Google Warns About Social Media "Schemes" in SEO Guide

Jan 5, 2009 - 7:52 am 6 — by

Remember a few months back when Google published their internal SEO guide? Well, Michael Gray asked if Social Media links is an easy way to SEO death row.

Michael pointed out that on page twenty of the guide, under the "Good practices for promoting your website" section Google writes you should avoid:

involving your site in schemes where your content is artificially promoted to the top of these services

Michael feels we will soon see a tool in Webmaster Central named "How to report social media spam."

Of course, social media and SEO go very well together. But like anything that works well with SEO, it does get abused. The question is, is Michael right here? Do we have something to worry about?

Forum discussion at Sphinn.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Google Search Volatility

More Details

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search News

The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Nick Wilsdon - Loved By Industry

Oct 12, 2026 - 2:00 pm
Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: October 12, 2026

Oct 12, 2026 - 10:00 am
Google

Third-Party Google Rank Tracking Struggling Now

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Tests Using Google AI For Goals & Assets

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:41 am
Bing Search

Bing & Copilot Experimenting With Microsoft-Decision-1

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google

Google AI Overviews For Typos & No Search Results

Oct 12, 2026 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Have a Question For Google? Using Google's New Discussion Area Might Not Help