Matt Cutts recent comment on paid links regarding the use of the no-follow tag has raised the heckles of the SEO community in myriad ways. His statement to the tune that link sellers have to implement the no-follow tag and those who do not do so will see a negative influence on their rankings simply is too illogical for general consumption. What it really does is that makes the link structure of the web totally irrelevant.
I am too not sure if this high handed short term naivety will do credit to Google in the long run. Competitive search engine rankings can only be achieved by building links and in most cases buying high value links, no two doubts about that.
Few reasons why it is not feasible.
What happens to the $299 Yahoo Directory listing? Does it count for nothing?
- Should all directories that have paid submission be reported?
- Can Google really differentiate paid links for traffic or seo?
- Can Google really differentiate paid links and unpaid links?
- What happens if competitors keep reporting the other?
- Why allow link brokers to advertise on Ad words?
No answers from Google will suffice because there are no answers right now. To give Matt credit on this, his comments might have been more aimed to ensuring sites are protected from bad neighborhoods. Maybe Google feels that this will create a level playing field. Maybe it’s to force sites to link bait and land links the natural way. Matt Cutts comments seem aimed at creating some feedback for Google and going on from there. Is this no-follow comment a no-brainer? I personally don’t think Google has lost the plot yet. Let’s see how it pans out…