wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
Are Paid Links Evil
A Tale of Propaganda and Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
Michael Gray – SES San Jose – August 2007
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
Google is Not the Government
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
Don’t Listen to Corporate Propaganda
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
Google’s Version of Advertising
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
• Google developed an algorithm based on links
• They expect you to change your business model and implementations to compensate for flaws in their algorithm
• Google made 1.12 billion dollar profit 2nd Quarter 2007
• Google expects you to sacrifice income and profitability to compensate for their flaws
• They expect you to do it for free!!!
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
The Trail of Lies for No-Follow• No follow was developed to combat blog
spam
• 3 Months after no-follow was widely adopted Google changed the rules
• Google took advantage of the entire web publishing world for their own goals
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
What Constitutes a Paid Link
• How can you know the context of the link
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
Why is Google Opposed to Paid Links
• Paid Links Work• It’s nearly impossible to rank in any
competitive SERP without paid links• … Unless you are Wikipedia• Google runs a competitive advertising
product• By eliminating competition Google insures
the profitability of their product
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
Creating Fear Uncertainty and Doubt
• Google tries to convince you that by buying or selling paid links, you are breaking the law or being unethical
• Google creates fear of losing your rankings and traffic by being removed from their index, if you don’t follow their guidelines
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
Google Has Overstepped it’s Boundaries
• According to Google their mission is to “organize the world’s information”
• Google’s mission is not to tell you how to build and implement your website
• Google’s mission is not to tell you how to buy or sell advertising
• Google’s mission is not to tell you how to run your business
wolf-howl.com AtlasWebService.com SEOClass.com
thank you