SEO Buzz Blog

I look at the issue of “legitimate vs. paid links” from both sides. As a Google user, I’ve noticed a decline in the quality of the serps. What used to take me 1 or 2 clicks, now takes me 8-10 to find what I’m looking for.

On the flip side, having a system that is so heavily weighted on reciprocal linking will naturally encourage people to aggressively seek links, buying/selling, etc. That is part of the SEO game, and I don’t have a problem with it. The problem is when a few off-topic links start changing Google’s “view” of what the page represents.

For profit or fun, the best thing you can do to protect yourself from having mis-categorized pages is to keep “on topic”, and only link to other related sites (regardless of whether or not someone is paying for it). I don’t see the need to rule out “paid links” as being “bad” and a “no-no” — after all, what do you calls that vertical stack of links on the right in Google serps?

Read the original discussion at SE Round Table.