Netconcepts

Specialists in SEO, web dev, online marketing

Book A Free Strategy Call
  • About
    • Problems We Solve
    • Who We’re Not a fit for
  • Services
  • Results
  • Learn
    • Learning Center
    • Courses
    • Blog
    • Podcasts
  • Press
  • Contact

To Buy or Not To Buy Text Link Ads

A few weeks back I blogged some advice here for business bloggers who might want to consider text link advertising as part of their blog marketing mix.

Well, there’s been a lot of controversy as of late about buying text links. Blogger Phil Ringnalder published a scathing post accusing publishing house O’Reilly of being a search engine spammer. O’Reilly’s founder, Tim O’Reilly, responded to the accusations on his own blog. Google engineer Matt Cutts posted a comment to Tim’s post admitting that Google has decreased the voting power of sites like perl.com and xml.com and downgraded the reputation of some of their outbound links. Ouch!

Matt’s (and presumably Google’s) position was loud and clear:

If you don’t want your own site to suffer the same fate as O’Reilly, you better tag your link ads with a rel=nofollow attribute so that you don’t pass any PageRank score to your advertisers.

In my mind, that doesn’t seem quite fair. Website owners and bloggers work hard to build a content-rich site with good PageRank score. Google’s black-or-white stance on this equates to a diminished earning ability for these websites by insisting webmasters cut off the flow of PageRank to their advertisers. This of course decreases the value of the link ads to those advertisers, and consequently the revenue likely to be realized from them. Granted, no savvy advertiser is going to buy a text link ad solely based on PageRank score, but PageRank does factor into the equation.

This makes me wonder what Google’s position is on BlogAds.com is, which is part banner ad, part text link ad. A good blog ad contains useful content. Why shouldn’t the blogger be allowed to “vouch for” (by not tagging the link with nofollow) the links contained within that ad if they so choose?

Most “white hat” SEOs such as Christine Churchill believe text link advertising is a legitimate practice. I agree with her.

I wonder what Google would do if all the websites across the Internet decided to take all their banner ad inventory they have and bypass the click-tracker redirect that counts all the clickthroughs. Suddenly all these new votes would start counting all over the Internet for commercial advertisers and sponsors. Wouldn’t that throw Google for a loop!

So what is the bottom line here for bloggers who are looking to advertise? It’s basically this: be discriminating in your link buying. Text link advertisements are not inherently evil. Just don’t buy ads on sites where any of the other advertisers on the site are misleading, deceptive or misrepresentative. By that, I mean things like the following:

  1. Setting the ad’s link text to some keyword-rich phrase that doesn’t accurately reflect the page that is linked to.
    e.g. An ad on SeacoastOnline.com proclaims “The North Face” but that isn’t The North Face!
  2. Linking the ad text to a landing page that is built for search engines and not for people.
    e.g. the “Discount Vacations” ad on DailyItem.com points to one of Orbitz’s many “doorway pages”.
  3. Hiding or obscuring the link so human visitors can’t see it, only search engines.
    e.g. Doing a “View Source” on the home page of PRNewswire.com reveals these hidden links:

    </noframes>
    <a href="http://www.icrossing.com">Search Engine Marketing</a>
    <a href="http://sev.prnewswire.com">Search Engine News Release Optimization</a>
    </frameset>

And it goes without saying that you should refrain from such practices yourself when you advertise.

This post is based on material taken from on my own blog across three separate posts: Link buying – ethical or unethical?, Buying links – Google’s perspective, and Buying link ads – the ethical debate rages.

proviron mesterolone

Comments

  • Zeeshan Parvez says:
    February 28, 2007 at 8:11 am

    I would have to disagree with those who claim that link buying is legitimate and here is why. Google is a search engine trying itâ??s best to provide people with unadulterated search results. Google judges your websiteâ??s page rank and allots you a rating. Now how can you use a rating allotted to you buy a company to allow others to increase their SERP position? It is the company that allotted you the page rank and they do not want you to use it allow others to get a better Search Engine Rank. Without the page rank you would never have been able to sell links. How many people buy links to a website with a zero page rank? So you see you are put in the position by Google in the first place. So if they do not want you to use something they have given you â?? and for a good reason which is to provide unadulterated search results â?? then how can you complain? I am baffled at why people are complaining. As a webmaster I whole heartedly agree with Google.

    Reply
  • The Art of SEO

    Chapter 7:
    Content Marketing

    From the fundamentals of link building to the nuances of natural linking patterns, virality, and authority.

    Get Free Chapter

    Related Posts

    Blog Images

    Your Ultimate Guide to Google Penalties

    When your website’s traffic suddenly takes a tumble and you don’t know why, it can be maddening. Why is this happening? It’s possible you’ve been hit with a Google penalty, or have come up against one of Google’s algorithm updates. If you’re wondering how Google penalties work and what you should do to avoid them, […]

    Read More
    Blog Images

    Using Psychology to Boost Your Conversion Rate Optimization

    Can a better understanding of the human brain help you get more conversions? Absolutely! Let’s look at how to incorporate some psychological concepts into your conversion rate strategy, along with some examples. Behavioral economics: humans are irrational What is behavioral economics and what does it have to do with conversion rates? Traditionally, economists believed that […]

    Read More
    Blog Images

    How to Master Social Selling on LinkedIn

    Social selling could be your key to securing new prospects and boosting your bottom line. When not done properly, however, social selling can also ruin your online presence and repel potential customers. So what is social selling, and why does your brand need it? More importantly, how do you master social selling? Let’s look at […]

    Read More
    As seen on
    NBC ABC CBS Fox CW Haryard adweek foundr cnet
    Capsule Bar Img
    Will your content marketing turn readers into customers?

    Download chapter 7 of The Art of SEO, Content Marketing

    Download Now
    netconcepts
    • submenu
      • About
      • Services
      • Problems We Solve
    • submenu
      • FAQ
      • Results
      • Who We’re Not a fit for
    • submenu
      • Case Studies
      • Testimonials
      • Learning Center
    • submenu
      • Courses
      • Blog
      • Podcasts
    • submenu
      • Press
      • Contact
    netconcepts
    © 2021-2022 Netconcepts. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Earnings Disclaimer Privacy Policy
    Book

    The Art of SEO

    Chapter 7: Content Marketing

    Yes, this is the book that Seth Godin referred to as “Hype-free, data-rich, and loaded with insight that’s essential reading for anyone who needs a deep understanding of SEO.”

    Want to sharpen your SEO chops?...
    start out with an appetizer before you dig into the main course!

    Get Free Chapter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube