Google Updates Webmaster Guidelines: Selling Links is Evil

Nov 23, 2007 - 8:53 am 9 by

John Honeck discovered new wording in Google's Webmaster Guidelines that reflects how Google views paid links. He reported his findings to Philipp Lenssen, who noticed the following change (italicized):

Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results.

It looks like Google is now strictly enforcing rules that will penalize webmasters who sell links.

Do you think anything will change?

Forum discussion continues at Search Engine Watch Forums.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 5, 2026

Mar 5, 2026 - 10:00 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Loading Content With JavaScript Does Not Make It Harder For Google Search

Mar 5, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google

Google AI Mode Recipe Widget Sucks Searchers Into AI Frankenstein Recipes

Mar 5, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google

Google AI Overviews Expandable Drop Downs

Mar 5, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google

Google AI Mode Adds More Links To Recipe Sites

Mar 5, 2026 - 7:21 am
Google Ads

Google Adds Build to Order Attribute For Vehicle Listings

Mar 5, 2026 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Google AdSense Publishers React to Thanksgiving Day Slump