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.

Speeding Tickets & Google Guidelines is a post from: Kate Morris

I recently asked Matt Cutts about topics he thought I might research for my Master’s thesis. I thought paid linking and he said it was going to be sooo 2007. I disagreed because I had seen so many people still doing it. When we got to Seattle, what I said was backed up.

Now I am a seasoned veteran of sorts in this space. Not a leader by any means, but I’ve been around the block a time or two. Hearing black hat things at the show did not bother me, I enjoying hearing some of them. It was more something Jay Young said: “We are marketers not moralists.” Jay is a smart man, and a great guy from what I hear, but that kind of thinking is so irritating to me.

I almost left business a few years ago. I was tired of the BS, the backstabbing, and the greed. I wanted to be somewhere that I could use my talents for the betterment of other people, not myself. Does that make me pathetic or a bad marketer? I don’t think so. It makes me a good person. And I really don’t like being made fun of for it.

But the rest of his speech made some good points about fear. No one should fear Matt Cutts. No one should fear link brokers. They all have their jobs, and they are not out to mess with anyone else. Matt does what he does for society as a whole. Trying to give them the most unbiased answers to their questions. Putting the small company on the same playing field as the big ones. The internet is not about who has the bigger marketing budget and that is what I see as Google’s standpoint.

But the link brokers are just helping small companies play the games that the search engines set up themselves. Links are needed and they are helping people get them. Is paid linking going to die totally? No. But should the search engines stop trying to discount them? No. That is their job, they are going to do it. This industry is risky at times. It’s like gambling, if you want the short term fast results you have to put a lot on the line. And sometimes, and more recently a lot, you get burned, bad. That’s the game.

Fear shouldn’t have a place in our industry – good business sense, ethics, and all that should. Do your job the right way, and with some patience, the best results will win out.

Fear and Paid Linking is a post from: Kate Morris

When did we stop being decent human beings? I read that in my Managerial Accounting text book just a week ago and it baffled me. Then today, I see yet another story about American Airlines. Only this time it’s not wiring, it’s landing gear issues.

In the story, they mention that AA will only fix what the FAA requires. The FAA is 4 year behind schedule! There is something to be said about fixing what is broken WHEN someone recognizes it’s broken.

This goes not just for those with physical products, but also for services. In the SEM world, we are starting to realize that paid links maybe aren’t the best thing. Leaders everywhere are commenting on it. But I still see it widely done on the agency side. We are not rectifying past decisions, even though they might be detrimental now. “Don’t mention it to the client … we don’t have a fix or it’ll cost to much to fix.”

It’s time for the SEM industry and the world to fix their mistakes. Take responsibility for your actions. Do what you teach, it applies to you as well as your 6 year old son.

When to Fix It is a post from: Kate Morris

So I’ve been doing some research there. All I can come up with is that a rented link is just a paid link in the short term. Remember the beginning of paid links? You bought it for a year, whatever? It was still a paid link. Well these rented links are paid for monthly, and when you stop paying the link is removed.

How is this any different? It’s just like in managerial accounting. All costs are variable in the long run. They can be variable or fixed for the short term, but they all end up being the same kind of cost.

A paid link is a paid link is a paid link. If you pay for it, it’s still a paid link. I think agencies are using this as a way of dealing with client fears until they can come up with a better way of dealing with the hole they’ve dug.

It’s all in the timing is a post from: Kate Morris

Not one I am particularly happy about (I’m for Ask, the real undergog), but this does prove the already proven point that SEMs are not in danger of losing their jobs anytime soon. The market changes too fast, and if you aren’t keeping up, your website could suffer.

Just in the past 48 hours we have seen many high ranked sites drop because of paid linking practices, and a major buy in social marketing. Not reacting properly to this in certain markets could mean the death of your site in the future.

So I’m with Lisa. I’m not worried about my profession any time soon.

Microsoft takes stake in Facebook is a post from: Kate Morris

Google can do what it wants, what it thinks is best for the end user, not the advertiser. If you want to do well in Google, you have to do what they say. It’s as simple as that. If you want to buy links, go for it. It just won’t help anymore.

Hate to say I Told You So is a post from: Kate Morris

After everyone in the SEM world harking on Google for their initiative to go after paid linkers, I really hope they don’t drop it. Paid linking is the source for many bad sites being ranked just because they have money.

This whole thing is like file sharing. When it’s a random person (or site in this case) doing it, it’s not a big deal. The music industry doesn’t lose a ton of money really. People will continue to buy CDs, but sometimes its nice to get something free from a friend, which is how this started.

Paid linking in general is not horrible, but Google is saying if you do it in excess, and they see that the site is not bringing anything to the end user, those paid links will not count. Guess what, they still count in Yahoo and MSN and Ask. They have not said what Google has said. So calm down. It’s Google’s search engine. They get to do what they want. That may be a good or bad thing, but as with all Web 2.0, if you don’t like it, don’t use it. The mass drop of Google will make them change their minds. Not just bitching about it.

To Paid Link or Not to Paid Link, That is the Debate is a post from: Kate Morris

Matt Cutts has said that Google will not count link love from a paid source. You won’t be banned, but that money will have gone to nothing when it comes to your Google rank. Okay. I get this. Google is trying to keep money out of relevance as much as possible. Score one for the underdog white hats that don’t have the arsenal of money behind them.

What every posting I have seen says is that Google can’t catch everyone. But here is what every post has missed so far: Google is aware that they can’t catch everyone. It’s impossible. It’s like trying to catch every kid that steals a piece of candy.

The other point has been that you shouldn’t just think about Google in your SEM efforts. While that is true to a point (I tell my company that they need to focus on the end user religiously), Google still holds the market. You have to give them more consideration until someone else takes over that top spot.

And then I go back to what Matt says (I am not saying verbatim, but I did hear him say something like it) “Don’t build your site for us, build it for your end user. You have the right to ignore our guidelines, there are no laws online. But we have the right to take you out of our index as well.”

Will I do paid linking? Not really. I don’t see true value. My company happens to have a fantastic base of affiliates to link build with. Content rich related sites that we can get to link to us. Does everyone else have this? No. Should they do paid linking? Maybe. It’s your choice. But Google makes known what they like and don’t like. You are free to go against it, but it’s your choice.

You take the risk. With risk comes with great reward sometimes, but also great loss.

Paid Link Debate: Taking Risks is a post from: Kate Morris