Google is going to be more aggressive about paid links that violates quality guidelines

Back again with a post on Link policies.

I recieved a newsletter this morning from WebProNews titled "Is Google Hitting Directory Links?". Here is the opening paragraph.

Algorithmic flux or selective penalization? Nobody's sure and nobody that can answer is talking so far, but paid link directories have been plummeting in Google search results. Many are not ranking for their own business name, according to reports, even though webmasters have not received penalty notices.

>> To know more read the transcript

The newsletter also had a list of some affected directories which includes Aviva, Alive, Big Web links,ewebpages, Directory Dump, Elegant Directory, and Biz-dir.

Google's Matt Cutts had presented a slide presentation on "Are Paid Links Evil?" during a session at SES. He was approved to relase this presentation which distinguishes types of paid links Google doesn't like. Cutts said that sponsored or advertising links must be clearly labeled.

Cutts also suggested some tips on labeling paid links in the following ways:

· Redirect through URL blocked by robots.txt
· Redirect through URL using a 302
· Use Javascript to direct the link
· Apply the rel= "nofollow” attribute to the link
· Add to the page header

This clearly shows that Google is going more aggressive about paid links but Google has approved paid links from certain places. The approved list is as follows:

· AdBrite
· Quigo
· IndustryBrains
· Microsoft AdCenter
· Yahoo! Publisher Network
· Any site that doesn't pass PageRank

I would be publishing more tips on paid links in the future posts.