Speeding Tickets & Google Guidelines
One of the most heated topics in Internet Marketing is paid links. Bringing it up when you first meet someone in the industry is like talking about abortion and the death penalty on a first date. It starts heated discussions, and sometimes feelings and egos get hurt. Google has guidelines that they sometimes enforce, and sometimes don’t. It seems so unfair when you see a site that is clearly violating those guidelines, but Google does nothing!
I have come to my own conclusion about Google and their policies. Paid linking and other is much like speeding and Google like the cop on the side of the road. I am not calling Google the Internet Police, but they are enforcers of their own guidelines.
We all speed, not one of my readers can say they never have. Is it against the law? Yep. Dangerous? Sometimes.
Speeding is against the law because of the potential impact it might have on someone else’s life. This is why fines are bigger in school zones. Speeding laws are not there to make the city money (though there are cops that have quotas, etc.), they are there to protect people. Now, haven’t you ever flown by a cop that had the radar gun out, but didn’t come after you? Why not? You weren’t being dangerous. Five miles per hour over usually isn’t enough to get you pulled over. Going 30 MPH over while swerving in and out of traffic will get you noticed though, fined, and perhaps thrown in jail (in Texas you can be). You had a higher potential of colliding with someone else.
So how does this all related to Google and their “policing” of guidelines, namely paid links?
Can’t get everyone: Google isn’t going to pull everyone over for violating guidelines. Just as the police all over the US can’t see every speeder, Google can’t “see” every website. Yes, there is a robot that can flag some things, but much link buying will go on under the radar.
Not every instance is dangerous: There are good paid links (sponsoring a non-profit), just as sometimes speeders are just going with the flow of traffic. Google isn’t and doesn’t really have the resources to slap everyone that MIGHT be buying links.
Don’t stand out: Just as on the roads, and even when doing taxes, try to do the right thing. When you’re doing that, flags don’t get raised. Buying links from brokers and en masse is a big flag. Might as well be driving a red sports car. Google will traditionally go after the link seller, you’ll just lose the value of the link and money you paid. Buy enough, Google will slap your wrist.
Realize the Truth: Google knows that some links will only happen when money changes hands, but sometimes those are really good links. The lesson here is that these two tactics work. Speeding will get you there faster. Paid linking works. It’s a matter of if you are impacting other people and if you get caught. It’s a risk you have to be willing to take.
Final takeaways:
- Keep these links on topic and good for the end user and Google will just let you fly by, right under that radar.
- Maintain industry relationships for great links, and to ensure you aren’t unjustly reported by competitors.
- Don’t violate guidelines unless you can deal with the consequences. As I said before, it’s a risk.
7 responses to "Speeding Tickets & Google Guidelines"
So basically cya. Read you loud and clear. Thanks for the tips
Do you do any game theory at business school? One common approach is the “mixed strategy” where a player varies his/her action according to a set percentage. This explains, for instance, why authorities inspect some, but not all, of the shipping containers at the port. And why some percentage of people going through security at the airport gets a full detailed inspection while most get a more superficial inspection. If the punishment for noncompliance is bad enough, the police only need to inspect a percentage. The rest will be scared into complying because of the possibility that they might be one of the unlucky who gets inspected.
Google appears to have adopted a mixed strategy when it comes to punishing paid links. I think that’s what frustrates so many. Sometimes you report your competitors for paid links and Google apparently does nothing. Other times, paid link reporting works. For link sellers, it’s the same. You can sometimes get away with a lot. Other times you get punished. People might scream that it’s all unfair, but it makes perfect sense from Google’s standpoint. With a mixed strategy, you aren’t consistent. You punish enough offenders to strike fear into the industry. Google doesn’t have to be consistent and enforce every offense. That would cost them a lot of money. Selective enforcement is the best strategy for them.
@stuart – Cya? LOL – I’m lost … You mean speeding down the road? Haha, enjoy!
Yes! Exactly. It’s soooo annoying sometimes, but it happens.
Glad to see a reasonable post on this subject, well done.
I get a kick out of all the search companies advising people that this will kill them, even though their link profile is littered with rented links.
I am not saying “go out and rent links!!” There is a balance to everything. Freaking out isn’t the answer. Cheating the system isn’t the answer. Doing what is right for you and your end user … that’s the answer.
And thank you … I try to stay as level headed as possible. Sky isn’t falling last time I checked.
“Doing what is right for you and your end user… that’s the answer”
Yes it most certainly is. As with just about anything, it’s imperative to determine the level of risk you’re willing to engage in. That will tell you a lot about what you should, and shouldn’t be doing.
Great post Kate!!!