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1. PR block every site that has any outbound links on it, regardless of whether they are paid or not. This will save them frustration in the long run.
2. Quietly Pay webmasters not to sell text links.
3. Acquire all of the link building/ SEO companies out there and pay them to play ping-pong all day.
:)
Think about it. If Google allowed such a system to prosper, then why would its advertising clients advertise with Google? They'd just go with the cheapest system.
Not to mention there's a double whammy against Google. If it allows its system to be gamed (and, if someone else doesn't) then its relevancy ratings will go down and its marketshare will go down.
I doubt Google is too worried about one blogger selling links on his/her own, but rather systemized selling like PayPerPost and other advertising vendors are trying to do.
To have people reporting paid links introduces a human factor which will be extremely variable (because it's dealing a money-laden topic), therefore I don't think that's a good idea.
Robert I don't think it is warning shot to PPP, Google has been complaining for a long, long time about paid links. PPP is a just harder (not anyone more since having to tag itself as paid) way to identify paid links. I really think they simple need help making the algo better by identifying all paid links in some form or fashion.
It really doesn't matter I don't see this working at all. They have a way for us to report SPAM and it doesn't work as far as I can tell. I reported at least a dozen different types of spam reports and all still are out there fine. Of course this is much more "push button". Once the report is made and verified it can be tagged and loaded into the index fairly quickly, unlike trying decipher a large SPAM report.
Who knows in the Google toolbar one day we could see an option to report websites with paid links on it.
So assuming that they know about them (since it's their link), how does that protect unsuspecting readers from clicking an undisclosed sponsored link and making money for that advertiser?
Seems to me they're using unfair practices to promote their own programs.
Pratheep
I did report Matt Cutts for webspam, he keeps linking through to Google, and as an employee and most like shareholder, he gains a monetary benefit linking through to Google and promoting Google products on his "unofficial" blog with convenient legal clauses.
I have gone a little bit further though and bitten the bullet and reported myself for writing paid reviews asking for an official (not from Matt Cutt's blog) notification as to whether I am doing something wrong.
Man that sounds like so much fun. Then I think to myself, wait, this is all hot air and I have money to make. Oh well, back to counting my Benjamins.
This whole thing makes me wonder if people who report paid links are going to be lumped in with the enemy, similar to how the fbi puts you on their terrorist watch
<a href="http://search.earthlink.net/search?q=site%3Athegardengates.com+***+-sljktf&start=120
">-list if you report suspicious activities.
Responses to what appeared to be an upfront disclosure and an honest solicitation of industry-input have quickly developed into a slew of Matt-Cutts-bashing. I've never met the man but, folks, he simply doesn't deserve that from us.
That said, I do find horrendous problems for Matt Cutts in finding ways to define, to identify and to monitor paid links. I'll just give you three examples here.
1. Define What is a Paid Link
At law, compensation doesn't just mean cash. It also means goods, services and even love. What is a paid link? If I write a 750 word article and allow it to be posted on a Web site in exchange for a link, do you not realize that I have just paid between $220 and $750 in time and talent for that single link even though no money traded hands?
If a philanthropist donates $20,000 to a nonprofit and that nonprofit posts a thank you for the sponsorship on its Web site and provides a courtesy link to the donor's Web site, is that not a paid link? If it isn't, than all link farm sites can become nonprofits and give away links for a "donation."
2. How Will Google Know For Certain How to Identify a Paid Link?
I just finished a backlink campaign for a client yesterday. I submitted 100 links. Not one was a paid link and not one was given a reciprocal link or a "no follow." If my record holds, 90% of these links will be accepted. But here's a problem. Five of these links were to directory sites (PR 6 or greater) that also post paid links and links that are paid for by reciprocal links. No one but the sites' Webmasters and I know for certain which category of link I applied for. I'm certain that the Webmasters of these sites would not want to volunteer how many of their posted links are given for free. Like all of us, they have mouths to feed.
3. How Will Google Monitor and Mediate?
If a competitor of my client's Website "reports" to Google that I have paid for links, will Google notify me so that I may initiate a slander or libel lawsuit? Will Google mediate so that I have an opportunity to refute the accusation? (How many new employees will Google have to hire to monitor and mediate the accusations and complaints?) Or, are we to be presumed guilty with no opportunity to prove innocence?
So Matt Cutts asked for a discussion, so let's discuss. I am seriously pleased that he gave us this opportunity to participate. And for all the panicking Web site owners, may I just point out that it is possible to garner a Google Page Rank 7, place #4 on a Google search out of 256,000,000 Results for a 2 word Keyphrase, with a Home page that does NOT contain the Keyphrase and a Web site which has only 20 inbound links. If your SEO expert doesn't know how this is possible, check www.WebSyndications.com next month.