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With all the debate and discussion around paid links these days, some DigitalPoint Forums members are wondering how Google can get away with selling links that are not nofollowed.
That is right, if you want a PageRank 7 link directly form Google.com, all you need to do is buy a Google Mini Search Appliance for $1,995 per year (or $166 per month) and you can get a link on this page.
Should Google slap on a nofollow tag on those links? Personally, I don't think they have to. But I think Matt would think otherwise.
Not to point anyone specifically out, but it seems like some SEO companies are already savvy to this:
Sacrificial lamb gets the link, thanks Neutralize!
I am not the first to point this out, Andy reported this way back in June of this year.
Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.
Comments:
Teddie
11/29/2007 06:56 pm
Barry. We are actually an official Google Enterprise Partner as well and resell Google Search Appliances which some clients use for site search and in their testing environments. http://www.neutralize.com/search-engine-optimisation/seo-quality-assurance.htm
Barry Schwartz
11/29/2007 07:10 pm
Teddie, I am not meaning to say you paid for the mini to get the link. Just to be clear. I know you and you are a nice, stand up guy. Even if you did buy it for the link, it doesn't matter.
Michael Martinez
11/29/2007 07:31 pm
Barry, while I agree that Google is linking to customer sites, their Webmaster guidelines don't forbid companies from linking to customer sites. If people want to buy something from companies that link to their customers, there is no reason not to do so. It's a good way to buy some PageRank and such links should be promoted by the SEO community as safe, Google-approved methods of buying PageRank. Yahoo! links are safe, Google-approved PageRank purchases, too.
Daryl
11/29/2007 07:49 pm
*GrinZ* Now thats one expensive link... but they just might have a bit of authority on that site.
Joost de Valk
11/29/2007 09:02 pm
I beg to differ Daryl, $1,995 for a link from Google.com is dirt cheap if you know what it could do for you in the SERPs...
Teddie
11/29/2007 09:42 pm
Thanks Barry, if I did however I'd probably also be asking you to annotate that Flickr image and link it to us as well ;-) Joost - I don't think it made any difference in the grand scheme of things. However given that it's a directory frequented mostly by online businesses, having some decent descriptive text may have helped increase the CTRs from potentially relevant parties, and that's definitely a good thing.
Barry Schwartz
11/29/2007 10:04 pm
Teddie, yes, done.
Richard Burckhardt
11/29/2007 10:13 pm
What sucks is that my client's business name starts with an "F" so they are on the second page which only has a PR5. :(
David Wallace
11/30/2007 05:21 pm
Doesn't seem like it has done much for Neutralize as they don't even rank anywhere in the top 100 results for the phrase "search engine marketing." On another note, these are not really paid links but rather the page is more like a clients list or a testimonials page. I don't see Google taking the same stand with client, partner and testimonial types of pages that are making with paid links in general.
Dizzle
11/30/2007 06:12 pm
You can also "buy" a PR8 link from Google by passing the professionals exam! On the page that confirms you are in fact an Adwords Pro you can add your company link. And that is roughly $1850 cheaper than buying the mini.
Simeon
12/01/2007 05:17 pm
Hey, It looks like google has changed links at that page to redierect 302. That's funny:) You frighten Google into it!!!
Matt Cutts
12/02/2007 07:06 am
Hey, just to avoid even the appearance of problem, we added a redirect to these links through a robot.txt'ed page so that these links don't pass PageRank.
alonestreet
12/05/2007 04:03 pm
Thanks Barry, if I did however I'd probably also be asking you to annotate that Flickr image and link it to us as well ;-)
Kevin
02/15/2008 05:44 pm
Whether or not the sites are able to pass pagerank is irrelevant. I do not understand why it is ok for google to sell links but it's not ok for anyone else to do it, why the double standard?
No Name
08/11/2008 08:45 pm
do not understand why it is ok for google to sell links but it's not ok for anyone else to do it, why the double standard?
keriman
08/25/2008 01:38 pm
for $1,995 per year (or $166 per month) and you can get a link on this page. :) :)
No Name
01/14/2009 04:54 pm
On another note, these are not really paid links but rather the page is more like a clients list or a testimonials page. I don't see Google taking the same stand with client, partner and testimonial types of pages that are making with paid links in general.
Reklam Ajansı
01/14/2009 04:56 pm
Barry, while I agree that Google is linking to customer sites, their Webmaster guidelines don't forbid companies from linking to customer sites. If people want to buy something from companies that link to their customers, there is no reason not to do so.
No Name
06/01/2009 12:23 pm
Hey, just to avoid even the appearance of problem, we added a redirect to these links through a robot.txt'ed page so that these links don't pass PageRank
No Name
06/09/2009 10:23 am
how? I don't see Google taking the same stand with client, partner and testimonial types of pages
No Name
09/02/2009 05:50 pm
Normal thing, they always try to get more money ;/
Sushil Choudhary
11/27/2009 11:21 am
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Miguel
12/07/2009 04:11 am
Can we purchase SEO?
No Name
02/09/2010 10:57 am
Some are saying that they are doing it for money...but let's face it, would Google look around ~2000$ for something that has such a debate? There's much more than that into this, I'm sure and I'm also convinced that even those who bought space are not aware of the full story! IMO
Virtual Tour
07/04/2011 01:39 am
I'm pretty sure that these links don't pass PageRank.
Shocking Videos
11/22/2011 03:44 pm
Google really do NOT need the $1995 price tag, so its not for the cash. I saw an article recently that said Google earn $697 a SECOND - and that's profit, not gross!