences or done a lot of SEO but most SEO’s will agree paid links are apart of any successful SEO campaigns.

Paid directories are paid links and Google says they are fine with those.

Money isn’t evil. Just to reiterate what Guy K. said:

“Every link in the world is paid. Only the currency is different: sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s favors; sometimes it’s friendships, sometimes it’s backscratching, and many times it’s simply that someone made something very good via a lot of hard work.”

By: Cora Griswold

Cora Griswold — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:10:26 +0000

I am of two minds. I am really trying hard to build my online business. I am using the methods I have been taught. I don’t necessarily agree with buying links. I do have to agree that as long as the link and the site are providing value to the visitors coming to the site than in that instance it is OK. Unfortunately, many people who are buying links are just trying to boost their ratings with the search engines instead of focusing on content and value.

By: Nick Garner

Nick Garner — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:30:39 +0000

interestingly its still a hot topic - I suppose people believe the google PR machine. You dont have to look far to see the truth - you can’t easily judge intent through a search engine algo.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:20:44 +0000

Good response to the original article. I agree that links paid for with money… or any currency are indeed paid links. Is that bad? No… well I don’t see how any form of advertising can be bad. Lets face it, if I own an Ozzy Osbourne fan website and a toothpaste company want to advertise so be it. However I do feel that they would be better spending their advertising budget on a health conscience website. Should that link count less? Certainly as it’s just not related. So is the real problem here AdWords/AdSense or is it that Google just can’t tell if it IS relevant or not?

For the record I feel that AdSense ads have a long way to go before they are truly reflective of the websites that they are appearing on.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:17:15 +0000

Couldn’t have put it better myself! The Yahoo model is definitly the one to be followed and the way of the future.

Links are links, some take you somewhere good and others somewhere bad, some are paid and some are free… can Google honestly say every paid link takes you somewhere unrelated and not useful?

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:35:26 +0000

Excellent points Quality Gal, I enjoyed reading this. You hit all the real points.