Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388

GTA: (647) 699-2838

Search Engine People
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • CRO
  • Display
  • Blog
  • Why Us
  • Contact
  • Join Our Team
  • Get A Quote

Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388

GTA: (647) 699-2838

Google and Spam Link Patterns

Ruud Hein | October 3rd, 2007
Tweet2
Share
Share
Pin
2 Shares

Well, I don't completely agree. Wysz from Google's Search Quality team repeats that spam sites linking to you doesn't hurt. (Hat tip: Barry Schwartz).

"I wouldn't really worry about spam sites hurting your ranking by linking to you, as we understand that you can't (for the most part) control who links to your sites."

Uhuh. Of course. It would be way too easy otherwise to mess up Google's ranking system big time.

Spam links count for zero. Nothing gets added, nothing gets subtracted. So just as spam links are not supposed to help, they can't hurt either.

Or can they?

A much better look inside the kitchen can be seen when Barry Schwartz quotes Adam Lasnik:

"Also, be assured that we're not looking to penalize folks for a "bad" link here and there. Rather, our algorithms are tuned to look for patterns of "egregious" linking behavior... both on individual sites and in the aggregate."

And that is the real deal. "Here and there", "patterns".

As a recurrent neural network Google is able to learn about common link patterns.

There are a few sites like Adobe or Amazon whom everybody and the whole world links to, including spammers, while those sites themselves hardly link out.

everybody links

The pattern is similar to that of a a link hoarder except for the quantity.

link-hoarder

Link hoarding is not always a deliberate and manipulative SEO tactic. Most e-commerce sites are link hoarders, for example.

By the way, what is easy to forget when you work with popular sites or work within SEO or SEM is that the above two patterns are actually quite rare when you look at the web at large. For the majority of web sites out there the pattern looks more like this:

nobody-links 

Of course there are overlap patterns. Some hugely popular sites receive a lot of inbound links while the site itself links out a lot too.

Now, given the above link patterns it is easy to spot a site which is trying to "make it" the wrong way.

spam-links

The site stands out because the ratio of normal/good links to spammy links is out of balance.

Although the spam links themselves may not hurt (they represent a zero value in the larger equation), the pattern that emerges may most definitely hurt.

Your own actions in that pattern count just as much -- if not more so. Link out to, or worse link back to spammy sites and you've just closed a loop that confirms Google's suspicions.

So, in the end, I would rather say it like this:

"In general I wouldn't really worry about spam sites hurting your ranking by linking to you, as long as you fit the pattern of a normal, healthy site."

Tweet2
Share
Share
Pin
2 Shares
Posted in SEO

About the Author: Ruud Hein

My paid passion at Search Engine People sees me applying my passions and knowledge to a wide array of problems, ones I usually experience as challenges. People who know me know I love coffee.

Ruud Hein

One thought on “Google and Spam Link Patterns”

  1. Josh says:
    October 5, 2007 at 8:45 am

    That’s well put. And, nice graphics!

Comments are closed.

Recent Posts

  • The Manifest Names Search Engine People Among Toronto’s Most Reviewed SEO Companies
  • Movin’ On Up! Why Migrating to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Should be a Priority
  • A Year in Review: The Digital Marketing Trends That Defined 2021
  • The Basics of Video Marketing
  • Just How Much Do Google Reviews Impact Your SEO Ranking?

Categories

  • Analytics & ROI Analysis
  • Company News
  • Content
  • Conversion Optimization
  • Display Advertising/RTB
  • Email Marketing
  • En Español
  • En Français
  • Inbound Marketing
  • Lead Nurture & Marketing Automation
  • Local Search
  • Marketing
  • Mobile
  • Partnership Marketing
  • PPC
  • PR
  • SEO
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Web Design

Additional Posts

ZiiTrend – The Social Prediction Community & John Chow vs Shoemoney

October 3rd, 2007 | by Jeff Quipp

Leverage Google Reader’s Secret

October 2nd, 2007 | by Ruud Hein

Unhappy MSN AdCenter Customer

October 2nd, 2007 | by Donna Fontenot

LET'S TALK

Need more information or want to get in touch?

Get in touch!
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Display
  • Blog
  • Why Us
  • Join Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Local SEO
  • Small Business SEO
  • Enterprise SEO
  • International SEO

LOCATION

1305 Pickering Parkway,
5th Floor Pickering, L1V 3P2

PHONE

Toll Free: 1-877-695-7388
Greater Toronto Area: (647) 699-2838

Social

© Search Engine People Inc. 2023 – Canada’s Top Digital Agency
© SEP 2023 – A Search Engine People Company | Privacy Policy

Search Engine People